One of us

The Tower

As Hoppo and I headed up to the tower, I could hear the ambulance sirens in the distance. What must that little boy be thinking? The tower was quite far away, so we got talking on the way. 'I realize I have basically recruited you without knowing your name! What is it?' Said Hoppo. I giggled. 'Zoe Anderson.' 'So Zoe, what sort of experience do you have in the water?' 'Um, well I grew up by the sea, and did Surf Lifesaving from the age of 7, and then became a lifeguard a couple of years ago. I guess I have a little experience.' He laughed quietly when I said this. 'And do you surf much?' I could sense he knew the answer, but I answered anyway. 'Yeah I've been surfing for 5 years, and I try to be in the sea as much as possible!'

At this point we had reached the lifeguard tower, a round and circular building with large windows. Me and Hoppo ascended the metal staircase slowly, so we didn't distract the other lifeguards from their job. Hoppo opened the blue door and let me pass through first, what a gentleman! We passed a black medical bed and a lot of first aid equipment, and climbed up another few stairs. There were 2 men sat in chairs, watching the water with binoculars in hand. They obviously hadn't noticed we were here, so Hoppo tapped one of them gently on the back. They both turned around quickly, and one of them exclaimed loudly, 'HOP! You scared me!' Hop and I cracked up, and that's when the other man noticed me. He had intense blue eyes and short blonde hair.

'Hey, who are you? ' He stared at me quizzically, not in a rude way though. Hoppo answered before I could say anything. 'This is Zoe Anderson, the surfer who rescued the boy a few minutes ago. She displayed excellent water skills, and I have offered her a place on the lifeguard team, provided she passes the tests.' The man had a grin on his face when Hop finished explaining. The other man thumped him hard on the arm. 'OWWWWWW!' he shouted. Hoppo finally introduced me to the lifeguards. 'Zoe, meet Trent Maxwell and Aaron Graham.' I shook hands with both of them, and Trent told me that all the lifeguards have nicknames. 'We all call each other nicknames here, so you have to call me Maxi and Aaron Azza.' I agreed to this and then stood next to Hop.

Hoppo led me outside to the front of the tower, on the balcony. The view up here was amazing. You could see the whole beach, and as it was only early and it wasn't that busy, the hot sand glistened in the morning sun. We sat down in two chairs, and began to talk. He asked me all about first aid and water safety, then he asked me if I had any special talents. 'That's an interesting question! Well, I always got praised for my maths and drama ability in school, people say I'm good at singing and playing the guitar, and I also have good balance!' 'Show me!' Hoppo exclaimed. I got up and walked over to the metal railing on the balcony.

The look of terror on Hop's face was priceless. I chuckled quietly to myself as I clambered on top of the railing and began the tightrope walk around the tower. There was one close shave on the journey, but I made it without any incidents. I glanced into the tower window and saw Maxi and Azza's facial expressions. They looked gobsmacked. I wandered back around the tower to Hoppo and sat back down as if nothing had happened. He just stared at me with amazement. 'Horse riding gives you good balance!' I said loudly.