Surf's Up It was a roasting hot summers day, the kind of day that comes only two, maybe three times a year, the ones that you cherish as a child and hope they never end. Alex woke up and threw off his covers, he immediately rushed over to the window and tore the curtain aside. It was perfect, the day he had been hoping for! Alex's grandparents had planned a weekend down by the seaside with Alex and his cousin, Mark, and Alex knew that this was the ideal day. He stood, gazing out through the gleaming glass, the sun poured on to his face, illuminating his glowing fair hair. Alex was 12, short but slim and quite energetic, he knew a day at the beach would involve a lot of volleyball with his cousin, just what he needed. Alex grabbed a rucksack and quickly packed up his things, a small beach ball, swimming trunks, sandals and a towel. Just then the doorbell rang, ‘nana and grandpa!’, Alex thought, he zipped the bag shut and ran downstairs with it on his back, picking up his sunglasses on the way. As the land rover made its first steps on to the motorway, Alex knew it would be a long ride, but he also knew it was worth it, the sun was still beating down on the ground and putting a smile on everyone’s faces. Alex’s grandparents lived in Sheringham, a small seaside town in Norfolk, it was a beautiful place in the summer, and for Alex it brought back memories of towering sandcastles, mint chocolate chip ice cream and long sessions of volleyball with Mark. Mark and his parents also lived in Sheringham, so he would be waiting for Alex when he got there. “How long now grandpa?”, Alex eagerly asked, “Oh about another hour or so”, his grandfather replied, “I’m sure there’s a big scoop of mint choc-chip ice cream waiting for a certain someone if they don’t ask again” Alex mimed zipping his lips up and his grandmother chuckled, “He’s only joking Alex” and they all shared a laugh. “Hey Alex, have you ever been surfboarding?” asked his grandfather, “No, but I bet it’d be good fun”, “Well I have an old board”, his grandfather explained, “It hasn’t been used in years, how about you and Mark try it out?” Alex beamed, “Really? Oh sweet! Thanks grandpa!”. Alex sighed a breath of relief when the gleaming land rover finally pulled up on the gravel, leading to the cosy cottage that was so familiar to him. Alex could see his older cousin waiting for him, waving Before the car had a chance to stop, he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door and jumped out, the gravel engulfing his feet. “Oi! Alex!”, shouted Mark, “You’ve grown mate, long time no see”, he held his palm in the air, “High five”, Alex slapped his hand, “ Hey Mark, wanna go down the beach? I have a beach ball” “In a bit mate, there’s loads of time, let’s get some ice cream, yeah?”, Mark suggested, “Okay, cool”, Alex grinned, he remembered the promised mint chocolate chip and followed Mark in the cottage. They both took off their trainers and put them in a small cupboard under the stairs. Their grandmother had somehow come in the house before them and met them in the kitchen with two bowls full with scoops of ice cream and drizzled with thick chocolate sauce. “Thank you grandma”, Mark said and Alex repeated, she smiled and put her hands on her hips and disappeared back into the kitchen. “Grandpa said we could try out his surf board today, down the beach”, Alex told Mark, “yeah cool, hope there’s some good wind for the waves”, Mark smiled, showing his ice cream covered lips. “Alex...Mark...Come and look at this!”, their grandfather shouted from his bedroom, Alex put down his bowl and rushed upstairs, Mark quickly scooped up and ate the last of the ice cream and followed Alex in to their grandfather’s room, he was sitting on the bed with a bright red surfboard on his lap, the two boys stopped in their tracks and all three of them gazed at the board as if it were a sleeping puppy. Finally Mark said, “That’s beautiful”, Alex nodded in agreement. “It’s old now, but I’m sure it still works, good as new!”, their grandfather explained, still looking at the board, brushing off specs of dust, “you can take it out now, if you like?”, “yeah! Alex, what d’you say?”, Mark asked, “yeah, follow me”, Alex carefully took the board from his grandfather’s hands, Mark helped him out and they both walked downstairs. The beach was flooded with people when they arrived, some sunbathing, some building sandcastles, but no one was surfing,.“Come on!”, Alex shouted to Mark while picking up the pace, “let’s go surfing!”, “Alex, we can’t just yet”, Mark yelled back, Alex stopped and turned round to face his cousin, “We need waves, remember”, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that”, Alex chuckled, “how about some volley ball then?”, Alex suggested, taking out from his rucksack the beach ball he had packed, “yeah, sounds good”, Mark laughed, grabbing the ball from under Alex’s arm as he ran around a net a few meters away. “Ready?”, Mark yelled, “do your worst!”, Alex assumed his position. After about an hour of playing volley ball, the two boys were both tired. The sun had started to set, “time for a rest, I think”, Alex told Mark, “right you are”, they both sat down on the sand. Alex began to feel a cold tickle on his back, the beach ball which laid at his feet was slowly drifting away from him and in to the water, “hey Mark, look!”, he pointed to the ball, “Reckon we will get some waves?”, Mark asked, “I bet so”, Alex ran over to his grandfather’s red surfboard, picked it up and walked with it in to the water, chasing after his beach ball, which was still drifting further away. He slowly pulled himself up on to the board, until he was sat with his legs resting over either side. Alex used his feet and his hands to follow his ball and rescue it. Alex noticed it was getting dark, and cold. The wind picked up, blowing the ball further away and making the waves faster and more violent, but Alex was too busy to notice. “Alex!”, he heard Mark yelling his name, “Just a second!”, Alex yelled back, he looked over his shoulder to see Mark, that’s when he realised how far out he was, Alex could barely see his cousin, he looked like the odd blade of grass that pokes out of the snow. Alex panicked, he tried to turn his board around with his hands and feet but he could see a big wave coming his way, he thrust his limbs, hoping he could dodge it, and then it hit him, Alex tried to stay on his board but he couldn’t resist the wave, it knocked him off and pushed him under the water. He franticly splashed about until he was above the water. Alex quickly swam over to the board and held on to it. He knew he was scared now, he could no longer see his cousin, or the beach ball, he felt his heart rate increase, his lungs ached from holding him up, he jumped up and sat on the board. “Help! Somebody help me!”, Alex screamed, the sky was black now, the only light was from the moon, he felt Goosebumps emerge on his skin and realised he was shaking, the water was bitterly cold and so was Alex. So many thoughts were running through his mind, “how will I get back?, “how could I be so stupid?, Alex questioned his actions, “What if I freeze to death?”, he accidently shouted in a panicked voice, he clapped his hands over his face, his head dropped as he shook it from side to side. Just then Alex heard a sharp, distant noise. He looked around and saw a bright light reflected on the water, the light was getting brighter and the noise was getting closer, he raised his head and looked up. Above him was a rescue helicopter, Alex heard a familiar amplified voice, “Alex, it’s alright, it’s your cousin Mark, there’s someone coming down for you now”, Alex turned round and saw a man attached to a rope hold out his hand, Alex grabbed the hand and the man pulled him up. Alex sighed a sigh of relief, he was still shivering. “You okay kid?”, the man holding Alex asked, “I think I’ll stick to volleyball”, Alex replied as he was lifted in to the helicopter and met by all his family. “Can I have a hot chocolate when we get home?”, Alex asked and they all laughed and gave him a warm hug. Alex grew up to be a #lifeguard for the beach he visited that day in Norfolk and his story is always told as a reminder of the dangers that common water can bring.