Bondi Rescue

Definitely Not Expecting the Unexpected

I woke slowly, feeling the sun shining brightly on my face, as I'd forgotten to close the blinds the night before. I tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but there was no use, I was already awake. Sighing, I got up out of bed and walked over to the window. 

I hadn't noticed it last night, but the view from my room was stunning, I had a perfect view of the beach. I hoped my apartment would have just as fantastic a view, but I doubted anything could beat this.

I checked the clock on the wall and noticed it was only 7 in the morning, probably a bit too early to start my job and apartment hunt. Since I'd showered last night, all I needed to do was wash my face and get dressed, so I did that quickly before I left my room in search of breakfast. 

The hotel offered a complimentary breakfast buffet, but I wanted to explore a little bit, so I left in search of a coffee shop or something similar for me to try. After walking for about 5 minutes I found Preach Cafe, which had a great view of the water, so I ordered some food and coffee and sat at a little table right outside the shop. 

The sun was bright, but not too hot yet considering how early it was in the morning. I was immensely grateful that I'd had the foresight to put sunscreen on in my hotel room. Otherwise, I would easily get a sunburn in this weather. 

 As I slowly ate my breakfast, the streets seemed to come alive with activity as people made their way out of houses and apartments and hotels to start their day, most of them seemed to be headed straight for Bondi. 

I watched in amusement as the beach began to fill up with patrons, as the promise of a warm day meant perfect conditions to enjoy the water. After I finished my coffee, I stood up and stretched slightly before grabbing my bag and making my way down to the beach. 

Going to Bondi had certainly been on my list of things to do, but I wasn't expecting to do it quite so soon after my arrival. But hey, I was literally a minute from the beach, and I wasn't quite ready to start my day. 

As I made my way onto the sand, I took my flip flops off, as I didn't want the feeling of sand trapped between my feet and the material of my shoes. I stuck them in my bag and scanned the length of the beach, searching for the least populated place to be able to sit down and relax. 

Finally, I spotted an area that was less populated by beach-goers, probably due in part to the sign that said dangerous currents. I was well aware of the dangers that rip's presented, especially for those who couldn't swim very well. 

But as I spotted some people in the water, I shook my head and sighed. Some people just didn't want to listen to the rules, even if it might kill them. As I settled down on the beach, I grabbed a novel from my bag that Fallon had suggested I should read. I was going to start it on the plane, but after less than a minute of reading, I had started to feel airsick, so I stopped. 

I felt like I had only been reading for 30 minutes, but by the time I looked up from my book and checked the time, nearly an hour and a half had passed. By now it was 10:30, which meant I should probably start being productive, even though all I wanted to do was stay on the beach by the water.

As I was putting my book in my bag, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I saw that something was sticking up out of the water, about 200 feet out. I shaded my eyes and tried to figure out what it was. 

Suddenly, I realized it was a hand sticking up, and I felt as though someone had punched me in the gut. There was someone directly in front of me, drowning. As the head bobbed above the water, I felt my breath leave me as I realized it was a child. 

I glanced around frantically, looking for screaming parents or running lifeguards, but no one seemed to notice the child in danger. I hadn't done a rescue since my mentor died, but I would rather die before letting a child drown. 

I quickly dropped my bag to the sand and started to sprint out towards the water. I could hear people around me talking, asking what I was doing, and yelling at me for kicking sand on their towels, but I ignored them as I focused my vision on the small child.

How did they even get all the way out there? There was no one, adult, or otherwise, even near this kid. As my feet hit the water, I realized that I didn't have a board with me, which meant I would have to do a manual rescue. I've not had to rescue many people without a board, but I knew how to, so I plunged in any way.

The water was warmer than I was expecting it to be as I started the 200 feet swim to get to the kid bobbing in the waves. I put my head down and started moving my arms powerfully through the water as I tried to move as fast as I could to get to the frantic child. 

I glanced up every couple of strokes to make sure I was staying on target for the child, who I could now make out as a young girl. I didn't glance behind me to see if anyone was coming in after me, but I hoped someone had realized what was going on. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, I was about 25 feet from the girl. I could hear her frantic calls for help as I started swimming with my head above the water, shouting at her, trying to reassure her. 

Right before I got to her, her head disappeared beneath the waves and didn't bob back up again. 

Hello lovely readers! So this chapter is up a little later than I was planning, but final's week kind of got in the way of my writing time :) Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger, it wasn't my original plan, but this chapter was getting way too long to keep it at the original length. But that means I have most of the next chapter written, so it should be up within the week! I hope you guys like it, and votes/comments are always welcome!

~_mindless_ramblings_