It was a hot Summer's day. Tyson and Hilary were making their way to a nearby beach. He had been training hard for the upcoming Asian Leagues over the previous weeks, and Hilary couldn't bear to watch him go overboard. She tore off a training day from her schedule and decided to take a break for themselves, hoping to relax for a day and make things a bit easier for both of them.
"Are you sure we are going in the right direction?" asked Tyson asked, always looking for a flaw in Hilary's plan.
None members of the team had ever been to Indonesia before, and Jakarta was the fixed venue of the League.
"Just over this hill," explained Hilary, as they started to walk up a steep grassy slope. "I can sense the change in the breeze, the odour of the sea is getting stronger, the volume of sand on the road is increasing, and gulls are flying at the low altitude. All the signs that says we are getting closer to the beach."
Tyson rolled his eyes, and deadpanned, "Why don't you solve crime?"
"Because I am more worried about you than our nation's safety," Hilary combated, wiping her brow. "Phew! I'm wore out. I don't know whether it's from all the training, the hot sun or this slope. I can't wait to get in the water to cool off. Can you Tyson?"
"Oh, I'm not going in the water!" chuckled Tyson, waving his hand. "I've been training hard all week. All I'm going to do is have a good doze to sleep off all the hard work - and one in the sun is perfect for me!"
Hilary found this disappointing. She had been hoping for a wonderful romantic day on the beach with Tyson. She was unhappy that all he wanted to do was sleep. But she hid her disappointment, since it had been Tyson whose idea it was to take things easy by spending a day on the beach. She didn't want him to think she was ungrateful.
They made it to the top of the hill, where Tyson pointed out. The beach was in the short distance on the other side, packed with people. The sand was a bright white while the sea was a sparking blue. Hilary thought it looked beautiful. She was awestruck. "There it is! Let's go!" And she grabbed Tyson's arm and ran excitedly down the other side of the hill towards the beach, with Tyson following along at a loss for words.
When they reached the beach, they found an empty spot on the sand. Tyson lay out some beach towels they had brought along, and put up a sun umbrella, while Hilary went off to a nearby changing room to change out of her clothes and put on some sunscreen.
She returned shortly, dressed in a bright red bikini, to where Tyson was. She found him lying out on one of the beach towels, his eyes concealed behind his glasses.
"Tyson, I'm going out for a swim. Is that okay?"
The only response Hilary received was a snore from Tyson. He had fallen asleep. Hilary smiled, shook her head, and went off towards the sea.
When she arrived by the waves, she stuck her bare foot into the water, then quickly brought it out again. It was very cold. Then Hilary stuck her foot in again, and her other foot followed. She walked out into the sea, ignoring how cold it was, until the water rose up to her chest. She then started to swim about, and soon the water felt nice and warm. Hilary was enjoying herself very much. This is lovely, she thought happily. I don't know why Tyson prefers lying in the sun.
Hilary swam in the water for about an hour. Then she returned to the sand and walked back to where Tyson was, to find him still asleep. A man selling ice cream was nearby. Hilary bought two vanilla cornets. She began to lick the cream off one and held onto the second.
When she had finished, she looked at the sleeping Tyson, and held out the ice cream she had been holding for him. "Tyson? I got you an ice cream. Tyson?" But Tyson slept on, snoring loudly. Hilary looked at the ice cream, and then stuck it into Tyson's face. Still, Tyson didn't stir.
Hilary giggled, watching the cream drip down Tyson's face, but he was soundly asleep. Defeated, Hilary lay out on the towel next to Tyson, closed her eyes and went to sleep.
When she woke up, she was surprised to find the beach was deserted. There were nobody around. Even all the lifeguards had left, having being now off duty. Hilary sat up and looked up at the sky and saw that it had changed from blue to orange. The sun was now starting to set.
"The day's nearly over," exclaimed Hilary. She looked at Tyson, to find him still asleep. "And not a single moment of romance have me and Tyson shared," she sighed unhappily.
Her attention turned towards the sea. The tide had come in and no one was in the water. Hilary decided to go for another swim. "If I have the water all to myself, why not?"
She got to her feet and walked down to the water, having less further to walk than last time, due to the tide coming in. She walked out in the water, once again ignoring how cold it was, until it was up to her chest again. Then she began to swim about again. She soon forgot about Tyson and began to feel better, due to the warmth which soon came to the water.
