lifeguard ● harry styles au

zero- helpless

zero- helpless

opening

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It only took a moment; a single, fragile moment for everything to change. Such a small amount of time, yet with the ability to change my entire outlook on life.

Everything about that day was so perfect, our stuffy air finally challenged by a strong wind - incredibly rare in these parts of Australia. It was impossible to anticipate the events of the day. Every person on the beach was so uplifted by the weather, excited by the change. But not everything can go to plan, I suppose. Some things are uncontrollable.

The moments when I was struggling on the thin border between life and death are still etched into my mind, surfacing every time I see the water. It's really quite hard to forget. The waves were terrifyingly high. I thought great, I can finally surf some real waves but I was stupid. So stupid.

The moment the waves hit my board, the heavy water forced itself onto me, shoving me under the surface. I heard my surf board snap, jaggedly pieces of wood flying in the air, out of reach within seconds. I was gasping for air, my lungs screaming to breathe. The salty water was blinding me, stinging my eyes, whipping my helpless body in different directions. I felt like a doll to the rough waves, a pathetic body tossed about in the crashes of blue.

It all happened so fast. In mere moments I found myself already under the depth of the water, so far down. My whole body was aching, exhausted from kicking, my eyes sore. All I could see when I looked down was darkness, and the angelic, white surface above me was fading fast; escaping further and further from my reach. Everything around me was so calm for those few moments beneath the hectic waves above. I tried to scream, the mocking bubbles bursting in front of me, paralysing me in fear. They blew in my face, and the suffocating water was suddenly in my mouth, in my nose, in my ears, in my lungs, all weighing me down. And in a few moments more, my body couldn't handle the agonising pain any longer. It shut down. I shut down.

I felt myself drift away, deeper and deeper below the surface, fingers outstretched. And in that moment,

I was sure I would die.