Kindle Edition
Amazon
Category:
Drama
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-10: B00CPN82BY
Type: Fiction
Pages: 68
Copyright: 2012
ISBN-13: 9781470102975
Price: $5.45 (eBook)
While visiting the past, young Piper Malone discovers that there are some things that should stay in the past.
"Rushing back to the past to correct a terrible tragedy, Young Piper Malone learns that there are things you can change – and things
you can not. This tale of love that transcends death, courage that transcends time, and the
power of compassion will break your heart and heal it, and then leave you still longing
for more.” - Summer Foovay
Excerpt
I could faintly smell the familiar scent of burning wood. It was too dark to see the smoke, plus I was about two miles away from the fire itself -- one land mile and one sea mile. Fortunately, I had a full moon and light from a few scattered street posts to help me find my way. I had to stop and rest a few times, but I was almost to headquarters when something caught my eye.
Out in the water was a little boy no more than five or six years old, clinging to what looked like a big rock. I did not know why there would be a little boy that far out in the ocean or even a rock. I wondered why no one else seemed to notice him, or for that matter how I was able to see him so clearly.
I forgot about the yacht and ran into the water, heading straight for the boy and his rock. Even though it was a hot night, the sea felt strangely cold, and it soon set my teeth to chattering. While I was swimming, which as you may recall I am not very good at, I could hear a male lifeguard calling out for me to stop. But I did not. My arm was stinging very badly from the salt water. The Novocain had worn off, so I was feeling the full effects of my burned hand. That, combined with the cold, made me hurt so much I was getting light-headed. There was a lot of wind and the waves kept crashing over me forcing me to go under. Adrenaline made up for my poor swimming skills and helped me fight harder than I thought I could. I had to get to the little boy.
I must have blacked out, because the next thing I remember was the strong arms of a lifeguard grabbing me to take me back to shore. I fought hard with him continuing to use this strength I did not know possessed. “Go get the boy,” I kept calling to him, between gasps of air. Every time I opened my mouth to speak, a dark black wave would break upon my face momentarily choking me.
He would not listen and because he was much stronger than I was, he quickly overcame me. I had to let him bring me back to the beach. As soon as we got back to the beach, I immediately struggled loose and tried to head into the water again.
The boy had disappeared. A panic swept over me, as I desperately started diving under the waves hoping to find him. All I could see was thick black darkness. Every time I came up to try and get a breath, the waves would try to choke the life out of me. I felt a lifeguard lift me out of the water and hold me with a much stronger grasp than before as he dragged me out of the ocean again.
Once on the beach he put me down, but he still held me as he spoke. “Quit giving me trouble, girl, and go home to your parents.”
“He is going to die!” I blurted out, trying to sound as mad as possible, though I was really just scared out of my mind.
“Who are you here with?” he asked, clearly ignoring my words.
“Tom and Lorraine,” I said with quite a bit of attitude. I know I should have shown more respect, but this lifeguard was driving me crazy. Did he not see the little boy that had been on the rock? Why was he wasting time talking to me when he should have been out there looking for him? He rolled his eyes and was about to lead me away when Andy showed up. ‘My hero,’ I thought when I saw Andy coming. ‘He will know what to do about the little boy.’
When he got close enough, I told him about the boy on the rock. His reply shocked me and made me angry. “Now, don't let your little imagination get all worked up. There is no boy out there. If there was, we would have seen him. I knew I should never have told you that story about Christina and with the hurt on your arm. ”Andy paused to feel my head. “Girl, you are burning up! You have a fever and were seeing things,” Turning to the other lifeguard, Andy said, “Take her up to headquarters and have someone wait with her while I go find Captain Morris. She needs to take a look at this girl.”
“My name is not Girl. It is Piper, and I am not imagining things!” I replied as I started to run back to the ocean.
“Oh, no, Not again!” the other lifeguard said, as he grabbed me up and carried me off to headquarters.
Once we got there, the woman who was at the front desk earlier that day came over to us. “Chris, I will take care of her. You go back outside.”
“Gladly,” he said. “She is a handful.”
Once Chris was gone, the woman, whose name was Stephanie, said, “Now, let’s get you out of this wet dress and then you can rest in the first aid room while we wait for Captain Morris. It might be a long wait, since she is busy tending to the victims of the fire.” I agreed by nodding my head. I was too upset to speak.
It looked like a child was dead, and it was because I could not convince the lifeguards that he was out there needing help. I was scared that I would have the same bad result when it came time to save Lorraine.
While Stephanie was helping me change into another long t-shirt the tears came. I told her all about what had happened on the beach and how scared I was for the little boy and for Lorraine. Stephanie held me for a moment without speaking. Then she said, still holding me, “I know you thought you saw a little boy, and you did the right thing by trying to help him, though you should have gotten one of us to go out there. The ocean at night can be a very dangerous thing -- especially with all this wind churning up the waves and bringing in the smoke from the fire. One could choke to death on the smoke alone. Also, the moon on the waves can play tricks on your mind. You are really hot with fever, so it is a possibility that you were hallucinating.” She said all this with such a calm sympathetic voice that I could no longer be mad. But I knew that I had not dreamed what I had seen.
“What about Lorraine? I know that her numb arm scared her more than she was saying.” I insisted.
“Captain Morris is a grown woman with a lot of training. If there is something to be done for her numb arm, she will know what it is and will do it.” Stephanie tried to reassure me, but I was not completely convinced.
She told me to lay down on the examination table and rest. Stephanie stayed with me until Lorraine arrived about an hour later. I jumped off the table and ran to her, talking hurriedly about the little boy. “There is a boy lost in the ocean. He fell off of the rock he was clinging to. We need to find him,” I told her quickly as I headed for the door.
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