Well, I sort of had an idea when the latest series of the dumping ground started. And I was really scared that things would move on so my idea wouldn't work. But it did, and it was perfect and here it is. Enjoy!

I had always found beaches nice even when it wasn't summer or temperatures to go swimming.

Well, as it turns out the kids of Ashdene Ridge could never see what I saw.

"Mike…" Floss moaned soon after we got there. "It's cold, we can't go swimming, there's nothing to do here…"

I stopped listening at the point.

"Look over there." I pointed to a bridge down by the water where Alex stood gazing over the water and Finn was making something in the sand nearby. "Those two seem to be enjoying themselves and… Ryan?"

It took a bit until he was close enough to have a conversation with. But when I looked around I could see two horses coming close, and with riders on each on their backs the younger of them was easy to recognize.

"Hey Richard." Charlie greeted the owner of the stables first. "Hey Ryan." Floss, and quite a few of the kids who were standing around seemed impressed by the big horse he sat on, the horse didn't seem as impressed by the kids though and backed away.

"Pet Betsy instead." Ryan gestured towards the brown kind- looking horse that Richard sat on. "This one's a bit wild. This is Hero." Ryan patted the neck of the big, grey horse he sat on and the horse started stepping back and forth- as if tap dancing. "Whoa boy… I think you've been standing in your stall for too little too long, haven't you? You've got so much energy you react to every single move I make."

Hero seemed to agree- he even threw his head up and down as if nodding and Ryan let show a slight smile. Of a kind I had never seen before, during the many days I had seen him…

"Ryan is turning into quite the horse rider." Richard said, looking like the proud father- figure that I was. "It hasn't been a year yet and he's learning fast. I could have let him ride old Betsy…" He patted the neck of the horse he was riding himself. "…But I figured he might need a challenge."

Ryan looked as if he agreed, but also seemed to have his hands full with trying to keep Hero standing still. And with him seeming concentrated and even as if he and Hero were the only ones existing in this world I couldn't help but smile. There was something in only seeing Ryan on the horseback that told me all about the changes he had made with growing for the last few years.

Sometimes I could just pretend I didn't know it was him who moved those wallets…

And then there was that reading of everyone's files, smashing the windows in my car and taking Carmen's, getting me fired…

I shook my head and gave a short chuckle to myself. All of that was so far away…

"I think we shall get going then." Richard said. "We might want to use the paddock, the sand is as heavy for horses to walk in as for us. We can do it at some point but not when it's as humid as now… So. Let's go then Ryan."

Ryan gave a nod and raised his hand in a wave before he turned and I watched as the two were on their way. Around me Taz, Floss and Sid had started playing horses and Tyler and Jody had sat down a bit away for talking, Charlie had gone down to the bridge nearby…

"ALEX…"

"ALEX… SWIM ALEX. SWIM."

During all my years as a care worker I had learnt to hear from the tone in the voices along what was going on. Yet I had never heard anything like Charlie's and Finn's voices as they shouted for their friend and I quickly turned around.

Well, it was quickly for anyone else. For me every second felt like a million years.

And I had never been as afraid as I was when I saw Alex in the water, trying as hard as he could to swim but being sucked down by the current time and time again.

"ALEX."

I started running, Alex looked too far away for anyone, me neither to reach him if I stood on the bridge. But I had to try the least…

I was knocked over when something- someone made their way past me. I fell to my hands and knees in the sand and when I looked up there was something, someone big and grey- Hero and Ryan.

"RYAN? NO." I got up, ran to get the lifebuoy and then ran down towards the water. Damn- fifty years old and I've never run as fast as I did at the moment. Fear roaring up in my whole body that I was just about to lose a son. "RYAN…"

I could do nothing, Hero's hooves could no longer reach the ground and he started swimming. But with the current they were just a little bit too far away and I could see Ryan as he leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

And whatever it was, Hero must have understood because it was clearly visible when he used all of his power towards the current and right towards Alex who kept being sucked down under, all until Ryan was finally too close to grab his jacket and pull him onto the horseback with him.

At least that was the thought, and would so have been if Alex in panic wasn't hitting and kicking all around him.

I could hardly breathe and the seconds were endless until at last, I could see as Hero's hooves finally reached the ground again and he came trotting up on solid ground with Alex lying across his back, coughing his lungs out- but very much okay.

"Wait…" When Hero came over I helped Alex down, he ended up collapsing right backwards and still coughing wildly. "…Where's Ryan?"

Time had been moving at its normal pace for only a few seconds. And that until I could feel my heart start beating again I turned around and well…

Alex was up of the water, so was Hero. But so wasn't Ryan and he wasn't fighting and trying to swim like Alex had tried to.

I ran across the bridge holding onto the lifebuoy. Then threw it out towards the current but there was no use.

"I think Hero hit his head up when Ryan was trying to save Alex." Charlie cried from where she stood next to me. "I think it hit Ryan's head and knocked him out… I'm sorry. I tried to reach him but he was too far away. I can… I can…"

"No." I held her back. "No more kids out at sea today."

"But what are we supposed to do? If we call for help it's gonna be too late."

As if I didn't already know that!

But, Hero was a hero. And all of a sudden we could see him swimming out against the current just like he had with Ryan on his back earlier. But then… there was no one to help and pull him onto Hero's back, and Hero for certain wouldn't be able to lift Ryan in any way.

Hero must have been smarter than what I or anyone else thought, he bit in the fabric of Ryan's jacket and when he then came swimming back towards the bridge he dragged Ryan along with him. Ryan was still under water, still unconscious. But at least on his way towards us.

"Good boy Hero." I panted when I and Charlie got on our knees and only barely when Ryan was close enough for us to grab him and pull him onto the bridge. "Come on, come on…"

I had never known how heavy a child could get with water filling up all of their clothes.

And maybe we were already too late.

I had thought I could never be as afraid as I was when seeing Alex being dragged out towards sea by the current…

…I was proven wrong when I, with Hero's help pulled Ryan onto the bridge and I soon realized that he was unconscious and not breathing.

"No." I said, barely knowing I made a sound at all. "Come on Ryan." I placed one hand on his chest and the other on it, when I pressed again I could be sure I felt something crack and I must have broken a rib. There wasn't time to care about it though. "Come on." I mumbled again. "You know, your life just started. You just made it better yourself with starting to show who you really are…"

From somewhere that seemed like hundreds and hundreds of miles away I could hear someone screaming. But I couldn't take the time to answer to it while I leaned down again, leant Ryan's hand backwards and then leaned over and put my lips against his and blew.

One, two, three…

I'm not sure if what Richard said about riding on the beach makes any sense. But it sounded right.

Random fact

Until I sat down to write this it wasn't supposed to be Alex drowning. It wasn't supposed to be anyone from the dumping ground at all. It was supposed to be a girl named Hayden Jackwill and on the bridge would be her brother Luca Jackwill. But then I had this idea and… it sounded right to write something without oc's for a change.