CHAPTER 2: Anything

Candy was clapping, laughing, throwing support to her four friends when she suddenly heard someone scream.

"Candy!" It's Mrs. Tremor. "Where did you put Bobby? I didn't see him in his play-pen (1)."

A shock of terror exploded through her entire body.

"Cant' be. I put him ther-"

Through the corner of her eyes, Candy saw the familiar red shirt far in the lake. Her heart sank. Occasionally the boy's dark hair rose above the water, his hands threw up in the air.

Following Candy's gaze, Mrs. Tremor looked towards the lake, too. "Bobby?" Mrs. Tremor whispered.

"Bobby!" Mrs. Tremor screamed and ran towards the lake.

Her emotion mixed from hysterical horror to thinking rationally Candy ran together with Mrs. Tremor. She saw that scary ripple on the water surface and she understood what happened. There is rip current (2)!

"Bobby!" Mrs. Tremor cried and jumped to the lake but Candy held her.

"Rip current, Mrs. Tremor," said Candy.

"Bobby! My babby! My baby!" Mrs. Tremor cried desperately between her tears. She screamed then fainted. Candy caught her in time before her head hit the side of the road.

"Someone! Help us!" Candy cried looking around her. "Please please. Help us," Candy cried again and again but no one came. "Oh please. Someone! Help! Bring Bobby back!"

It must be her fault although she was sure she locked the play pen. The thought of guilt was too much for her to bear. She did a quick check to the poor woman. Mrs. Tremor should be okay, just a shock. Bobby was more urgent. So, slowly Candy bent to lay Mrs. Tremor on the sand.

Candy knew rip current was dangerous but she did not care anymore. Ignoring all safety precautions, she ran to the lake and screamed at the same time.

"Help!" she screamed helplessly. "Help! Someone please... Rescue Bobby. Please. Oh God! Please... I'll do anything to whoever saves Bobby. Anything! I promise!" Tears running down her face. "ANYTHING!"

Candy kicked her shoes and entered the water. She was about to swim towards Bobby when she felt a strong arm caught her.

"Let me go!" Candy struggled to release herself. "Bobby... I need to get Bobby!"

"Whew whew... Honey, calm down. There's rip current," she heard a warm masculine voice whisper in her ear.

Candy didn't care about anything anymore. She continued struggling. Each second was crucial. She kept imagining Bobby died. She couldn't live with that.

"I don't care. Let me die. Let me die!" she cried and screamed.

Then she felt a hand held her two wrists in iron grip. Before she could do anything, she felt something soft... very soft... really soft... touched gently against her lips. She froze at that unexpected sensation.

"I'll get him," that deep voice said softly. "Stay here."

A surfer board was thrown to the water and someone jumped onto it. She tried to focus but at another horrified short howl from Bobby she could only imagine Bobby's dying face. Everything turned hazy. It's just like having a bad dream.

"Candy! Candy!" Annie called. Realizing something went wrong, the four of them quickly turned back.

"I kill Bobby. I kill Bobby," Candy whispered repeatedly.

"Heavens! Of course not," said Patty. She eased Candy to the ground and sat next to her.

Annie sat on her other side. "Don't look," she hugged her and Candy cried.

"Bring her here. Quick!" Candy heard Stear use his military style efficiency instructing Archie how to care for Mrs. Tremor.

Candy buried her head deeper in Annie's shoulder and cried and cried. What if both Mrs. Tremor and her son died because of her?

After what seemed like forever, Annie squeezed her hand. "They are back. They are safe! They are here Candy!"

"Mrs. Tremor is also fine now," updated Patty. She looked proudly at her husband.

Candy heard some cheering, Mrs. Tremor cried out her son's name and Bobby's crying sound. Her body shook terribly, she could feel it. "He's...? He's...?"

"Safe. He's safe. Yes, Bobby is here. He's safe... Look!"

But Candy was too terrified to look. Instead, she started to cry again. On either side, Patty and Anne embraced her, helped her to get up.

"Darling, could you take Candy home?" Candy heard Stear's voice. "We stay here until the medics arrives."

Candy let Patty and Annie whisked her to the car. Still shivery and drowned with immense guilt, Candy sat in the car. They were silent all the way to home. Candy who was at the brink of emotional meltdown, forgot about the kiss, entirely.

oOo

That night after drinking a bowl of warm mushroom soup, Candy was finally aware of what happened in the afternoon. To her horror, Annie and Patty told her who the surfer was.

"Can't be!" she muttered in disbelief. "Neal doesn't surf!"

Candy and others have been playing in the lake since they were little but she didn't recall Neal or anyone surf.

"Neal surfed a lot in Florida," said Patty.

"He joined a surfer club and they often volunteered to be the beach lifeguard," added Annie.

Candy's green eyes widened in astonishment. "Why you never told me this?" she asked.

Annie and Patty looked at one another then gently took Candy's hands. "B-because you told us to never mention Neal," explained Patty.

So Neal saved Bobby!

After everyone left, Candy reflected what just happened. She suddenly remembered about the soft thing that touched her lips. Now she understood what it was. Neal kissed her!

Rude! She wiped her lips rigorously. Rude!

It reminded her again of those painful lives that he had caused her especially the wicked engagement party!

But... If anything came good out of it, as usual her golden heart always thought positively, was that because of Neal, Bobby was rescued.

oOo

The following day, Mrs. Tremor showed Candy one door in Bobby's play pen that was broken. No one knew for sure when it happened or how. Luckily Bobby was a swimming prodigy. The Tremors didn't blame Candy or file charges against her. Still, Candy quit her job. She blamed herself for not paying more attention to the door when locking the play pen.

Candy then did a job hunting. The first place she visited was Happy Clinic.

"Of course you can join us," said Dr. Martin readily. She found him outside the clinic, seemingly in a rush to go somewhere. "Come before eight tomorrow. We'll talk more."

-To Be Continued-

1 Play Pen: A kind of tool or safety space for toddler/babies.

2 Rip current: a dangerous, could be fatal, current that exists in big lakes or ocean