Lifeguard from Maracas Bay

Chapter 02 - A Panic-Stricken Maiden

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in June, the beach was littered with towels and picnic baskets and an array of colorful umbrellas. All the lifeguards on duty kept watch as hundreds of swimmers, young and old, negotiated the huge waves. The swells continued in endless parade bringing surf and sand and swimmers to the shore.

Smaller children frolicked along the seashore collecting shells and rocks while some teenagers played volleyball on the beach. The warm sunshine and the gentle North East Trade winds created a near perfect afternoon with many green “safe for swimming” flags fluttering in the breeze.

The lifeguard booth is about four feet off the ground. One side of the booth had a gently sloping platform with handrails extending towards the water. This made it easy for the lifeguards to respond without delay in emergencies. The other three sides of the booth were enclosed about three feet high; everything was painted bright red. The thatched roof was supported by four posts to provide the lifeguards with an unobstructed view of the entire area.

Willie and his team kept watch over the crowd with one eye on the little clock that was inching ever so slowly towards 5:00 PM to mark the end of the workday for them. At exactly 4:55 PM, Willie caught sight of a hand waving frantically for help. It was perilously close to the lone red flag, a few hundred yards east of their booth. There were no other swimmers in that area.

He quickly grabbed his rescue gear and headed out towards the waving arms. A shrill blast of his whistle summoned the other lifeguards. Two of them ran down the platform to follow Willie; this alerted the crowd to the situation. Within moments Willie was within arm’s length of a panic-stricken young lady who grabbed onto his neck shortly before she lost consciousness. The other lifeguards arrived in time to help him rescue her from the tumultuous waves.

At the booth, another lifeguard phoned for an ambulance while the curious crowd moved in to see who almost drowned. All eyes were on the lifeguards and the stricken maiden as they quickly placed her lifeless body on the sand. Willie caught sight of her beautiful face for the very first time and stood there motionless as if he was in a trance of some sort. She was the most exquisite being he had ever laid eyes on.

His teammates had to nudge him before he started performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to help the young lady. This took a long time and seemed hopeless at one point but Willie continued relentlessly; he did not want to lose her. After what felt like forever, she responded with a feint spasmodic movement. He quickly turned her face to one side and gently pumped the water out of her tummy. Shortly thereafter, the ambulance whisked her off to the hospital.

The wailing siren left an eerie feeling on the beach and some parents quickly gathered their younger children together for a hurried departure. Even though this was not his first rescue, Willie felt as if time had stopped. He wanted to run after the ambulance to be at her side. He wanted to be there when she regained consciousness.

As he stared across the parking lot at the departing ambulance he spotted the long lost red sports car out of the corner of his eye. It sprang to life and headed for the exit. Willie jumped over a few picnic baskets and raced towards the speeding car. He got close enough to see that the driver was an older man and his companion, an older woman.

They did not even look in Willie’s direction in spite of his frantic efforts to get their attention. The red car exited the parking lot without stopping at the gate and took off behind the ambulance. Willie quickly surmised that they must be related to the young lady. Desperately short of breath, he fell to his knees and grasped his forehead with both hands.

After a few moments, he looked at his watch and noticed that it was already 5:30 PM. He headed to the booth kicking at the sand as he walked. Reflecting on the events of the past hour, he realized that it was the second time he had unsuccessfully chased after that red sports car. He also realized that on both instances he was so flustered that he did not even think about taking note of the license plate.

Willie sat under the nearest coconut tree thinking about the girl and reliving the first moment he laid eyes on her. When the sun disappeared behind the cliff he watched dolefully as people gathered their things and headed for their cars. One by one they left the parking lot and before long, Willie was alone on the deserted beach. Forlornly, he started on his regular route across the beach to his home but ended up at the small village church instead.

It was neither his intention nor his habit to stop at the church on the way home. He sat motionless for quite a while before uttering these words, “Dear Lord, it’s me Willie. I hope You know why I’m here tonight because I sure don’t. But since I’m here, I want to ask You to look after the young lady who was rescued today. Bless her Lord and help her to recover soon.”

That night Willie read Run Baby Run into the wee hours of the morning. The next morning and for several mornings thereafter, he took the book to the beach with him. At the end of each day he stopped at the church to pray for the girl who was rescued. She was just “the girl” because he did not know her name.

As the days went by, Willie thought about the face he saw on the beach that day and wondered if he would ever see her or the red sports car again. On the second weekend after the rescue, his team posted green flags along the beach and took their places on the lifeguard booth.