Eventually, she decided she'd had enough and wanted to return to the beach. But as she stopped swimming and let her body turn upright, she didn't feel the sand on her bare feet. The water had risen up to around her shoulders. She realised that the tide must have come in more while she had been swimming. Treading water, Hilary turned around to face the beach, noticing that it was alot further away than she thought.
She was about to start swimming back, when all of a sudden, a large wave washed over her, throwing her about a bit. Salty water rushed into Hilary's eyes. When the wave stopped carrying her, she wiped her eyes with one hand, while treading water with the other. Once her eyes were clear, she tried to start swimming again, but then another wave washed over her and threw her about. The water rose up to her neck. When the wave stopped throwing Hilary about, she opened her eyes briefly, having enough time to see that she was further away from the beach, before yet another wave washed over her and threw her about. Hilary was now feeling scared. She was now a helpless victim in the clutches of the fierce waves. If someone didn't save her, she would drown.
Then in the midst of panicking, Hilary remembered Tyson was still on the beach. She rose one of her arms above her head as high as she could, and called out; "TYSON! HELP ME TYSON! HEEELLLLP!"
Tyson woke up in shock, feeling someone in despair had called out his name. He jerked up from the mat, finding himself all alone. There was no one nearby. The sun had almost bid goodbye to the horizon. He couldn't make anything out. The last thing he remembered was Hilary.
"TYSSONNNN!"
He eyes perked up. He turned towards the sea and gasped. A silhouette was struggling to surface but was mercilessly being dunked by the waves.
"HEEELLLP!" She managed to cry out before another wave washed over her, raising the water above her mouth.
"HILARY!" Tyson cried. "HANG ON! I'M COMING! I'LL SAVE YOU!"
He raced down towards the water faster than he had ever run before. As he ran, he watched in horror as Hilary's head disappeared beneath the waves. Only her raised arm remained above the surface, but it was sinking fast.
Tyson quickly reached the water and began to run into it - still wearing his clothes. Water splashed around him as his legs ran through it. The water rose around him, and when it reached his chest, his feet left the sand, so he began to swim towards where Hilary's hand was above the water for a few seconds before disappearing beneath the surface. Tyson immediately took a deep breath, dove beneath the surface and began to swim downwards. He saw Hilary, now unconscious, sinking fast. He swam towards her with much difficulty. The salt water made it hard to see and he was losing his breath. But Tyson carried on swimming towards Hilary.
He reached her sinking unconscious body, grabbed her and pulled her close to him. Then kicked out hard and rose to the surface, gasping for breath. Still holding onto Hilary, he carried on kicking and swam back towards the beach. When it was swallow enough, he stood up, picked up the unconscious Hilary and walked out of the water. Then he dropped her onto the sand, bent over her, pressed his lips to her's and began to resuscitate her, as her breathed into her mouth, paused to breath, pressed her chest and breathed into her body.
"C'mon, Hilary," he begged, his heart racing.
As last, with a press on her chest, Hilary began coughing up the water. Tyson's eyes widen and he sighed with relief.
Hilary weakly opened her eyes. For a moment her vision was blurred. But it began clear again, and Hilary saw Tyson leaning over her.
"Are you okay, Hilary?" Tyson asked with concern.
Hilary smiled, sat up and hugged her saviour. "Thanks to you, Tyson, I am now. Thank you for saving me."
Tyson blushed and hugged her back. "You really gave me a scare, Hil."
"That was the fastest you moved all day," Hilary chuckled. She broke the hug and looked out to the sea. "Then again, I think lazing on the sand all day is a better way to spend a day on the beach than nearly drowning."
"But you know what's better than lying on the beach all day?" asked Tyson. Hilary shook her head.
"This," replied Tyson, as he placed the tip of his finger under Hilary's chin, closed his eyes, pulled her in and kissed her on the lips. Hilary closed her eyes and kissed her beloved saviour back, placing her hands on his cheeks. The sun began to sink behind the sea, which sparkled beautiful, despite having been a life-threatening monster a few moments ago.
But the surroundings didn't matter to Hilary. Her wish of a romantic day had come true. She felt so happy, kissing the boy who she loved, and also, who had just risked his life to save her, which gave her all the more reason to love him forever.