Falling Dawn (II)

Chapter 15

"We should head back," Tom announced, once we were dry and had some refreshing drinks.

Tom paddled the kayak back in the same confidence as he had before. I enjoyed the trip more, taking in the stunning scenery after stilling my hunger for the kayak's captain. At least for now!

"Want me to help you?" I asked Tom midway.

"Sure, I could use some expert help."

"You think you're really funny, don't you," I shot back, amused.

I don't think I helped in any way, but at least we didn't move in circles. Tom must have paddled extremely well against my uneven strokes, or he simply gave incredible instructions. I wasn't sure.

"Help! Help! Someone help us! My son, he can't swim." A man and a woman were screaming hysterically. She was waving her hands wildly through the air while he was paddling with his bare hands in the water, obviously trying to move their kayak. Then I saw the boy, clinging on to what looked like a lifesaving vest. He was at least twenty meters away from the panic-struck couple. We would have been over fifty meters away from the boy, as far as my sense for distance went. Tom didn't hesitate. He sped up the paddling. I wanted to help but he just snapped at me, "Don't!" I sat back, now watching the man pull a life jacket over his head, before jumping into the water, swimming in uncoordinated strokes which resembled more a doggy paddle than freestyle, towards the child. We were fast approaching the little boy, who was drifting away sideways from either kayak. In the distance, a ferry was heading towards us. In my mind, I could already see it drive over someone at the scene. I could now make out the man's face which was marked by pain and fear. Tom continued strong, steady strokes. Suddenly, the little boy bumped into a buoy with his back. He turned around. While trying to hold on to it, he slipped, letting go off the life vest. Like a heavy rock, he sank, disappearing in the dark water. A piercing scream sounded over from the other kayak, where the woman collapsed. The man still struggled to swim towards the buoy. He didn't seem to have noticed the child's sinking. There was nothing he could have done anyways, being too far away.

Our kayak was only meters away. When Tom noticed the boy slip, he didn't hesitate. He threw the paddle and with a powerful jump he dived as far as he could towards the boy just moments before he'd disappeared. The last I saw of Tom was his pointed toes fading in the dark ocean. His jump made the kayak swing fiercely from side to side, almost causing it to tip over. Trying to steady the kayak, I worried, panic rising in me. Tom was wearing his beach shorts and a t-shirt. At High School, I'd completed a water safety course. Part of this had been to swim in a t-shirt, to experience the effect water had on clothing when swimming. How would Tom be able to get the boy out, let alone himself, in a shirt soaked full of water?

After what seemed like an eternity, Tom's head appeared, then slowly the rest of his body, the young boy safely tucked under his arm. I could tell that Tom was struggling though. He was looking around, to locate the nearest object for him to hang on to. As he later told me, the t-shirt had made swimming a very hard task. The buoy was now again several swim strokes away from Tom, but it was the closest object to him, so he kicked as hard as he could, moving slowly towards safety, while securely taking the child with him. I had to help Tom, so I grabbed the paddles of the kayak, moving it closer towards them. When I was within reach, I didn't have the right angle to steer the kayak right next to Tom, so I stretched out the paddle for Tom to layaway along its pole. Tom first lifted the pale boy onto his kayak seat before climbing behind him. He was out of breath and looked exhausted. After deeply inhaling and coughing a few times and after checking on the saved boy in front of him, Tom grabbed the kayak paddles once more, steering us to the boy's parents.

They thanked Tom effusively, but Tom didn't want to hear it. He took the life jacket off the boy's father and placed it safely around the child's body, before lifting him back to his mother, who exuberantly hugged her son.