Midday slowly began to change into afternoon.
"Bondi Central to Yatesy, mate, there's a few girls about...20, 30 feet from you, they could get into trouble if they fall off that sandbank", Melanie informed her colleague, who was stationed at the South End at the moment.
"Copy that, sweetheart", came the cheerful reply, making the corners of her mouth tick up into a soft smile.
Seconds later, Terry reached for his radio as well, keeping the binoculars in front of his eyes as he spoke: "Bondi Central to blue Rhino, could you head to second ramp? Looks like H might need back-up."
The crowds started flocking back into the water, some far too early after lunch. The number of rescues surged and at some point, Terry had to rush down to help Deano, who had half a dozen tourists clinging to his rescue board.
Thus, Melanie ended up staying in the tower on her own. She blew out a steadying breath and muttered to herself: "Righto, no pressure, it'll be fine."
And surprisingly enough, it was. Focus, foresight and instinct were key when it came to watching over thousands of people and Melanie had all three. She had everything well in hand, systematically scanning the beach and the water, her brown eyes roaming back and forth both with and without the aid of the binoculars.
"Alicia, there's someone waving right in front of you."
"Copy that, Yak, I'll keep an eye on them."
"Yeah nah, they're sweet, Reidy. They're coming back to shore, looks like."
"Bondi Central to H, could I have an update please? Do you need me to call an ambulance?"
The shrill ringing of the telephone startled the rookie out of the alert but calm mindset she had fallen into. Grabbing the receiver, she answered: "Bondi Lifeguards, this is Melanie."
Listening, the brunette found herself nodding along and after asking a few short questions for clarification, she thanked the caller and hung up.
Hand moving to key her radio, she peered through the binocs. "Just had a call about an incident at the rock pool", she announced, "sounds like heat stroke. Can somebody head up there please?"
"Sure thing, Mellie", Reidy responded.
She acknowledged, shifting into a more comfortable position in her chair.
***
A soft, hesitant knock made the teen turn around and reach for the radio once more. She told her colleagues: "Guys, just to let you know, I have my eyes off the water", opening the door to let in a boy and girl. They were obviously siblings and only about 7 years old.
"Hi", the girl spoke, fingers tightly linked with her brothers'. "We lost our mummy."
Melanie motioned for them to enter. "Come on in then, so we can see about finding her, hm?"
They nodded in stereo, following her up to the window front where the brunette had them sit down while she brought them a glass of water each.
"Can you tell me your names?", she asked.
"I'm Brendan", the boy piped up.
"And I'm Lyla."
The rookie lifeguard smiled. "Those are very nice names", she told them. "I'm Melanie, but my friends call me Mellie."
The radio sputtered, Reidy coming through with an update about the situation at the rock pool. "Reidy to Central?"
"Bondi Central, what's the situation?", Melanie responded while making sure her two little customers were alright.
"Yeah, mate, it's definitely heat stroke", he said, confirming their suspicion. "We're gonna need an ambo."
After receiving all the necessary details, the young trainee confirmed and set down the radio.
Turning to the siblings, she explained: "We'll look for your mummy in a second, alright? I have to call an ambulance for a gentleman up at the rock pool first."
Reaching for the two pairs of binoculars on the table, she handed them to the kids, suggesting: "Why don't you use these and try to find your mum?"
They smiled, revealing Brendan to be missing a tooth, and happily took the binocs. Reassured that they were going to be occupied for a moment, Melanie then picked up the phone and dialled 000.
"Reidy, ambo's going to be there in 3 minutes", she informed her colleague when she had ended the call with the operator.
"Copy that."
That taken care of, the girl shifted her attention back to Brendan and Lyla. "Did you find your mum?", she asked despite knowing the answer.
Lyla shook her head.
***
With some purposeful questions, Melanie quickly gained enough useful information so that her fellow lifeguards on the beach could look for the kids' mother.
"Bondi Central to Bondi lifeguards", she spoke into her radio, "I have two nippers up here, Brendan and Lyla, age 7 and 8, who have lost their mother Patrice. She's wearing a black and white bikini and they were sitting somewhere between first and second ramp."
