‘Where did you get those from?’ she asked.
‘They’re my trousers. I just cut them off into shorts,’ he admitted and Amanda burst out laughing.
‘Are you serious?’
‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘I can get new trousers and it’s probably better to be gardening in shorts in this weather.’
They crossed the road and walked down the path towards the beach.
There were people on the sand further up towards the village but Amanda and Simon had their area to themselves.
Amanda put her towel on the sand and the cooler next to it and slipped off her sundress.
‘Last one in’s a rotten egg,’ she cried and ran down towards the water.
As her feet hit the water she turned and danced, facing the beach. ‘It’s freezing,’ she called out.
‘I told you,’ Simon said, turning around and looking at her.
‘Come in.’ She waved at him.
Amanda waded out further into the water as her body became used to the temperature. Soon she was waist-deep and then up to her shoulders.
She looked back to shore and saw Simon sitting on the sand.
‘The water is fine,’ she yelled but Simon didn’t seem to hear her.
Amanda swam a little further out and then realised she couldn’t stand anymore and turned to swim back, when suddenly she felt her body being dragged out further to sea. No matter how hard she tried to swim the other way, she was pulled further out. It felt like a magnet under the sea was pulling her, dragging her under.
The water also felt faster than where she had been swimming only moments before.
Simon was becoming smaller the further she was pulled out and Amanda started to panic.
She tried to put her hand up but she was pulled down and she swallowed water, then came up gasping up for air.
‘Simon,’ she called weakly but he wasn’t in view anymore. ‘Simon!’ she cried, but her legs felt like lead and her head went under the water again.
Fight, fight, she told herself but she couldn’t. Her ears hurt and her lungs felt as though they were about to explode. They burned and she closed her eyes, terror enveloping her body, when she suddenly felt arms around her waist. She was being pulled towards someone.
Her arms instinctively wrapped around the person’s neck and she gasped for air.
‘You’re okay. We’re in a rip. Lie back with me and let’s just float, okay?’
Amanda couldn’t see. Her eyes burned from the salt and she felt herself being turned onto her back, lying on someone’s chest, and she floated.
‘Slow your breathing,’ she heard the person say. ‘No, like this. Feel your breath with mine,’ they said. Their hand was on her diaphragm, soothing as she felt her breath slow down and her mind stopped panicking.
‘We’re going to float and this will take us to a sandbank I can see, so just lie back. I have you, you’re safe.’
Amanda did, but the tears came, and she cried as they floated until it felt as though they were not moving anymore. Then she realised she could feel sand below her feet.
‘We’re okay, we’re safe now. We’re safe together,’ she heard and she reluctantly pulled away and stood up, hip-deep in water. She turned and there was Simon.
‘Thank you,’ she cried and fell into his arms, sobbing onto his shoulder. ‘You saved my life,’ she said.
His arms wrapped around her again and her held her tight.
‘That was a nasty rip,’ he said. ‘I got up to warn you, as I could see it from the shore where I was sitting, but then you just went under, as though pulled down.’
