www.storymania.com
Storymania Logo

 

 

Essays




The Hopeless Cynic: All That Glitters... by Robert G Hagans The Robster on love and relationships...watch your step ladies and gen... [995 words]
Gay Agony In India by Amit Gupta An essay. [620 words]
A New Perspective by Richard Koss A different perspective on the 911 tragedy and its aftermath. [614 words]
The Spiritual Way by Panangipalli S Murthy - [2,163 words]
Can't You See? A Collection Of Essays by Vineetha Menon A collection: Can't You See? - An insightful view into our own handicaps... [593 words]
The Park by Robert Benton The aging of a park. [338 words]
The Bridge Between by E. M. Conary This essay describes a bridge, which although real, it is more of a metaphor about life. [474 words]
People Don't Take Time To Climb Trees Anymore by Christina Tolentino A humorous piece written for a writing class that just makes you ... [314 words]
Music Box by Ozlem Wierzbicki It is a story about friendship and how life shaped it. [373 words]
From The Author by Scott W. Hazzard The wonderful world of Hazzarding. [228 words]
Timothy McVeigh: A Legacy by Shelley J Alongi This short work examines the possibility that Timothy McVeigh in character, action an... [788 words]
The Hopless Cynic: Masochistic Summer by Robert G Hagans The Robster takes a definitive stake forward in the ongoing battle of the... [1,219 words]
The Hopeless Romantic: Lost Loves by Charles Cotterman - [523 words]
Quiet Noises; The Interplay Between Silence, Sound And Space In Hip-Hop Music. by Martin De Leon this is a meditation on the stat... [3,576 words]
Perfection And Vanity by The Amateur Philosopher An essay on the problems of the modern world and the ways in which we could change and im... [1,732 words]
The Monte Carlo Iridium Credit Card. by Peter Perkins Essay on the current flood of credit offers everyone receives daily offeri... [995 words]
The Hopless Cynic: The High School Experience by Robert G Hagans After a hiatus, the Robster is back, with a look back at High Sch... [1,243 words]
Please Forgive Me by Susan T Fisher Being human and doing things I regret. [106 words]
Our Customer Charter by Peter Perkins An alternative view on the current fashion for mission statements, service charters, and t... [394 words]
House Trailer by John C Rivers a trailer is a good place to live. [270 words]
Baan Kwaan Prison by John C Rivers a story about my experience visiting a prison in Thailand. I heard the guys there like having... [1,154 words]
There Is Hope: The Hopeless Cynic by Robert G Hagans Here's a follow up to my last. Enjoy it. The Robster strikes again. Dedicated... [985 words]
The Hopeless Romantic: The Ideal Life by Charles Cotterman A bit of a universal spread on the old idealist philosophy. [780 words]
The Hopeless Romantic: Proud To Be Foolish by Charles Cotterman - [620 words]
Personal Trauma -- An Unwilling Spectator by Roxanne Kendrick Can't really describe what this piece is about, except that it was, f... [1,234 words]
The Old Homeplace by Tara A. Lambert "The Old Homeplace" is a short essay describing an homecoming on the surface, but just beneat... [528 words]
The Keeper by E. L. Bennett Where death and the beauty of life come together... An essay of a man who has chosen his final rest... [687 words]
Story Of Success by Heather Springer - [321 words]
My Teacher Of Life by Kim Dow The quality of material posted on your site and the unique opportunity to have other college... [422 words]
Every Woman Wants To Be Seduced by Joseph A Santiago I am Unlike most you have read. Creating a space between words, a space between... [1,695 words]
Brother by T Shanell Penniton A true story of my experience dealing with a life threatning disease that attacked my brother. [1,292 words]
The Greatest Show On Earth by Adagio A comment on how the public fuel war by supporting the big businesses and media gian... [390 words]
A Woman Is A Flower-A Man Is A Tree by Susan T Fisher Comparing the traits of women and men to the traits of flowers and trees. [308 words]
A Lesson In Love by Sharon Grata A shopping trip that teaches about love everlasting. [603 words]
Echoes Of Madness; A Night With Lee Scratch Perry by Martin De Leon a review and textual memory of a recent night observing and e... [1,295 words]
The Under-Ten League by James Plourde I find one of the gifts of fatherhood and reclaim a painful part of my own childhood throu... [1,756 words]
The Price Of Freedom by Matt Laubenstein An essay on what the price of freedom is to people around the world and what freedom reall... [1,029 words]
Renaissance--Western Civilization Essay 2 by Lissa N Metz-Gomez Essay number 2 of 3 for Western Civilization (fall of Rome up to the ... [4,207 words]
Middle Ages--Western Civilization Essay 1 by Lissa N Metz-Gomez The first in a 3-part series of essays I did for my Western Civilizat... [4,115 words]
Let's Have Some Fun With H M Os by Georgia Kraff A satirical look at the dismal state of healthcare today. [572 words]
Friend by Emcee Teacup A short little thing about a friend of mine. I'm new to writing outside of the forced journals of elemen... [1,009 words]
Essay For Western Civilization-Ancient History Part I by Lissa N Metz-Gomez This is the first in a series of three essays I did for m... [3,599 words]
Creed: A Tribute by Matt Laubenstein This is an article about the famous band Creed that has sold millions of records. [779 words]
Belonging by Matt Laubenstein An essay about the human struggle to belong. [560 words]
Ancient History Part 2 by Lissa N Metz-Gomez The second in a three-part series of essays I did for my Western Civiliation-Ancient His... [4,895 words]
A Guy Thing by Georgia Kraff It isn't always the earth-shaking things that change the course of one's life. Sometimes it's some... [678 words]
South Florida Memoirs by Georgia Kraff The recent election fiasco in Florida didn't surprise me a bit. When I lived there, I ca... [565 words]
Faith And The Stars by Mary Ann Delk I wrote this article for some of my friends whom I had been discussing faith with. [1,056 words]
The Firstborn Of God. Resolving The Contradictions In The Bible. by Gail Evans "The Firstborn of God. Resolving the Contradic... [999 words]
Whispers In The Desert by Hasan Qutb Whispers in the desert. [222 words]
View's Of Man's Nature by Ali Nicole Burton This is an essay that tells a few different views of man's nature and how they relate to... [610 words]
The One Emotion by Michael W Miller The writers feelings toward love. [158 words]
Perfection by Michael Hunter Another "college essay". These things are starting to tick me off. Anyway, I decided to go a diffe... [452 words]
The Cayman Wall

Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [10] 11
TITLE (EDIT)
The Cayman Wall
DESCRIPTION
-The author revisits the place where he overcame fear years ago and challenges himself to do it again.
[1,448 words]
TITLE KEYWORD
Adventure
AUTHOR
Danny I. Spitler
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
-I am a successful business executive who is finally returning to writing after giving it up in College to pursue a business career. I travel extensively, hike, golf, and scuba dive. I live with Pam, my loving companion and fellow traveler.
[December 2000]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (12)
A Thanksgiving Monday (Essays) The author has a reflective and enlightening evening following Thanksgiving. [809 words] [Mind]
Blue Run At Telluride (Short Stories) The author tests his nerve and his resolve in a challenging duel with a ski slope. [1,770 words] [Adventure]
Fathers And Sons And Baseball (Essays) Three generations share an uniquely American experience. Opening Day. [1,078 words] [Relationships]
Free Food (Essays) There's no such thing as a free lunch. Wrong. There is tons of free food, as this author points out. [1,031 words] [Humor]
It's Wednesday (Essays) The author reflects on his lover. [143 words] [Romance]
She's Just Relaxing (Essays) She's just relaxing on the sofa; however..... [626 words] [Romance]
Swimming With Sharks (Essays) The author experiences an encounter with a large Lemon Shark in Tahiti [835 words] [Adventure]
The Bed (Essays) The author gains appreciation for the consistency brought to his life by an inanimate object [791 words] [Self-Help]
The Blindfold (Short Stories) A couple decides to meet in an most unusual and erotic manner. [1,679 words] [Romance]
The Morning Shower (Essays) Does anyone else suffer these issues associated with the morning shower? [940 words] [Humor]
Turning Fifty (Essays) The author takes a reflective look at reaching the half century mark. [999 words] [Biography]
Water Festival In Thailand (Short Stories) In Thailand, the "land of smiles," one of the wildest and happiest celebrations is Song Kron, also known as the Thai water festival. Experience this special celebration in a very unique way. [1,701 words] [Travel]
The Cayman Wall
Danny I. Spitler

