By ARIEL SALEHRABI | Contributing Writer
The Palisadian-Post has partnered with Paul Revere Charter Middle School to highlight a series of pieces from its 2020 Literary Anthology. The following piece originally appeared in the anthology, released in spring, and has been reprinted here with permission.
Beach days are my family’s favorite tradition. Every weekend we head out to Santa Monica beach where the weather is always cool and refreshing, occasionally with a light breeze. The sun is always high and mighty, watching us from space. The palm trees stand tall and strong, with their leaves blowing in the wind.
My dad loves the beach the most. Even if my sister and I have a lot of homework, he will still force us to join because he enjoys the view of the ocean. “Look at this beautiful day!” he always says while driving down the California Incline. “Nature is truly awesome.”
Our favorite activity at the beach is feeding our leftover stale bread to the seagulls. They flock to the food like little kids to an ice cream truck. But not very long ago something very funny and unexpected happened.
After we finished the bread, one of the seagulls, who arrived late to the feast, was very upset there was no more bread. He started screeching near me and my family. My sister exclaimed, “Run away!” My dad who was calm insisted, “Don’t worry guys, it’s not like he’s gonna bite us.”
Well, it turns out that’s exactly what happened. That crazy bird sat on my dad’s shoulder and bit his ear. “Ahhh! This stupid bird needs to get off me!” my dad yelled. “See, I told you that would happen.” I teased.
My dad’s ear was bleeding from the bird’s beak digging into his skin. We went to a nearby restaurant on the beach and asked for a first aid kit. They gave him a disinfectant wipe and a band-aid.
“Are you okay?” my loving mother, Farnaz, asked. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s not as bad as it looks.” my dad reassured my mom, with his hazel eyes gazing at her.
It was a fun and exciting day and my family and I will never forget it.
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