A round of acknowledgements echoed over the airwaves. Reassuring the siblings, the teen returned to watching the beach. Brendan and Lyla had easily agreed to share one pair of binoculars.
"You make sure the people are safe, that's very important", Brendan had stated with a serious nod.
When Yatesy entered the tower twenty minutes later, the lifeguards' youngest rookie was in the process of directing the guys down on the beach while watching Alicia perform a rescue and keeping half an eye on the two children beside her, who were very busy drawing on some scrap paper.
Brendan and Lyla were reunited with their worried mother after an hour, Patrice Harper gratefully shaking the lifeguards' hands and thanking especially Melanie for looking after her kids.
The brunette smiled bashfully and blushed as she tried to reassure the woman that her children had been well-behaved and that she had just been doing her job.
Yatesy found the entire scene equal parts amusing and adorable.
***
Around 4 o'clock, right during the hottest and busiest time of the day, Melanie ended up at Backpacker's with Alicia. They were hard-pressed to keep all the tourists safe who either misunderstood or disregarded the warnings and walked headlong into the rip.
"Jesus Christ", the blonde ground out after she had pulled another person from the same spot like the seven before, "are they blind, stupid or both? There's big yellow signs with 'Dangerous Current' written on them. There's a pair of lifeguards rescuing people basically non-stop. What the hell makes them think 'Right on, this is a sweet spot to go for a dip'?!"
Surprised by the amount of frustration and even anger in her fellow trainee's voice, the teen just shrugged. She wouldn't have had time to give a proper answer anyway, since a woman was screaming for help a second later while she got swept out in the current.
Both rookies jumped up, but Melanie proved to have the quicker reaction time. Her feet hit the water before Alicia had had a chance to grab a board.
As she let the rip pull her out, the woman's terrified screams echoed in her ears, making her stomach twist and fill with that unpleasant fizzy tingling sensation. Focus, she told herself, popping over a wave.
Reaching the woman, she was relieved to see a couple of local grommets surrounding her, reassuring her as she clung to one of their boards. "Cheers, boys!", she called, recognising a few of them.
They beamed proudly and flashed a friendly "Shaka" with their hands before paddling off, likely to wait for the next nice wave.
"Alright, Ma'am", she said, smiling at her patient. "Lie down on the board, facing that way."
The rookie kept one eye on the horizon, a habit surfers and lifeguards shared, but when trying to coax a woman, who was practically paralysed with fear, onto a rescue board, one tended to become a tad distracted.
Which was why Melanie saw the large breakers a moment too late.
"Uh-oh", she muttered when she spotted the clean-up set that was almost a foot taller than the rest of the waves. Her instructions to her patient then took on a new note of urgency. "C'mon, we gotta hurry."
The woman paled dramatically and nearly shot out of the water, scrambling onto the board using the trainee's outstretched arm as leverage. "Get me outta here!", she cried in a very American accent, clutching the handles in a white-knuckled grip.
Gladly, the brunette responded internally, kicking her legs and paddling as hard as she could even after the realisation had set in that it was too late.
They were caught inside. And there was simply no way she would be able to get them out of the impact zone fast enough. A less than polite word crossed her mind, but she thankfully didn't say it out loud. "Hold on tight, okay?", she called over the noise of the waves. "Gonna to be a bit bumpy."
Then, the wave broke right behind them.
***
"Ooh, Mellie just got hammered!", Alicia exclaimed, finger keying the radio.
Hammered was a fairly accurate word when describing the sensation of having a wall of water spray up and slam down onto one's body. It could knock the wind out of somebody's lungs and send them and their boards flying if they weren't lucky.
However, Melanie and her patient were lucky. They had been pushed a good distance toward the shore and were both still on the board thanks to the young girl's efforts.
Once they reached the shallows, the teen slowed them down by tilting the board and dumping them both in the water. Helping the woman up, she guided her up to the sand while giving her a free lesson in beach safety.
"Didn't you see the signs?", she inquired, running a hand up to brush away the wet strands sticking to her forehead.
The woman shrugged it off. "I thought that was only for tourists. I mean, it's not that dangerous."
