"Brett."
"Eddy."
Without further words, Brett picked up the remote and turned on the TV.
"Thanks."
Eddy turned to the side table and grabbed a tissue and handed it to Brett.
"Here mate."
"What's this for... AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHCHOOOO"
Eddy cringed.
"That."
Brett sniffled.
"F*ck, you're too good."
"Shhhhh it's started."
The missing toddler Brad Smith, 2 years old, had gone on a picnic with his parents and seemed to have strayed from the picnic area onto a bushwalking path at around 11:15 this morning.
If strayed from the bushwalking path, the area has very dense foliage, due to the heavy rain followed by the warm weather and temperatures today may reach up to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) thanks to an early arrival of summer. This is a major concern for the toddler who would not have had any food or drink with him when he strayed....
Eddy squeezed his head with the palm of his hands on his temples.
"F*ck."
"You see him already ?!"
"He's... down."
"Sh*t, dead..? Hang on, I'm there too."
They both went silent for a while.
Brett let out a sigh of relief as he exclaimed.
"Oh my f*cking god Eddy, don't do that. He's breathing !!! He's just sleeping!!"
Eddy shrugged apologetically.
"Sorry. I'm faster but I lack detail. So...where is it?"
"Can you find out? I'm trying to check his vitals."
"Damn Brett. That's just wow - I dunno how you can do that. OK, I'm almost there..."
"...Okay, Eddy, the kid has a hat on and is wearing a thin jacket. He could overheat but at least he's being sun smart. He'll be dehydrated when we get to him..."
"Can 2 year olds drink from a normal water bottle?"
"Sh*t Eddy, I dunno. I'm a f*cking clairvoyant, not a child care worker."
"Ugh. Fine, I'll pack a plastic cup and a straw."
"How're you gonna explain having those things with you?"
"...I don't wanna share my bottle with you. ...And I have sensitive teeth."
"Sounds good enough for me."
Eddy zipped up his backpack after packing it with some snacks, a plastic cup, a straw, a couple of water bottles and their first aid kit. He then handed a red walkie talkie to Brett.
"Here, you better take this. I made sure it had working batteries in it this time."
"Thanks... thank goodness they didn't check last time. It would've looked too suss if we had told them we communicated on the walkie talkie when it didn't even have frickin' batteries in them!!"
"We only have to say that if our phone goes out of range. This track should still give us a reception in that family picnic area."
"OK, let's go."
Eddy gave a shy smile to the TV camera as instructed. He really didn't want to be interviewed or have a photoshoot for rescuing the child, but he and Brett had missed the opportunity to quietly get away.
"..We had no idea he was missing. I'm just so glad we happen to find him."
"Yes, we strayed from the bush track because we thought we saw some kind of wild animal in the bush and we wanted to have a closer look. Yes I know it was a stupid thing to do but we broke a few branches on our way into the bush so that we wouldn't get lost. Oh no, are we in trouble for that?"
Brett said so knowing all too well that saving a young toddler's life outweighed the harming of a small part of the Australian flora.
The TV cameras zoomed in on the duo. The cameras clicked and their flashes flicked in a mad frenzy. The lighting was blinding and reporters were asking questions left right and centre, annoying the two men and frightening the small child that Eddy was still holding in his arms. The little boy had his arms wrapped around Eddy's neck. He gave out a little wail and buried his face into the crook of his rescuer's neck, clearly upset with all the fuss. Eddy tried to shield the boy from all the commotion by standing behind Brett and use him as a shield from the light and noise.
"Look, he's distressed. May we please finish up here and return him to his mother now?"
Eddy took some large steps towards the mother who was in tears. She reached out to her son as the little boy did the same towards his mother.
"Thank you so much for finding him..."
Eddy smiled.
"Hey, you already thanked us like a million times. It's okay, we were very lucky. I'm so glad we found him safe and sound."
Meanwhile, Brett was still being interviewed by the same group of journalists.
"...So this was a complete coincidence that you happened to wander into the bush at the exact location where this child was located?"
"Yes."
"Mr Yang. We are aware that this is not the first time you and Mr Chen had rescued children who got lost in the bush."
Eddy overheard the conversation and whispered to the mother.
"Please, we just wanted to help. We don't want any complications. Please don't ask us any questions...?"
The mother nodded.
"Of course. I'm just grateful you two exist. Thank you so much."
"Mrs Smith !!! Are you sure you don't know these gentlemen from somewhere? Isn't this some kind of hoax for these guys to win their regular dose of 15 minutes of fame?"
"No, I have never met these gentlemen in my life. I am just simply grateful that they stumbled across my son and took good care of him till he was reunited with his family."
"Brett, I'm getting frustrated..."
"Yes, Eddy I sensed that."
"I want to help people without being misunderstood."
"Yes, I know, Eddy. Me, too."
"To be honest, I don't care about the general public, but you think that mother might've thought we kidnapped her son and pretended to have found him later ?"
"No, I didn't sense any of such doubt from her."
"Are you saying that using your... ability or is that just your layman's observation?"
"Ability. Trust me, Eddy. I can see it if she had such doubts. She was genuinely grateful."
"...Just out of curiosity, what would you have seen if she had any doubts?"
Brett hesitated.
"What is it, Brett? Now you got me even more intrigued."
"Y'know those wiggly lines in comic cartoons called stink lines?"
Eddy furrowed his brows out of both bemusement and from stopping himself from bursting out laughing.
"YOU SEE STINK LINES !?!?"
"Hey, at least I have something going for me here that I can interpret for good use !!!"
"Yes.. you're right Brett, I'm sorry.. my... deepest.. apologies..."
Eddy couldn't hold it in anymore and he burst out laughing.
"Eddy I swear, if I was a wizard instead of a clairvoyant, I would've turned you into a f*cking doorknob or something..."
"Huh? Why a doorknob? How random is that?!"
"Oh, so you don't mind having your whole body grabbed by random people and twisted around? I think it may be your worst nightmare, being super ticklish and a borderline germaphobe?"
Eddy went pale.
"F*ck Brett.. you're giving me a nightmare, aren't you!!!"
Brett smirked.
"No, as I said, I'm a f*cking clairvoyant, not a wizard."
To be continued...