A late-30s lifeguard questions a 6-year-old boy who sits quietly on a lifeguard post. He has been sitting here for hours now. It was evening time, and people started going home. The lifeguard begins to patrol for the last time before going home.
“No, I am waiting for my mom. She said she will pick me up later.”
“Do you know your mom’s numbers? I can call her if you want.”
“Yes. Please call her. I felt so lonely and cold out here. I miss her.”
The man takes the phone out of his pocket, then dials the mom’s number. The line cut off as the service informed about the number termination.
“Are you sure about the number, boy?”
“Yes, she always has her number change from time to time. Can you try another number?”
“Sure. Give me one second, let me get my stuff inside. Here, dial the other's number and talk with her. I won’t be gone for long.”
The boy reached out for the phone with his small, pale hand. The lifeguard walked back into the hut, then closed everything down. He grabs his back and walks out to find that the little boy in swimming trunks has disappeared.
He still saw him from the hut window a moment ago. He looked around and saw his phone on the sand near the wooden stairs. The number displayed on his phone is the same one, but the other side of the line is connected.
The lifeguard picked up his phone and discovered the other end was a young lady with a frightening voice, calling a name he did not recognize.
“Hello, hello, are you still there?”
“Hi, this is Jack. I am a lifeguard at the town beach. Are you the boy’s mother?”
“You met him today? Where did you see him? Did he tell you where he comes from?”
“Calm down, lady. Can you slowly explain to me what happened?”
“Just tell me where you are, and I will explain later.”
He gave her his current location, then 5 minutes later she arrived in a police car. She finally explained to him why his encounter is important to her.
It appears that the boy disappeared a week ago on this beach. Some people saw him go with another family relative, while others saw him go into the sea. No one really knows where he went, until now.
The lifeguard, Jack, started to recall something his friend on another shift had mentioned about an incident near the far end of the coast that everyone had disregarded as fake news. He has a hunch it is related because he remembers the boy has a scar on his arm.
He led the police and his mother to the area, and, as he suspected, he found him.
The lifeless body under the rock with bloated stomach.
His face remains as clean as it was when he met him.
Most importantly, a long cut on his arm with a purple bruise on the neck.
The mother screams in horror and collapses before the police. The investigative team takes over the scene, then recovers the body. While Jack is standing and talking with the detective, he sees him again.
Standing by his mother’s side, he doesn’t understand why he can’t hug her anymore, yet he knows she never intended to leave him.
“Thank you, Mr. Lifeguard.”
He nods to him, then turns to the detective for the final question. As he looks back, he is already gone. Who would have thought that the gigs he does are not only for people living on the beach, but also for those still stuck in a painful circle of grief.