by Gill Lewis
Murphy and Rodrigo looked up and down the beach. Murphy knew it was dangerous to swim around headlands because of strong currents, but it was low tide. The sea was calm, and the waves were small. Rodrigo put his paw in the air, but Murphy answered before Rodrigo had a chance. “It’s quite safe out there,” said Murphy. “It’s perfect for swimming.”
“Young pup,” said Boris, clearing his throat. “NEVER for one moment think the sea is safe. It may be a fun place to play, but there are ALWAYS dangers.”
“But … it looks so calm,” said Murphy.
Boris shook his head. “Out there lies DANGER. INVISIBLE. UNSEEN. Something with the power to take you out to sea.”
“Sharks?” said Murphy.
“I’m not talking about sharks,” said Boris. “Let’s see if Rodrigo has the right answer.”
Rodrigo put his paws on the wooden railings, then pointed to the very far end of the beach. “Over there,” he said, “where the waves look a bit flattened. That might be a rip current.”
“Well done.” Boris beamed. He held up a board with a diagram of a rip current. “Can you tell us what a rip current is, and what you do if you get stuck in one?”
Rodrigo cleared his throat. “It’s a fast-moving current of water that moves away from the beach. If you get caught in one, don’t try to swim against it. You must swim along, parallel to the beach, until you are out of it, and then swim to shore.”
“Well done, well done,” said Boris, patting Rodrigo on the back.
Murphy turned away and scowled. He wanted to prove he was better than Rodrigo. He had to find a way he could impress Boris too.
4
“So,” said Boris, “what should humans do if they find themselves in trouble in the water?”
Murphy put his paw up. “They should wave a hand in the air and shout for help.”
“Well done,” said Boris. “Let’s just spend a while looking out across the bay, checking that no one is in trouble.”
Murphy puffed out his chest in pride. He’d gotten an answer right. He stood at the top of the steps and surveyed the beach, just like his hero. He felt the sun on his back and breathed in the salt smell of the sea. This had to be the best job in the whole wide world. This was where he belonged. This was where he’d always wanted to be.
He watched humans enjoying their picnics. He looked beyond the puppies from the academy, who were lying on the sand, to a boy building a sandcastle on the beach. No one needed help today. Or did they?
Beyond the sandcastle, Murphy could see two small children yelling and splashing in a big rock pool. The water came right up to their necks. One girl went under the water and disappeared from sight. She waved her hands wildly in the air. The humans around her didn’t notice. The children needed help, and they needed it now. Murphy glanced at Rodrigo and Boris, but they were looking the other way. Maybe this was his chance to prove himself. This was a real-life rescue.
Murphy leaped down the wooden steps and bounded across the beach. He felt the wind in his ears and the sand beneath his feet. This was it—this was his moment. This was when he would make Boris proud. His friends would see he was much better than Rodrigo. People would gather around him and cheer. He’d be Murphy, surf rescue pup: the hero of the day.
“Woof,” Murphy barked. “I’m coming.… Woof! Woof! Woof!”
The puppies from the academy scattered as sand flew up from Murphy’s paws.
He slammed through the sandcastle.
He pounded through the picnics.
Nothing else mattered now, only the rescue.
Murphy took a flying leap and splashed into the middle of the rock pool. It wasn’t deep at all. The water only came up to his knees. The girls screamed and scrambled out of the rock pool.
Murphy ran after them. “Wait, wait!” he barked.
But the girls ran faster and faster.
Murphy felt Boris grab his collar and pull him back. “Not so fast, young pup. Don’t scare them. They didn’t need saving.”
Murphy stared after them. “But the water looked so deep. It came up to their necks.”
“They were lying down,” said Boris, sighing.
Rodrigo and the other pups crowded around him. Murphy thought he heard a few of them snickering.
“But the children were shouting and splashing and waving their arms in the air,” said Murphy. “They needed help.”
