DANGER BENEATH THE WAVES

A story for the younger age group by Karen M. Leet

KRYSTAL was waist deep, splashing in the waves, when something bumped her leg. She stood absolutely still, instantly stopping the wild splashing. She wanted to run. She wanted to make a dash for the safety of the beach. Instead she took a deep breath and called to Rolf.

“Something just bumped me. Get the kids out of the water quickly and quietly!”

Rolf stared at her for a moment. She could see his blue eyes widen with alarm, but he stayed calm. He moved closer to shore, while she stood with her back to the open sea, watching to be sure none of the children ventured too far.

“Kids,” Rolf called, his voice low and calming, “walk quickly and quietly to the beach. No running. No splashing. Move now. See who can be the quickest and quietest. Good, Missy. Quieter, Shawn. Good, good. Keep moving everyone.”

He threw a look over his shoulder as he began herding the children toward the sandy beach. Even while she admired his handling of the children, Krystal wished she could be with them, close to shore, almost safe.

Maybe it was a crab. There were plenty of crabs around. Or a jellyfish. But even as she thought of the possibilities, she scanned the ocean surface, searching for a dorsal fin. Somehow she knew that whatever had bumped her had not been a crab or a jellyfish. She had a feeling it was something large.

Krystal had wondered sometimes how she would handle an emergency if one occurred. She wondered whether she would panic or keep her head. Keeping still in the water took tremendous control. She wanted to run, thrashing and flailing through the breakers. Instead she watched as Rolf urged the youngsters to safety.

The moment the last child was clear of the water, Krystal moved. Gently she edged forward, bit by bit. She felt a sense of urgency, yet knew she must remain calm, not churning or agitating the sand beneath her feet or the water around her.

She didn’t want to draw any attention to herself. Glancing at the beach, she saw Rolf talking with a lifeguard, gesturing toward her. The lifeguard raced for his station and began signalling people to get out of the water.

Krystal could see the children clustered together on the beach, snatching at the colourful towels, bickering normally. They didn’t understand. But what mattered was that they were safe.

Her mind felt partially numb, but she realised abruptly that she had been praying the entire time, a sort of automatic reflex prayer. First she had prayed for the children’s safety. Now the prayer was praise that they were on the beach out of danger.

Her feet moved steadily and gently towards the shore. She saw Rolf bending, his back turned, to help one of the children with something. Bobby, always the adventurous one, always off on his own, had wandered close to the water’s edge again. Abruptly he was wading into the waves, splashing and bobbing up and down.

He was several metres from her. She didn’t dare yell at him. He could easily turn and come in her direction. Rolf saw him and then rushed to the water to call the child.

Krystal was distracted for a few moments. As she studied the sea’s surface for a dorsal fin, she suddenly thought she saw one. It was close to where Bobby thrashed cheerfully, jumping up and down.

Was it the tip of a fin? Had she actually seen it or only imagined it? She yelled a warning to Rolf. Could he reach Bobby in time? Would Rolf be safe?

There wasn’t time to think or plan. Krystal didn’t know what she was going to do until she did it. She halted her cautious progress toward the safety of the shore and dropped flat into the water. She thrashed her legs and arms, splashing as hard as she could. If anything in the ocean was going to attract attention, she was determined it would be her.

Where was that fin? Had it abandoned Bobby? Was it driving toward her through the frothing whitecaps?

With part of her attention she saw Rolf scoop up Bobby and hurry him onto the sandy beach. She saw the other children gathered into a tight group, holding hands in pairs, seated in a row. Rolf was being firm with them. They were all safe.

The moment they were safe, she stopped her thrashing. No one was in the water. Everyone was OK. On up the beach, two lifeguards struggled with a boat, slogging it between them, bringing it to rescue her. But she couldn’t wait. Trying to stay calm, trying to keep her movements smooth and steady to avoid exciting any big predators nearby, she rushed for the beach.

“O God, thank You. Thank You God. Help me, Lord. Thank You!” Her mind was a confused jumble of pleading and praise. And then she felt the sand beneath her stumbling feet, and hands gripped her arms, pulling her to shore.

Rolf wrapped a towel over her shoulders, as she shuddered standing there. The children clutched at her, frightened, now that they understood what might have happened.

“Look!” cried a voice nearby. She glanced up. A lifeguard was pointing out to sea. Krystal wasn’t sure she wanted to look.

There, on the horizon, a dorsal fin cut through the water clearly. Beyond the fin suddenly appeared a second one, and then a third. Then the fins were arching up out of the water, and sleek, powerful bodies leaped above the waves, one after another.

“Dolphins!” yelled a swimmer. Everyone ran closer to the water’s edge, pointing and exclaiming over the sight. Dozens of large, grey bodies, undulated through the water.

Rolf put his hand on her arm. Their eyes met. Krystal knew her face was fiery with embarrassment. She couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry.

“It could just as easily have been a shark,” Rolf said in his low calm voice. “you did the right thing. In fact, I couldn’t have done what you did. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for Bobby. That was the bravest action I’ve ever seen. If being a Christian helps you to behave like that, then I’d like to hear more, OK?”

“OK!” Krystal agreed, amazed. Rolf had never been interested in her efforts to witness about her faith before.

“Krystal,” muttered Bobby, tugging at her hand. “Could we say a prayer now? The way you always do at lunch. Could we say a Thank-You prayer?”

“Yes, Bobby, we can,” Krystal agreed, hugging him firmly as they gathered their belongings together. “We sure can say a Thank-You prayer!”

After they had prayed together, Bobby looked at Krystal for a moment and then said in a quiet voice, “You know, Krystal, what you did out there sort of reminds me of what you sometimes tell us about Jesus. You could have been killed trying to save me, but Jesus did die so that we could all be saved.”

“That’s so right, Bobby. Jesus died so that we could be saved from our sin and have eternal life,” replied Krystal. “I’m so glad that what has happened today has helped you to understand this better because we all need to receive the Lord Jesus as our own Saviour”.

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