Copyright Oggbashan June 2016.
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction. The events described here are imaginary; the settings and characters are fictitious and are not intended to represent specific places or living persons.
This story was inspired by the 1930s song "Is 'E an Aussie, Is 'E, Lizzie?" by Flotsam and Jetsam.
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I reminded myself I mustn't stay too long in the sun. My overall tan had faded years ago and my skin would burn even in the South Wales sunshine. Another half hour would be my limit for today.
I was enjoying the sights on this secluded nudist beach on the South Wales coast. I had forgotten how attractive some nude bodies could be, and how unselfconscious even unattractive bodies were. A few yards away was a very attractive body. She had sun-bleached hair, a tan with no bikini marks, and although she was obviously only a few years younger than me, she looked seriously fit. Her breasts had a slight downward trend, not so obvious when she was on her back, but they slumped when she sat up and turned over.
There were other younger women on the beach but for some reason my eyes kept returning to that one. She had checked me out too. Although my skin is too white I have kept fit with weekly sessions in our office gym and some running. I use the local swimming pool several times a week after work. Apart from that I have had no life beyond work for years since my divorce. I had concentrated on building my business in London partly to compensate for the sense of loss once my marriage had collapsed.
I looked away. I didn't want to offend her by looking too much. At the edge of the bay were some tidal rocks. About a dozen children of various ages were happily exploring the rock pools. They should be safe. The tide was ebbing.
My eyes wandered over the sun-dappled sea. Suddenly I noticed a white line in the distance. It could have been the wake of a large container ship that had passed earlier, but whether that was the cause or not, a larger than normal wave was approaching. I stood up and rushed towards the lifeguard station, pointing and shouting as I ran. A hand waved while I was still fifty yards away and the warning siren sounded. I changed direction heading for the rocks. Those children were in danger and three lifeguards couldn't save a dozen children. The woman I had been watching had sat up as I ran past. She too was running towards the rocks with an effortless stride. She and I, and the lifeguards were all too late. The wave swept over the rocks washing the children into the sea alongside.
"Watch out for the rip!" I shouted as I came alongside her.
"No worries," she gasped as we ran as fast as we could.
We dived into the confused sea side by side. Some of the older children were beginning to swim. We passed them heading for the smaller ones who were struggling. I heard the lifeguards' jet-ski accelerating towards us but still a long way away. I grabbed one boy who had blood streaming from his face. I held his head above water with one hand as I swum with the other hand towards a smaller boy.
She had reached two children slightly older than toddlers and was holding them up. Two other adults were in the water behind us rescuing those children close to shore. They were standing. The rest of us were being swept out to sea by the rip. It wasn't seriously dangerous. All we had to do was swim at an angle, away from the rocks, and we would lose the pull of the rip.
"Swim that way!" A lifeguard shouted as he arrived on the jet-ski towing two more on surfboards. She and I were already half way across the rip about fifty yards out to sea. A few more impeded strokes only using my legs and I felt the rip's pull diminish. I began to turn shoreward.
"Not yet mate!" She shouted close to me. "Another ten yards first!"
She was right. I resumed my seaward course. The smaller youngster was spluttering as he tried to keep his head above water. I changed my grip slightly to push him upward. The boy with the bloody face was kicking to help our progress.
Within five minutes the three of us were aground on the beach. The smaller boy was grabbed from the water by his mother. The older boy staggered as he tried to stand in the back wash from a wave. I propped him up.
"How are you?" I asked.
"OK, I think," he said. "Thank you. I can swim but not well yet."
"What about the blood?" I asked.
"That? Nothing. I tried to hold my little sister as the wave caught us. Her fingernail scratched my face."
"Where is your sister?" I asked.
"Your lady friend brought her ashore," the boy replied. "My sister can't swim at all."
'My lady friend'? I turned to look for the woman who had been sunbathing beside me. She was carrying the boy's sister and had another small girl by her side. Across the beach parents were rushing towards us and the lifeguards who were unloading all the other children.
I and the boy walked across to her.
"Are you OK, Chloe?" the boy asked his sister.
"Yes, Sam. I tried to hold on to you but..." She was trying not to cry.
"I know, Chloe. Mum and Dad are coming."
They were. They arrived within seconds. Both were relieved but shocked. The mother lifted Chloe out of the woman's arms. Chloe burst into tears as her mother hugged her. The father knelt down in front of Sam. He looked up at the two of us.
"Thank you, thank you," he said.
"No worries, she'll be right," the woman said.
"That's OK," I said.
The family walked slowly away.
"For a Pommie, you're useful in the water," she said to me. "I'm Liz."
"Hello Liz," I said. "You're a beaut swimmer too. I'm Alan."
"So you know some Australian terms, Alan?"
"Yes, Liz..." I might have said more but the head lifeguard came up to us.
"Thank you for the warning, sir," he said. "If we, or you two, had been a little slower that could have been a disaster..."
His radio squawked at him. He put it to his ear.
"Yes. Fat lot of good that is now. OK. It could have been worse."
He turned back to us.
"We've just been told that a container ship was going too fast and causing a large wave -- five minutes after the wave arrived. I'd like to invite you two to the lifeguards' office for a cup of tea. You'll come?"
I looked at Liz. She nodded.
"Thank you. We'll come," I said.
'We'? What we? Liz and I were strangers who had just happened to be close to each other on a nudist beach. She was tanned. I was pasty white and could feel my skin beginning to redden. I'd have to get dressed soon.
The tea was strong and sugar laden. I suppose it was meant to revive those who had been rescued but neither Liz nor I seemed particularly shaken by the event. The senior lifeguard looked at us.
"You two knew what you were doing," he said almost accusingly.
"I should bloody well hope so, mate," Liz answered. "I'm a surf lifeguard instructor."