Boris put a big paw on Murphy’s shoulder. “Children scream and shout on the beach. It’s what they do. They are just having fun. You must learn to tell the difference between who is in trouble and who is just having a good time.”
“I told them to wait, but they ran away even faster,” said Murphy.
Boris sighed. “Humans can’t understand our woofs and barks,” he said. “You know that. The children were frightened of you charging at them like that.”
Murphy stared down at his own large paws. He’d messed up again. He’d made a fool of himself in front of Boris and in front of his friends. There was so much to learn. Maybe he just wasn’t good enough to become a surf rescue dog. Maybe he wasn’t good at anything at all.
* * *
“Cheer up, Murphy,” said Boris. “It was an easy mistake. Let’s get in the water and start your rescue training. Would you like that?”
Murphy nodded. At least swimming was one thing he knew he could do.
“Good,” said Boris, “but first, I will need you to put on one of these.” He held up a water rescue jacket. “This will help you float in rough seas, and these handles are for the human to hold on to. Hopefully both you and Rodrigo will earn your Surf Rescue badges today.”
Boris checked that the human lifeguards were watching the beach, and then he led Murphy and Rodrigo down to the water’s edge.
“Right,” said Boris. “I will swim out beyond the breaking waves and then wave my paws as the signal to rescue me. To earn your Surf Rescue badge, you must swim out to me and pull me back to shore. Is that clear?”
Murphy nodded. He’d trained for this. He’d read all the books. He was the best swimmer at the academy. He’d rescued pups from the swimming pool and from the river. He felt ready.
Almost.
The only thing he had never done was swim in the sea!
Since they arrived at the beach, the wind had picked up and the waves were bigger. White foam crested their tops.
The waves looked much bigger from the shoreline. They looked HUGE.
He didn’t feel so sure about swimming in the sea now.
“Who wants to go first?” asked Boris.
Murphy waited for Rodrigo to put his paw in the air.
“Good luck, Rodrigo,” said Boris.
As Boris trotted into the sea, a boy in a red baseball cap and Hawaiian shorts ran after him and tried to ride on his back.
“Save me! Save me!” the boy shouted.
Boris had to bark at him to make him let go. He left the boy in the shallows and swam out beyond the breaking waves. He faced the shore and put his paws in the air. This was the signal. He needed rescuing.
Rodrigo plunged into the water. He was only a little dog, but he paddled out through the surf. Wave after wave passed over Rodrigo. The little dog disappeared and bobbed up again, swimming out to Boris.
Murphy watched as Boris grabbed onto the handle of the water rescue jacket with his teeth and let Rodrigo pull him back to shore.
“Perfect!” woofed Boris when they were back on the beach. “Textbook stuff. Well done.”
Rodrigo took off his jacket and shook himself dry. “Good luck,” he barked at Murphy.
Murphy looked out at the waves. If Rodrigo could do it, surely he could too. Rodrigo looked more like a lap dog than a water rescue dog.
The boy in the red baseball cap hadn’t given up. He lay down in the shallow waves and kicked and thrashed in the water, pretending to be in trouble. “Save me! Save me!” he yelled. Boris ignored him and swam back into the sea.
Murphy waited until Boris gave the sig
nal, and then he plunged in. He bounded over the waves in the shallows. But the water was getting deeper and the waves were getting higher. Soon Murphy was out of his depth. He kept losing sight of Boris behind each wave. Spray splashed in his eyes, and the sea caught his legs and swirled him round. How had Rodrigo managed to keep swimming in this?
One wave rose up in front of him—up and up and up. Murphy tried to swim over the top of it, but it began to curl, then folded on top of him, rolling him over and over and over. He closed his eyes. Water rushed into his mouth and up his nose. It was like being in a giant washing machine at full spin.
Round and round and round and round and round he spun, until the wave tumbled him all the way back to the beach and dumped him on the hard sand.
Murphy opened his eyes to see Major Bones, Rodrigo, and all his friends staring down at him.
“What happened?” said Star.
“Are you okay?” said Rodrigo.