    �����It was late afternoon on Wednesday when the first pangs of apprehension hit me. An eighty-foot dive against the famous Cayman Wall. Suddenly the thought of being eighty feet under the ocean was frightening. The fear surprised me at first. I wondered where it came from.

�I had done it once before. Grand Cayman�.when was it? Oh yes, 1983. A strange time in my life��sort of like now. I tried to remember what I had felt back then. I had spoken about it occasionally during the last 15 years. I had considered it the most thrilling dive I had ever made. Despite receiving my scuba certification over thirty years ago, at the age of eighteen, I have made very few dives�..probably less than a dozen since my college days. But I always remembered the "Cayman Wall."

�It was a beautiful coral encrusted shelf that lived in brilliant blue Caribbean waters 80 feet below the surface. However, it was also a ledge. A sheer ledge that dropped off into an abyss that was 5000 feet deep.

�Now it was fifteen years later. I was sitting on the deck of the cruise ship. We had been at sea for three days, and we were pulling away from Ocho Rios, Jamaica headed for Grand Cayman. Where was the fear coming from? Why was it here? I leaned back in the deck chair, closed my eyes and replayed that April day in 1983.

�I was thirty-four years old. Not a kid anymore, yet still very confident in my physical abilities. Still I remembered there was apprehension then too. I remembered the boat trip out to the dive spot, the jump into the ocean, and the first breath of compressed air from the heavy tank on my back. I remembered the slow descent down the eighty-foot rope attached to a sunken piece of concrete near the edge of the shelf. More than anything I remembered the tingle in my legs as I hovered at the top of the wall. It was as if I was standing on the edge of a tall building, looking down at 5000 feet of nothingness. Fifteen years later, I tried to relive that moment when I conquered the fear��when I pushed myself to float over the edge. I remembered my brain assuring me that I could step off the ledge, hover above the abyss, and come back to the ledge. It told me to follow the dive master over the edge and look at the wonders there were to see on the sides of the wall. Yet my legs tingled and my heart pounded. My instincts screamed to stay on the ledge.

�Then came the realization. The one that happens to men at various times in our lives. The realization that we really have no choice. We have come too far, and the voice deep inside speaks strongly and clearly�.."DO IT." "DO IT NOW, or you will regret it for the rest of your life."

�I felt my legs start the kick. The fins pushed against the water and propelled me over the edge, and I looked into the dark green depths below. I waited to be sucked down by some unknown force. I waited. I pulled my eyes away from the abyss below me and looked at the sheer wall now beside me. I exhaled. I was OK. I was hanging, suspended, staring at the wall in all its coral beauty. Teeming with vibrant colors and fascinating sea life. Slowly, my heart rate returned to normal, the adrenaline subsided, and I filed the moment away in a corner of my being.

�Fifteen years later, nearing the same spot in the ocean, the fear began its work. It whispered little warnings. Little logical arguments. The fear said:
�� "You haven't done a dive for over two years."
� "You haven't done a deep dive for almost fifteen years."
� "You are pushing fifty. Why do you want to do this?"
� "You aren't even familiar with the equipment any more."

