Waves

CHAPTER 039

NORA

Much to Nora's irritation and Mouse's orders, Nora was forced to stay home from school for the week, since she had her surgery. Her friends were texting her constantly, even though they were supposed to be focusing on class, but they sent her enough notes for her to at least know what was going on.

Talia, on the other hand, had practically become a permanent fixture at Nora's house. Between Talia sneaking in candy and Rosie hauling buckets full of treats, Nora felt like Hansel and Gretel when they were being fattened up by the witch.

"Come on, Talia, what do you want to do?" She asked as the two girls sat on Nora's bed with a pile of candy between them and a few discarded projects off to the side. She was supposed to be doing schoolwork, but then again, so was Talia.

"Whatever you want to do," Talia told her, for what must have been the sixtieth time.

Nora groaned, throwing herself backward against her bed, and said, "I'm asking you."

"You're the sicko over here," Talia pointed out, "Why don't we just go to the beach? We can at least just sit down and watch the waves."

"That sounds good," Nora agreed instantly. She popped up from her position and grabbed one of her hoodies from her closet, as well as pulling on a pair of socks.

It was fifty degrees, which was pretty nice for May, but Nora still didn't want to deal with the cold. After a summer of one hundred degree weather, she still wasn't used to the colder temperatures. At home, she'd be celebrating the heat currently. Too bad that wasn't reality anymore.

"Come on," Nora led the way outside her room and down the hall, where Harrison was watching, predictably, a talk show.

Maxi was at the counter, scrolling through his phone and looking bored to death.

Harrison glanced at Nora and Talia as they both grabbed their shoes from the front door and carried them to the patio door to put them on.

"Where are you two going?" He asked.

Maxi looked up from his phone.

"Down to the beach," Nora responded, tying the laces of her worn out converse and standing up, "We're both tired of sitting around in here, so we thought we'd go and sit around out there."

"Don't go in the water," Harrison warned them, ever the on duty lifeguard.

"I'll go with you, how about? I want to go on a walk anyway, and you girls can just do whatever," Maxi hopped off of the barstool and put his own shoes on by the patio door.

Nora and Talia exchanged a look, and shrugged, "Sounds good to me," Nora said. She wasn't intending on breaking the law or anything that she didn't want Maxi to see, anyway, so it didn't bother her at all.

The three headed down to the beach from the shortcut through Mouse's backyard. Maxi dispersed and disappeared once he saw that the girls were settled, and Nora and Talia watched him go.

Despite it being windy and sort of cold and wet, quite a few tourists were attempting to brave the massive swell. Nora watched with sympathy as Mouse emerged from the water, dripping wet and shivering with a rescue board in hand. It would suck to do a rescue in such weather, but it would triple suck if the rescuer got brushed.

"Don't you think that the lifeguarding job would suck for the specific reason that you had to go out and do those rescues in the cold?" Talia asked Nora as the two huddled together.

Luckily, Nora had thought of bringing a blanket, and she pulled it out from under her sweatshirt to wrap around herself and Talia.

"Well, I guess," She responded, "But I still think it would be pretty epic."

"Are you going to try and be a lifeguard?" Talia asked her.

"Well, I'm only eleven and I'm here for a year, so I wouldn't have time to become one," Nora told Talia honestly.

"Do you really think you're gonna go back to America after a year is up?" Talia responded.

"Well, I'm not sure. I sure do love it here, and I hate cornfields, but I'm not so certain that I have a choice in the matter," Nora said.

"Well, I hope you do get to stay, since I kind of like you," Talia nudged Nora playfully, and Nora grinned at her, "I like you, too," She said back.

She turned to look out at the wild, cold ocean with mesmerized eyes. She hoped that she would get to see a sight like this every day for a long time, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be the rest of her life. After a year, Mouse's kindness would end and she would be sent back home, expected to continue being thrust between foster home and foster home, yelled at for not keeping her grades up, and forced to carry the weight of many people on her shoulders. She was not looking forward to it.

And then, Nora spotted something in the waves.

"Is-is that a person?" She asked, standing up to get a better look.

Talia stood with her, keeping the blanket wrapped around them. Nora didn't care about the warmth of her own body in the moment, since she was more focused on trying to make sure that there wasn't a person stuck out the back that the lifeguards had missed.

And oh my guacamole on rye bread there was!

Nora and Talia took off at the same time, but Nora's lighter feet carried her to the lifeguard buggy faster.

Mouse was sitting there, shivering in his towel and looking tired. Harries was at the wheel, radio in one hand and eyes on the other end of the beach. He turned to look at the girls when they approached, and his expression turned from jovial to deadly serious in seconds, "What's wrong?" He asked, correctly reading the horror struck expressions on their faces.

"There's a person, out the back," Nora pointed to a dark head, sticking out of the swell.

Harries sat up, watching as a wave crashed over the head, and then he leapt into action.

"Radio it in!" He shouted, ripping his top off and grabbing a board. He charged into the water.

Mouse was fumbling with the radio, his frozen hands unable to operate it. Nora grabbed it from his hands and clicked the button for him.

"B-b-b-b-bo-n-n-d-d-"

Nora cut Mouse off when he tried to speak and it came out in stuttery stammers. She put the radio to her lips and said, "Uh, blue rhino? To Bondi Central?"

"Go ahead," A voice came over the radio.

"There's a guy out the back and Harries wanted me to say that he went out to get him-" Nora cut herself off when she saw Harries give three pulls on an invisible chain. Her knowledge from Bondi Rescue told her instantly that it was a resuscitation, "And it's a resuscitation!"

--

Hey guys! Sorry that I haven't hardly updated all week. I have been SOO busy, and I was trying to write a chapter but with listening to two speakers this week, having my brother home from college for only a little while before he went off on an internship over the summer, trying to deal with my own mental health, and everything in between, it's been hard.

Still, thanks so much for 3k reads and 100 engaged readers! I really appreciate your votes and your comments, guys, it means a lot to me that you like this!

Have a great day/night!

That_Fanfic_Kid :) <3