Murphy groaned and closed his eyes. He’d made a fool of himself again. He couldn’t get anything right.
Major Bones leaned down. “Up you go, Murphy. Let’s get you back into the sea.”
Murphy looked at the waves. They looked even bigger than before. He didn’t want to face the waves ever again. Not even the little ones. He didn’t want to mess up again in front of his friends. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to be a surf rescue dog anymore. He had to face it: he was scared of the sea. “I think I’ll be a lifeguard at a swimming pool instead,” he said.
“Don’t be silly,” said Star.
“Have another go,” said Scruff.
“No!” wailed Murphy.
Boris pushed his way through the pups. “Do you want to try that again?”
Murphy covered his face with his paws. He’d failed in front of his hero. What if he failed a second time? “I’m not going back out there.”
“Amigo,” said Rodrigo, patting Murphy’s back, “do it for your friends.”
Murphy looked at them all and then glared at Rodrigo. “They don’t need me now, anyway, because they have you.”
“Murphy—!” said Star.
“Just leave me,” Murphy blurted out. He flung off his water rescue jacket, pushed his way through the pups, and ran and ran to the far end of the beach. He sank down behind the rocks, closed his eyes, and pressed his head against the sand, hoping it would swallow him up. His friends wouldn’t think he was a hero anymore. It was all over. His dreams were crushed. He’d never be a surf rescue dog—not now, not ever.
Everything had gone horribly, horribly wrong.
5
Murphy lay still for a long time. He hoped everyone would forget about him and leave him there forever.
Just as he was beginning to wonder if everyone had forgotten about him, a shadow passed across his face.
“Hey, amigo!”
Murphy opened one eye.
Rodrigo was standing over him, leaning against his surfboard.
“What do you want, Rodrigo?”
“I came to see if you’d like to catch some heavies with me before the competition starts?”
“Heavies?” said Murphy.
“¡Sí! Let’s go find ourselves some big waves.”
“I told you. I’m not going back in,” said Murphy. He stared at the waves thundering on the shore. “I can’t believe you actually like it out there.”
“I didn’t always like it,” said Rodrigo.
“You didn’t?” said Murphy.
“No,” said Rodrigo. He sat down on the sand next to Murphy. “Where I come from, everyone surfs. When I first tried, the other dogs were always better than me. I wanted to be the best so much that I didn’t enjoy just being out on the water. I kept falling off the big waves. I was frightened!”
“Then what happened?” said Murphy.
“Well, I stayed on the shore while I watched my friends surfing. Some were better than others, but it didn’t seem to bother them. They were all having fun. I realized I wasn’t frightened of the waves. I was frightened of failing. I was frightened of not being the best.”
“So what did you do?”
“I figured that I didn’t have to be the best, but I had to try to be my best,” said Rodrigo. “Take Aliikai. I may never be as good a surfer as she is, but I can learn from her. Now I just try to get a little bit better every day, and best of all, I have fun with my friends too.”
Murphy stared at his paws for a long, long time. “I’m sorry I haven’t been very nice to you. I wanted to be the best. And I wanted my friends to like me. I was worried they’d like you more.”
“Your friends do like you.”
Murphy turned around to Star’s voice.
“Star!” said Murphy.
The other pups were there too.
“Of course we like you, Murphy,” said Pip.
“We don’t like you just because you’re great at water rescue,” said Star. “You don’t have to be a hero for us to want to be your friends. We like you because you’re you.”
“But you haven’t been very nice since Rodrigo arrived,” said Scruff.
“I know,” said Murphy, “and I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?” Murphy looked at all his friends.
“Of course,” they barked.
“Thank you,” woofed Murphy. “Thank you.”
“Hey, amigo!” said Rodrigo, slapping Murphy on the back. “Surf’s up. C’mon. Hitch a ride with me.”
Murphy’s paws trembled. The waves looked like big monsters rising up to eat him. “I can’t go back out there.”
“Go on,” said Star. “You do want to be a surf rescue dog, don’t you?”
