Trouble at the Beach
Joe and his sister Charlie were sitting
in the back of the car arguing again.
Even though they knew they were on their way to the beach it made no
difference – they carried on quarrelling.
As they arrived at the beach car park and the car rolled to a halt Joe
leapt out, eager to escape his family.
But his dad called after him, ‘Joe,
where do you think you’re going? We need
a hand here.’
He groaned and slouched back to the car,
helping his parents unpack the boot.
Charlie was standing scowling at him.
‘Why isn’t she helping?’ he complained.
‘I don’t know,’ his mum said shortly. ‘Come on, Charlie,’ she said. ‘This car won’t unpack itself you know.’
Charlie unwillingly began to help. Once they’d finished unloading the car, the
family made their way down the slope to the beach, their arms full of the
things they’d need for the beach: towels, swimming gear, windbreak and much
more. In spite of himself Joe started to
feel better. The sun was warm on his
back and the sea sparkled in the light, looking inviting.
‘Why don’t you and Charlie go and play
in the sea?’ Joe’s mum suggested as they began setting up the windbreak.
‘Mum, I’m not five,’ Joe said scornfully
as he quickly changed into his swimming trunks.
‘Give your mum a break, Joe,’ his dad
said. ‘Anyway, it doesn’t feel that long
to your mum and me since you were that age.’
It was Joe’s turn to scowl. ‘Well I’m
not anymore,’ he said rudely and stalked off quickly towards the sea, ignoring
his parents shouts to him to come back at once and apologise.
When he reached the water, Joe breathed
out heavily. He hadn’t even realised
he’d been holding his breath. He dipped
his big toe in the water and shivered.
It was so cold. Taking a step
back from the water, he turned around and shielded his eyes from the bright sun
to see where his family were. He didn’t
want to lose sight of them completely. He could just about make out the
familiar green, yellow and purple windbreak and his mum in her red swimsuit
leaning over to get something out of a bag.
Satisfied that he knew where they were, he turned away and walked along
the shore, feeling happy that he was on his own for a change with no clingy
sister or pesky parents bothering him.
He hadn’t got far when he came to an
abrupt halt. Three boys were walking
towards him. He couldn’t believe
it. How could they be here? He thought that school holidays were when you
escaped the bullies. And yet here they
were, on the same sunny beach as him: Johnny, Freddie and Simon. Worst of all they’d seen him. Joe considered turning around and heading
back the way he’d come but then something inside him snapped. He’d had enough of running away from these
boys. He would stand his ground and
defend himself. So he stayed put and pretended
he hadn’t seen them, splashing around in the water half-heartedly.
‘Well look who it is,’ said Johnny, who
was the leader of the trio, as the three boys sauntered up to Joe.
‘Yeah we never thought we’d see you
here,’ smirked Simon, the shortest and fattest of the three.
‘Say hello then,’ Freddie demanded
rudely.
‘What are you doing here?’ Joe asked
defiantly. He could feel his face go red
with anger and the words just kept spilling out. ‘I know what I’m doing – I’m minding my own
business! So why don’t you just go away
and leave me alone!’
‘Getting cocky are we?’ Johnny said and
looking at him, Joe could see his expression darkening and felt his confidence evaporate. He turned away.
‘I’m on holiday with my family,’ he said
in a low voice, ‘and I just want to be left alone, please. I haven’t done anything to you.’
Joe could hear hoots of laughter behind
him. Then a rough hand on his arm forced
him to turn around to face his enemies.
‘I think you have,’ Johnny said
menacingly. His two friends were
laughing and smirking. ‘You didn’t do
what we asked you to do. You didn’t
bring us the answers to that test like we told you to.’
Joe’s stomach lurched. This couldn’t be happening; it was like his
worst nightmare come true. But then he felt
the same indignant feeling as before.
‘I don’t have to do what you tell me,’
he said slowly and calmly. ‘If you don’t
all go away and leave me alone, I’ll report you to the lifeguard.’ He knew that sounded really lame but he
couldn’t think of what else to say. And
it must have sounded pathetic to the three bullies, because after looking
around furtively and seeing that no one was watching, they grabbed him hard by
the arms and began to drag him out to sea.
As Joe shouted and looked desperately around him for help, he caught
sight of Charlie in the distance standing on the beach with a look of horror on
her face. She seemed glued to the spot,
but then he saw her turn and run off up the beach. He hoped she wouldn’t be too long in getting
help.
Why had no one apart from his sister
appeared to have seen what was going on? he wondered dully. The three boys dragged him kicking and screaming
out to sea, laughing and sniggering as they did so. Then as he felt his voice go hoarse, Joe
stopped struggling and remembered his swimming training. He was on the swimming
team at school and had been told by the swimming coach he was one of the best
in the team. Joe had a suspicion that
the three older boys didn’t know as much about swimming as he did, especially
not swimming in the sea. The water was
getting more and more choppy the further out they went.
By now the water was deep. Suddenly the other boys let go of his arms as
they began to feel themselves float. Joe
knew he needed to get help and raised his arm out of the water, waving it in
what he thought was the direction of the lifeguard. The other boys were floundering. They obviously had no idea of what to do. Their faces had changed from smug and
satisfied to scared and terrified. Joe
knew he must help them.
