WHIRLPOOL 

By Tessa Harvey


    The neighbour Johno, Luke? mumbled some fragmented story of a missing child. The paramedic waved him to his own home. "Take the kids there. They need help too. Sandra will help them." 
    The man obeyed, saying something about his wife, waving to the river, distressingly.
    Sandra opened the door to Lucas, Susan and Archie, producing towels, ushering them all in. Toddler Annie peered up at them, delighted to see other children, uncertain about the grumpy man. "I called for help," he said. Anna pulled her thumb out of her mouth. "You aren't a nice man," she declared, "where's my daddy?" Without a word, Lucas headed back out.
    Esther had struggled to where her son's jacket was swirling in the fast flowing river. The water was banked near a huge rock, whirling fast. She reached down just as the heaving sea was sending high tide upstream. Everything seemed to pause. The whirlpool seemed to still. Thomas saw her, looking up from a deep tunnel. He tried to reach her. Colours flicked. She thought she saw a door filled with light. The mother reached and grabbed Thomas.


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