Murphy swallowed hard and nodded. He wanted to be one more than anything in the world.
Rodrigo leaned in close. “There is an old sea dog saying: ‘If you want to see what’s on the other side of the ocean, you have to leave the shore.’” Rodrigo held out a paw. “It means that sometimes you have to be brave enough to take the first step.”
Murphy shook Rodrigo’s paw, then followed him back along the beach and into the shallow waves.
“Hop up behind me,” said Rodrigo.
Murphy climbed behind Rodrigo on the surfboard. It wobbled, but he clung on, lying low, and they paddled out to sea.
Rodrigo pointed to the breaking waves. “Keep your head down when the breakers come at you and let them pass over,” he said. “And if you meet a really big one, turn turtle!”
“Turn turtle?” said Murphy.
A huge wave curled over and its foam surged toward them.
“Sí,” said Rodrigo, “like this. Hold on tight, amigo!” He flipped the board so they were underneath the surfboard as the wave passed over them. Then he flipped them back up again. “That way you don’t end up in a wipeout.”
Murphy watched the wave tumble on its way toward the shore.
Rodrigo paddled them out beyond the breaking waves, and Murphy sat with him on the board, rising up and gliding down in the swells.
Wave after wave rolled in from the ocean.
“You ready to catch one?” asked Rodrigo.
“I’ve never tried surfing before,” said Murphy. “Is it scary?”
“There’s nothing like it,” said Rodrigo. “You’ve got to listen to the ocean. Hear its voice inside of you. Become part of the wave, part of the ocean.”
Rodrigo paddled them toward the shore. He turned around to look at the oncoming waves. A big one started to rise up and up behind them. “This is our wave, amigo. Stay with me.”
Murphy paddled with Rodrigo. As the wave caught them, the surfboard teetered on the crest, and then they were over the top of it, rushing down the other side, faster and faster. Murphy’s ears streamed out behind him. The salty wind ran through his fur. He felt like he was flying! It was the best feeling in the world. Nothing else mattered. He knew what Rodrigo meant. He was part of the wave, part of the ocean.
“ARRRRRROOO!” howled Rodrigo.
“ARRRRRROOOO!” howled Murphy.
They whizzed in a blur of dog and surf toward the shore.
Murphy jumped off in the shallows and bounced around the surfboard. “That was amazing!” he barked. “Let’s do it again.”
* * *
By the time Murphy and Rodrigo heard Boris calling their names, they had already ridden about twenty waves.
“It seems you have mastered the waves,” said Boris. “Maybe you should try for your Surf Rescue badge after all. We just have time for the test before the surf dog competition starts.”
Murphy couldn’t believe his ears. Maybe he could still be a surf rescue dog! “Thank you, Rodrigo,” he said. “Thanks for everything.”
Major Bones and Rodrigo helped Murphy into his water rescue jacket again, while Boris swam out to be rescued. The boy in the red baseball cap was back and tried even harder to grab hold of Boris, but Boris just shook him off and pushed him back to the beach.
Murphy watched the boy wander down the shoreline with his hands deep in the pockets of his shorts, kicking the waves with his feet. He kept turning around, glaring moodily back at them.
Boris paddled out beyond the breaking waves. “Right,” he barked. He bobbed up and down and waved his paws in the air. “Come on, Murphy. Let’s see what you can do.”
“HELP! HELP!”
Murphy turned to look farther down the beach. The boy with the red baseball cap was in the water, and he seemed quite far out. The water was up to his neck, and the waves were crashing over him. He disappeared for a moment, then came back up flailing his hands in the air.
“HELP! HELP!”
Boris was already swimming toward the boy. “Stay on the beach, pups!” he barked. “This is an emergency. This is the real thing.”
6
Murphy watched Boris paddle toward the boy. His thick black fur streamed out behind him. The boy went under again. Murphy held his breath. He was watching his hero in action. This was a real rescue. He hoped he would be as brave one day too.