�It worked. I was ready to bail out. I wandered down to the ship's Shore Excursion Desk to cancel the dive and to sign up for something more sedate. I was hoping that the desk would be manned by one of the perky young girls. One who would not question why I was walking away from such a great opportunity. No such luck. Behind the desk was Eric, the guy in charge of the dive and snorkel programs. First I ask if there was still some space available on one of the snorkel tours. Then I told Eric that I thought I might cancel on the wall dive, because I was concerned about the decompression aspects of the dive. He quickly informed me that they were timing the dive so that no decompression would be necessary, only a three-minute safety stop at around 20 feet prior to surfacing.

�I had not thought of a back up excuse, and I still possess enough testosterone that I was totally unwilling to admit to a case of simple fear. So, in typical macho fashion, I flashed my most confident smile and said, "Well then, in that case, no problem. I will see you at 8:00 AM."

�Fourteen hours later I was experiencing de ja vu as I found myself aboard the dive boat skimming across the glass-like surface off the coast of Grand Caymen's famous 7-Mile Beach. I began the self-talk. "OK kid, you are not 34 years old this time, but you are in pretty good shape. You just need to listen, remember, think ahead, get prepared. You can do this."

�We had three dive masters on the boat and eighteen divers so, for the wall dive, we divided into groups of six divers with each dive master. My group was with Tom, and I listened intently to his instructions, wishing that I had taken a refresher course several weeks earlier back in Phoenix. Tom and I, and my five fellow adventures, were the second group in the water. As we all prepared for entry, I raced through my mental checklist.

�Weight belt secure.
�Mask in place.
�Fins on.
�Air pressure at 3000 psi.
�BC vest partially inflated.
�Primary regulator in mouth.
�Secondary regulator clipped to my side if needed.

�I stepped to the edge of the boat, leaning forward to accommodate the 40 pounds of compressed air strapped to my back. I placed my left hand on the regulator in my mouth and bit down on the mouthpiece. My right hand covered my mask so that it would not be ripped off by my impact in the water. It was time. I stepped to the edge. I jumped.

�The cool 82-degree water hit my skin. I held the mask in place and the partially inflated vest bobbed me back to the surface. I sucked my first breath of compressed air through the regulator. I was OK. So far, so good. Tom and I and the rest of the group gathered at the buoy. We were all OK. Tom took the regulator from his mouth just long enough to say, "Lets Dive." I lifted the hose above my head that would expel the air from my vest and pressed the appropriate button. As the air rushed out of my vest the four 3-pound weights around my waist began to tug me downward.

�The first test arrived at 15 feet below the surface when I felt the first pangs of air pressure compressing my eardrums and sinuses. I pinched my nose, blew gently, and felt the relief of the needed air filling those cavities. My confidence leaped. My ears were going to be OK. I looked down. Lord, it was so clear. Over a hundred feet of visibility. The shelf was eighty feet down, but it seemed so close. I continued the descent. As I reached the bottom I checked my heart rate. Normal. I looked for the fear. There was none. The water was perfect. The equipment felt fine. Everything was working. There was beauty everywhere. My confidence suddenly soared. When Tom moved, I moved. We reached the edge of the wall. The abyss was bluer than I remembered it, but still there was no fear.

�There was no hesitation whatsoever, as I followed Tom over the edge. There was a smile surrounding the regulator sticking out of my mouth. My eyes strained trying to take in all the beauty that leaped from every square inch of the coral wall. Again I checked, and found no fear. There was just one scary thought. That was the memory of the day before, and the knowledge that I had almost canceled. What a horrible mistake that would have been.
      

 

Submit Your Review for The Cayman Wall
Required fields are marked with (*).
Your e-mail address will not be displayed.

Your Name*     E-mail*

City     State/Province     Country

Your Review (please be constructive!)*


Please Enter Code*:

Submit Your Rating for The Cayman Wall

Worst     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10     Best

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 1998 Danny I. Spitler
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
December 2000
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
1973
 

Copyright © 1998-2001 Storymania Technologies Limited. All Rights Reserved.