Melanie blinked incredulously. She bit back her initial response and answered: "Ma'am, you could have drowned. That breaker would have pushed you under and kept you there."
The American clicked her tongue and dismissively waved a hand as if shooing away a fly. "Bullshit. I'm a very good swimmer. I'm just not familiar with the beach."
"Right", the rookie responded flatly, shooting Alicia a grateful smile as her colleague took the board off her hands. "That's what the red and yellow flags are for, Ma'am", she explained, dredging up as much patience as she could find. "It's safest between those."
The woman wrinkled her nose at that, chiding: "Oh honey, but where's the fun in 'safe'? It's Christmas, lighten up a little!"
The brunette suppressed a sigh and tried to reason with her. "Ma'am, this is the most dangerous part of the beach. Christmas isn't going to change that. Please move up to the red and yellow flags, because we really want you to be safe."
Sighing dramatically, the tourist left, but not without firing a parting shot. "You're too young for this job anyways", she said triumphantly before chirping: "Merry Christmas!" and sauntering off.
Alicia snorted, shaking her head as she looked after the American. "Merry Christmas", she mocked. "Yeah, would have been a bloody fantastic Christmas if she'd drowned."
Melanie hummed in agreement before suddenly wincing in, well, it was more surprise than pain, when a stinging sensation on her arm registered with her. "Ouch", she hissed softly, looking down.
"You alright?", the blonde inquired, scanning her fellow trainee with worried blue eyes. "Did you get hurt in there?"
"Yeah...nah, I just- she scratched me." The brunette held out her arm for her colleague to see. Four thin, red lines ran along her forearm, a tiny bit of blood weeping out of them.
Alicia gaped at the scrapes for a moment, then laughed. "Look at that", she joked. "She even left you a prezzie."
The younger girl gave a soft huff of amusement as she picked up her discarded shirt and sunnies.
***
Pack-up time was never at 7 pm on Christmas Day. With tons of people still in the water, the lifeguards could hardly just leave them to their own devices.
But eventually, the beach-goers started heading home and the boys and girls in blue were putting away their gear. The flags and signs were taken down, the equipment cleaned and stored in the tunnel.
They gathered in the tower for a drink, to toast to happy holidays and a good Christmas Day. As the sun sank lower, steadily continuing her descent toward the ocean, they talked and laughed about the highlights of the day.
Both trainees were applauded for their sometimes extremely challenging rescues, teased about the occasional mishap or embarrassing encounter and offered advice about different points.
Melanie flushed and ducked her head. But she smiled proudly as the boys clapped her on the shoulder, Yatesy good-naturedly nudging her and giving her a cheerful wink.
Alicia beamed and accepted the praise a lot more gracefully, thanking the guys and making them laugh by saying: "Somebody remind me to bring a hair tie tomorrow, it's easier to rescue people when you can see them." Her long blonde hair had often become plastered over her face while she paddled, causing her to break her rhythm to push it out of her eyes.
"You could just cut it, mate", H pointed out.
She rapidly shook her head, pretending to be scandalised. "Oh no no, no way", she declared. "When my hair's short, I look as if I'd stuck my finger in the power point."
***
The sun was already dipping below the horizon when they left the tower.
"Merry Christmas, boys!", Alicia called as she headed towards the car park. "See you all tomorrow!"
A cacophony of replies rang out.
Melanie's goodbye was predictably quieter, but just as sincere. "Merry Christmas to you all. See you tomorrow", she said, smiling at them. She had the next day off, but since she had promised Liam and Hannah to take them surfing, she would be seeing the guys anyway.
Entering her home, the brunette walked into the living room, clicking on the TV. Sometimes, the silence of the house was a relief. Other times, it bothered her, making her nervous or lonely.
The flashing light on the answering machine conjured a smile onto her sun-tanned features.
Just as she picked up the receiver to listen to the message, the phone rang. Jumping nearly a foot in the air, Melanie's yelp quickly turned into light laughter. Shaking her head at herself, she pressed the button.
"Finnigan residence, this is Melanie?"
"Merry Christmas, little sister!", two familiar voices chorused excitedly before asking one over the other: "How are you?" "How's work?" "Do you like it?" "Tell us everything!"