The lessons that Last

She was walking mindlessly on the beach this evening. The soft wind felt comforting against her skin. The irritating migraine she had all day seemed to wane making her head feel lighter and her mane now wavering carelessly like a flag on a windy day. The beach was isolated to its core, Goans are not early risers she wondered. She could see the vast shoreline until the end where there was a fort stationed – the Sinquerim fort. She remembered having visited it a couple of years ago with her gang of college friends. The photos taken then, the memories, all of it flashed in her mind. There was a smile on her face.

“Help”

“Help me” a cry was heard.

It was very faint and she could not trace the source of it. Infact she wondered if she was hallucinating and quickly scanned the expanse of sand to her left assuming the sea has nothing to do with it.

“H-H-H-E-L-P-P!”  she heard amongst gulps of water. The cries were too evident and she couldn’t ignore them anymore. Suddenly it dawned upon her and she abruptly shifted her neck to the right to have a look at the sea.

She saw someone flapping his hands furiously trying to keep himself afloat amongst loud gasps of breath and gulps of water. Panic struck her. It was someone drowning and crying for help.

She froze at that very moment. However, her mind tried to process various outcomes of the situation. As she regained her composure, she waved out to the man furiously to acknowledge that she had seen him. She quickly looked around to see if there was any lifeguard vehicle stationed anywhere. Nope, there wasn’t any. She was the only hope.

She took two steps ahead towards him and quickly retracted. How could she proceed? Afterall she did not know to swim!

His cries mellowed by now. It was evident he was getting tired. She had to take the decision quickly. She had a family back home to take care of. What would her children do without her? One has to be selfish they say.

On the other hand, a stranger who means nothing to her is desperately crying out for help. What if he has kids waiting for him back home? Doesn’t he deserve to be there for them like her?

The decision was too taxing. She even imagined the headlines on the newspaper the next day:          

 “Mother of two drowned away while making an attempt to save another drowning man”

She bit her nails furiously while walking towards the sea. The frequent piece of advice given to her was to always help others in need. Her mother had ensured these values are imbibed in her and why wouldn’t they? She lived by them as an example.

“Fuck it.” She screamed and plunged herself into the ocean. She flapped her hands furiously trying to stay afloat while recollecting whatever little she could of the swimming lessons she had taken as a child. She managed to reach to him and grab him by his shirt.

He was desperately panting for air and echoing a helpless cry in the process. He grabbed her head to stay afloat and ended up pushing her neck deep into the water. What ensued is two drowning people trying to hold onto each while at the same time pushing each other underwater. It seemed like a vicious cycle - He pushing her into the water while he gasps for air and then she bounces up to breathe while sending his head plummeting underwater.

It was evident, one of them would not survive.

Another thing that her mom would mention often but she would not pay heed to were the words – Focus on yourself. Help others but not at the expense of your well-being. Had she stuck to this piece of advice, she would have been sound today, possibly alive as well.

In that moment of misery, everyone that mattered to her flashed in front of her eyes – her kids, husband, parents. How she wished she could go back in time and rethink her decision. What is the point of being a hero? Will her family ever understand her motive or blame her for being so selfless towards a person who did not matter?

She wept silently, her salty tears now mixed with the salty sea water signifying that in the end everything combines to a whole before we return to the universe just the way we arrived – while crying.

Call it a stroke of luck, but a group of fishermen magically appeared from nowhere. Perhaps they were getting ready to venture into the sea for their morning fishing activity.On seeing the two drown, they charged towards them in unison to hold onto them and drag them out of the water. The soggy clothes made it difficult to carry them to the shore.

A couple of CPRs and mouth-to-mouths later, both of them were revived to their sense of consciousness. They opened their eyes to see four large-framed men stare at them looking for signs of consciousness as if they were dead or lost their sense of memory. They had made it.

The worst was over, but the lessons were here to stay.