STORY: ‘Rip’

First screaming then three men pelting past, shedding shirts and shoes, over the sand and into the sea.

I’m the fourth. Waving to the children battling out beyond the breakers, I wade my way in.

Keep kicking, kids, I’m coming.

The sea was sucking me in long before I arrived at this beach. Torn from you all, I got caught in its undertow.

And now, as I come closer, a rip reaches up and drags me down.

Keep kicking, Dad, we’re coming.

But at last the battle is over and I can rest in peace. They’ll call me a hero.