A Bondi Secret

Chapter 1

The warm ocean breeze whipped my hair all over my face whilst the salty smell of the sea filled my nostrils and the loud sound of seagulls echoed in my ears. I was walking along Bondi's treacherous cliffs, my toes balancing precariously on the edge of the 25m tall rock face.

Bondi was my escape; up here, it was so calm and isolated, like nothing in the world could ever touch me. Sadly, this feeling of euphoria that hit me when I came up here was a distant memory when I turned my back and entered back into the harsh reality of life.

The only word that came to mind when I looked around at the lonely, windswept cliffs of Bondi was freedom. Up here, there were no rules, no people to tell me what I can and can't do, nobody to constantly try and interfere with my life. Rules, regulations and nosy adults; those three things basically summed up how my last few weeks had been.

'Where are your parents?' 'Do you have a legal guardian?' 'Is there somebody we could call?' The forever asked questions by doctors, nurses and receptionists at the hospital that I had been admitted to with appendicitis less than a week ago. That's the whole reason why I try to stay away from places like that; but after a week of immense pain, I couldn't take it anymore and decided just to take the risk.

I did a runner because I knew it was only a matter of time before they'd get the police and child services involved when they realised my situation at home. Thankfully, nobody had been knocking on my door and asking where my parents were, yet – touch wood. The faint ache in my lower abdomen was a profuse reminder of the happenings in the hospital; but, along with the pain, I tried to push the memories and worries out of my head.

Far beneath me, the foaming ocean swirled whilst blue waves rhythmically crashed repeatedly as they hit the rocks. The spray was so powerful that, even up here, I could slightly feel the cool droplets of water on my face. It was a refreshing relief from the blazing sun; the people on the sand down on the beach must've been frightfully hot. Although it really was incredibly warm, I loved Australia, specifically Bondi, with its sunny weather, beautiful beaches and friendly people.

I was suddenly pulled from my thoughts as a loud scream from below broke the serene silence. "Help! Help me!" Looking down from my high vantage point, I could see two people struggling in the strong waves. One of them, the one who was shouting, was desperately trying to hold his unconscious friend up as they got pummelled by the surf.

How the hell did they even get out this far without somebody noticing? I would've sworn the lifesaver club volunteers, or at least the professional lifeguards, would've noticed them. However, being a trained lifeguard myself, I knew that sometimes things just slipped below the radar and you didn't notice somebody until they were literally drowning.

Without a second thought, I pulled off my shoes and socks, leaving me in just my workout shorts, sports-bra and white t-shirt. I scrambled and slid down the rocks hurriedly, until I was at a point where I could safely jump into the water. I launched myself off the cliffs and dived into the ocean a few metres from where the two guys were struggling.

I surfaced and spun around, trying to pin-point where the man and his friend were, but the surging waves blocked my view. God must've been watching over me because, almost instantly, there was a lull and I was able to find the two people.

I swam strongly over to them, my long arms cutting through the waves with the gracefulness of over 13 years of professional swimming training. I reached out and was able to grab the arm of one of the men, but with two people floating face down and unconscious, it would be a near impossible task to save both.

It was hard enough keeping myself plus two dead-weight bodies from going completely underneath the water when the ocean was calm, let alone when the surf was crashing over us. The lull didn't last long, and as I had feared, wave after wave soon smashed above us, pulling me up and down until I couldn't tell which way was the sea floor and which was the sky.