BRAVE?
Picture us.
A family of four on a wide deserted beach.
Hop, skip and jump,
Not a care in the world.
The tide is out.
The damp sand left behind
Is ideal for a little boy
To scrabble in.
He crouches down,
Engrossed.
Was there a sign?
Oh yes.
'Beware Dangerous Rip'
It said.
Nothing to do with us.
We weren't swimmers.
I could doggy-paddle
But that didn't count.
Where did the rogue wave come from?
I only know that I looked back
And my little boy
Was in the surf!
As we ran to him
Another wave carried him
Further out.
Then another.
We screamed.
He was laughing!
And both of us leaped into the surf and swam!
We were driven up against rocks,
We were pounded with huge waves.
He seemed to bob further and further away!
But we brought him back to shore,
Where his sister, thumb in mouth,
Stood wide-eyed.
Was that bravery?
I doubt it.
It was instinct pure and simple.
I only know that he was still laughing.
And, thirty-five years later,
He's laughing still.
That's all I need to know!
Greg now with his wife and youngest son.
