Not All Heroes Wear Capes
By Susan Lang
Savoury aromas of a juicy chicken roasting wafted
from the kitchen. The scent filled the house and teased me from my afternoon
slumber. I was reminded of the time of day. Not long now and my world was about
to be turned upside down.
Max was due home from school any minute. I was
ill this morning – dodgy guts, and I had missed seeing him today so was excited
to do so now. Trying to catch a glimpse of him coming home, I charged up to our
room. Leaping up the slippy laminated stairs, I skidded across the floor and
crashed into the bedroom door, knocking the wooden ‘Max and Paddy’s Room’ sign.
In the full length mirror I caught a glimpse of my reflection and winced. My
jet black curls had become all tousled, victims of my siesta. They would need
sorting before we went anywhere, and today we were off to the beach.
Over time we had realised that by jumping up onto
Max’s bed and looking out of the window, we could see each other in the streets
below. After a quick scour of the area, there was no sign of Max. However, I
did spot our neighbour, Aunty Val out with Ivy. Val was mum’s best friend so we
had grown up around Ivy, and I had a huge crush on her. Max teased me
relentlessly about it whenever he got the chance, like brothers do.
Our eyes met only for a second, but it felt like
a lifetime. I ducked down at the speed of light and crawled away on my belly
like a soldier at drill camp. Have you ever had one of those moments when you
want the ground to swallow you up? That is exactly how I felt in that instant,
praying the floor would split into two and gobble me up forever.
In all of the kerfuffle I hadn’t heard the door,
and before I knew it, Max had reached the bedroom. “Here’s Johnny,” he
announced in a terrible American drawl. It was a reference to his favourite
film, The Shining. Watching horror movies had become Max’s latest obsession so
I was used to the silly voices and jump scares.
We needed to get going soon if we were going to
make it to the beach before the tide came in. We lived about half a mile from the
Gunsite, and a dusty path dappled with sunlight led us to our playground. There
was a huge field, sand dunes and access to Leasowe Bay. The beach was full of
golden nuggets of sand, nothing like the stony beaches of down south. How are
you supposed to play with a ball when you’re too busy trying not to break a leg?
I ran ahead of Max. I was bursting with energy
from my lie in. The place was practically deserted. It was Friday though, so
people could have been getting ready for the weekend. We spent what felt like
hours running up and down the beach, dribbling the ball to one another. The
tide was starting to come in so we decided to walk down towards The Derby Pool
pub where there was a small cove of sand that would enable us to stay longer.
In the distance we spotted a group of teenagers.
As we approached, we recognised some of them from school. I felt excitement and
dread in my stomach simultaneously. I had spotted Ivy in the crowd and just
knew Max was going to ridicule me. My head drooped, silently praying Max would
leave me alone. No, ever the class clown, Max seized his opportunity.
“Oi-oi, fancy seeing you lot here,” he bellowed
chest first like a cocky Silverback Gorilla. He snatched the ball off me and
volleyed it towards them. Landing just in front of the group, it sprayed sand
into the air and sprinkled everyone in a salty shower. The girls were moaning
about getting sand in their hair. I could understand their frustrations. It
takes ages to get rid of sand after the beach. It gets everywhere!
Max continued with his escapades when we reached
Ivy and the gang. First it was keep-ups, boasting about how many he could do in
one go. When that didn’t get the reaction he was looking for, he directed his
attention my way. He tried to make me look stupid by kicking the ball too fast
in my direction. He knew full well I wouldn’t be able to catch it in time. When
he was bored of that, he took great delight in teasing me and Ivy. “Paddy and
Ivy sitting in the tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G,” he taunted in his sing song
voice. By then I’d had enough. I snapped
at him, sick of being the butt of his jokes. I could feel the second hand
embarrassment emanating off the others.
I stormed off leaving Max there. I was so angry
with him I could feel it building inside me, forcibly escaping through my eyes.
Even from far away, I could hear them laughing. Max had charmed the gang back
into favour, which made me fume even more.
Suddenly, I realised that the distant laughter
had turned into screams. Fear swelled inside me as the rising tide filled our
sandy playground. Turning back to see the figures in the horizon, horror struck
when I realised there was a silhouette missing – Max! Somehow he had gotten
swept into the sea and was caught in a rip current. He couldn’t escape. He was
drowning!
Before I knew what I was doing I had bounded back
to the group. Somebody had called for the lifeboat but I couldn’t wait for
them. It would be too late. I managed to catch Ivy’s eye before diving in to
get Max. She barked at me when she realised what I was doing but it was
pointless. There was no way I would not try and rescue my best friend.
Max was flailing around, shouting for help. I
could hear the terror in his voice as the cruel sea pulled him under in her
grip. I barely noticed the freezing temperatures as I steamed in towards Max.
Soon the salt began to sting my eyes making him harder to spot, the sea froth
expanding like cappuccino foam. I stopped to orientate myself. It had gone
quiet. He wasn’t shouting any more. Panic rose. I had to find him. Discovering
a new mermaid like ability to swim, I took a lungful of breath and started to
descend under the water.
I searched frantically. He had to be around. The
disturbed sand and debris hindered my view. I had no option but to feel around
aimlessly. Then, just when my lungs were about to burst, I felt his limp body
sinking to the bottom of the sea. I managed to grab him before passing out
myself and pushed up to the surface. The Coast Guard arrived just in time to
pull us both out of the water. The nightmare wasn’t over yet.
Max was blue and unresponsive. The medics were
working on him furiously. I felt myself holding my own breath in shock. “Come
on Max, please wake up,” I begged silently, not being able to fathom a future
without him. What felt like a lifetime later, Max spluttered back to life, coughing
up a lungful of foamy water, the colour slowly returned to his skin. I couldn’t
stop the tears of joy from rolling down my face. Without thinking, I jumped
onto him through sheer relief and elation. Huddling together under a space
blanket, we returned to safety.
By the time we arrived at the Coast Guard’s hut,
a crowd had congregated. It had created quite a fuss, and a bevy of news
reporters had gathered with their camera crews. It would have been quite
exciting if Max and I weren’t traumatised by the day’s events.
***
Later that evening, once everything was over, the
whole family gathered at our house. Everyone was eager to watch the day’s
dramatic escapades on the local news. Mum, dad, Max, me, nan and grandad had
all horned into our shoebox lounge. Even Val and Ivy had popped over to be
involved in the proceedings. Ivy slipped in to sit next to me, intentionally I
hoped. The room, however small, was abuzz with excitement. Mum had even got
some fizz and the posh biscuits out ready for our five minutes of fame.
“Quiet everybody! Hush, hush,” mum bellowed, making
more noise than anyone, “we’re going to miss it.”
Any excited chatter dissipated as soon as the
theme tune started playing. Tension built as if we were going into the final
round of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’.
“Okay, here we go,” quipped dad, bracing himself.
The broadcaster began, “today we start the news
with the story of a local hero.” Everyone in the room cheered. Nothing had even
been said yet, but people were getting excited and started rubbing my head as
if it was a lamp containing a genie. The newscaster continued, “this afternoon
a teenager from Leasowe was saved from drowning by his pet dog.” The room
erupted into whoops and applause. My heart felt like it would burst with pride.
My reward? Some of that lovely chicken from
earlier on. Yum yum!
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