‘Don’t panic,’ he said calmly.
‘I’m not panicking,’ Johnny said
shivering. His face had a bluish tinge
from the cold water.
‘Whatever.’ Joe said. ‘We’ve got to swim parallel to the
shore. That way we’re less likely to get
caught in a strong current.’ He tried to
get the three boys to follow him as he began to swim parallel to the
shore. But it was no good. The tide was too strong for them – it was too
strong for him and he was struggling.
‘All right, let’s stay where we are for now,’ he said loudly over the
sound of the waves.
‘That’s stupid,’ said Freddie
panting. ‘If we stay where we are we’ll
never make it back.’
‘We can’t do it on our own,’ Joe said
with an effort. By now the sky had clouded
over and the water was getting more and more choppy. ‘Just try and tread water.’
‘I don’t know how,’ Simon said
miserably. ‘I’ve never been good at
swimming.’
Oh great, Joe thought. He knew he would be responsible for looking
after these boys until help arrived. He
hoped that Charlie would’ve raised the alarm by now or that the lifeguard would
have spotted his waving.
‘Just move your hands backwards and
forwards in a figure of eight and kick your legs out to the sides,’ Joe
said. Simon tried to follow his
instructions but he didn’t do very well and Joe could see that he was struggling.
‘Try not to panic,’ he said again
breathlessly. ‘It won’t help. The calmer you are, the easier it is to
concentrate.’ To his surprise they
nodded and were quiet for a while. As
the minutes went by, Joe was relieved to see that they were managing to stay
afloat a bit better, even Simon.
After a while longer though, they had a
new problem. The day had begun sunny and
warm but now it was beginning to rain, softly at first but then harder. Joe felt as though he was getting a soaking,
though of course he’d been wet for a while.
Added to that, the sea was rougher and Simon’s head kept going up and
down, in and out of the water. Joe
remembered what he’d been taught about safety when swimming and managed to swim
to Simon and grab hold of his arm. Now
that he had to support himself and someone else, Joe rapidly began to feel
exhausted. Then to his surprise he felt
a hand supporting his arm and saw that it was Johnny, who gave him what might
have been a smile. On the other side of
him was Freddie looking scared but holding on to Joe’s other arm.
The four boys managed to bob up and down
in the water, supporting each other so that they didn’t go under. They weren’t talking now and Joe had time to
think. Part of him was glad that these
three boys who’d been giving him hell at school were struggling. They deserved it, didn’t they, after what they’d
put him through. But Joe was not a boy
who held grudges and while he didn’t want to have anything to do with Johnny,
Freddie and Simon after today, he didn’t wish them harm either. He just wanted this all to be over. Even a trip with his family to the zoo would
be better than this!
Just when he was beginning to think he
couldn’t go on, Joe heard the sound of a motor and then he saw a boat
approaching them rapidly. He couldn’t
have felt happier as he nudged the other boys who looked dazed and then
relieved as they saw help arriving. Then
everything happened very fast; Joe found himself being lifted up by strong arms
into the boat, with the other three boys just after. A blanket was wrapped around him and he was
given a flask with hot liquid in it, he wasn’t sure what it was but it was the
best thing he’d ever tasted.
As the boat carried them back to the
shore, Joe began to feel very sleepy and shut his eyes. But he was nudged awake by Johnny, who looked
shaken. ‘I’m very sorry for everything, Joe,’
he said miserably. ‘Maybe we could…you
know, forget it ever happened? Just
be…you know, friends?’
Joe looked at him incredulously. How could he possibly think they could ever
be friends after all he and his two friends had done? ‘I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to be your friend and I don’t
think you really want to be mine either.’
Seeing Johnny’s face fall, he went on, ‘I will say hello to you when we
see each other at school but that’s it.
And when the lifeguard asks me what happened today, I’m going to tell
them the truth.’ Joe turned away from
the three scared faces of the bullies and buried his face in the comforting
softness of the blanket.
As he felt the boat slowing down, Joe looked
up to see his anxious parents and sister waiting at the front of a crowd of
people as the boat approached the beach.
He’d never been so glad to see them in his life. As he was helped off the boat, he didn’t look
back at the three boys cowering in the boat but went straight to his parents
who hugged him tightly and listened as his mum told him she’d thought she was
going to lose him. Then he felt a gentle
tap on his arm and turning saw that it was Charlie whose eyes were filled with
tears.
‘I thought they were going to kill you,
Joe,’ she said in a small voice. ‘I
promise I’ll never bug you about going to the zoo ever again.’
Joe and his parents laughed aloud at
that and Charlie looked hurt. But Joe
squeezed her hand and said, ‘Do you know after what happened today, I think a
trip to the zoo would be the best thing ever.’
His sister beamed and gave him one of her bear hugs.
‘So you won’t be interested in a trip to
the cinema tonight then?’ their dad said casually.
‘Oh yes, definitely,’ Joe said grinning.
And without looking back, Joe and his
family walked away from the churning sea.
