Excerpt
Freedom’s Quest
by Monique
Lamont
Chapter One
“Child in distress!” The commanding shout crackled through the
handheld radio.
Lialani’s body jerked into full alert. Rising with urgency, she
lifted the binoculars from her chest to her eyes. Gazing through the
twin circles, she searched the aqua shoreline. She turned up the
radio and grabbed her rescue can in preparation.
“Station four, Blindman’s Bluff, south southea—”
She
didn’t need to hear anything else. She snatched the black optical
equipment from around her neck and discarded her t-shirt. Her
muscles tensed, and heat seared her veins as the adrenaline shot
through her body. She launched herself through the station doorway
and raced down the ramp, clutching her gear in hand as she
automatically secured the Velcro strap around her wrist.
The
first contact of her bare foot hitting the unrelenting hot sand sent
a jolt into her calf. Ignoring it, she ran toward the bluff at full
speed. Her heart beat in time with her pounding footfalls. She could
feel the blazing rays of sun heat up her caramel latte-colored skin
as she raced toward the emergency.
“Help my baby. Someone help, my baby,” the distraught mother
screamed and waved her arms hysterically from the rocky cliff. “Myy
baaaby…” The woman’s voice shrieked in soul-drenching agony as her
knees gave way, and she collapsed onto the large jagged rock bed.
Onlookers gathered at the site.
Arms swinging, legs pumping, Lialani advanced on the uneven bluff
with determination.
Guard. Serve. Save. She repeated her unit’s creed, focusing her
thoughts on the rescue as she skillfully tackled the rocky surface
of the San Diego coastline.
Surefooted, she navigated over the slick path until she saw the end
in sight. Frantically, she looked over the white-capped surf as it
rhythmically crashed into the side of the precipice. She spotted the
crown of the small brown-haired child as it slipped below the waves
seventy-five yards away. In faith, she dived off the cliff. She
released the bright day-glow orange rescue can as she broke through
the water’s surface.
An
icy chill ran across her skin as her arms and legs sliced through
the salty current toward the descending child. No thought to the
fact she’d forgotten her goggles, she pushed forward. She
anticipated the sting of the water in her eyes, but it never came.
Almost too quickly, her eyes adjusted to what the lifeguards in her
unit called aqua vision. The child was another sixty yards away, but
Lialani could clearly make out her form—a little girl in a pink and
yellow bathing suit with a Disney princess on the front.
Lialani’s arms swung over her head as if moving through air. No
struggle or force exerted, she was amazed how easily she had become
one with her element. Colors became vibrant, and the sea caressed
her body like hands of a long-forgotten lover. Her senses came
alive. She could feel every strand of hair on her body; they seemed
to play with the ocean. Her skin tingled.
Lialani’s ears perked up as unrecognizable sounds called to her.
Vigilant in her goal, she pulled her arms along her side and
propelled herself toward the midnight depths, a determined attempt
to reach the little girl now fifteen yards away. In a missile dive,
she forced herself into depths other lifeguards would not subject
themselves to without knowledge.
I won’t stop. Lialani’s voice rang out clearly in her mind.
Everything blurred as she increased her speed. Her legs now numb,
she could no longer identify each individual kick, but she still
pressed on.
For
a moment, her lungs burned as if they would burst with the need for
oxygen. Bubbles floated by her face as she expelled carbon dioxide
from her lungs.
Wanting to scream and cry, Lialani cut through the water. Reaching
out her hand, she grasped the brown hair floating free like silk in
the water. Wrapping her hands around the strands, she squeezed a
thick lock in her palm as she hauled the girl up. Pulling the child
into her arms, she swam toward the glare of the sun’s watery
reflection.
It’s my twenty-first birthday, and we will not die like this.
Lialani attempted to send comforting thoughts to the unconscious
child.
I want to breathe. Lialani’s voice wailed inside as she began to
hallucinate about the sensation of cool air satiating her lungs and
filling them with oxygen. It felt refreshing, like the icy feeling
of drinking water after eating a mint. The illusion became so real
her body relaxed as she drew closer to the surface. Peace coated her
body as she progressed with an urgency to save the little girl’s
life, no longer concerned for her own.
PDF Ebook
 HTML Ebook
|
