Quick Thinking

By Manoshi De Silva

Thamira went to his cousin Duneth's house, which was far away from Colombo. Both the boys were very excited because Thamira was going to spend a week at Duneth's place. Although Duneth's house was only a little away from the town, it was very village-like. It was a novel experience for Thamira, who lived in Colombo. 

"There's so much of greenery here," said Thamira. "Yes, there are all kinds of fruit trees here! You wouldn't even know some of these fruits," smiled Duneth. "Also there are so many things you can do here, which I bet you haven't done in Colombo!" "Like what?" Thamira wanted to know. "Like flying kites in the paddyfield and bathing in the river," said Duneth. Thamira's eyes lit up. "But Amma and Appachchi won't allow us to bathe in the river alone!"

"Why not?" asked Thamira. "Are there crocodiles in it?" Duneth laughed and said, "There are no crocodiles in our village. But some parts of the river are deep and we are only allowed to go with an adult." "Oh!" said Thamira, not sounding too happy. "We can go with Seeya, but he won't let us get into the water. We can only stay in the shallow area and bathe with buckets," said Duneth.

Thamira shook his head in disappointment. "There's no fun doing that," he mumbled, "Duneth, can you swim?" "No," replied Duneth. "Well, I can swim a little. We have a pool at school and I go for swimming lessons," said Thamira, "so there's no problem. Let's go to the river and have a little fun. There's no need to tell the adults." Duneth looked concerned but he nodded his head in agreement.

So, that evening the boys left to go to the river to have some fun. They lied to the adults at home and told them that they were just going for a hike. After walking through a small thicket, the boys reached the riverbank. Thamira's heart was pounding with excitement. He felt that this was way better than the swimming pool at school.

"Look, I saw a small fish," shouted Thamira, pointing at the water. "Oh there are a lot of fish in this river," smiled Duneth. "This is just great!" said Thamira removing his t-shirt and placing it upon a rock. He then started wading through the water up to his waist. "Your shorts are getting wet," shouted Duneth. "It will dry by the time we walk back home," shouted back Thamira.

"Hey, don't go too far! It gets deep!" shouted Duneth. "Fear not! I can swim," grinned Thamira. "Why are you standing there like a lamp post? Get into the water," he said, splashing water towards Duneth. "No! I better not, because I can't swim," said Duneth who only walked in up to knee length. "Ok, then stand there and watch me enjoy," said Thamira floating and kicking his legs like a frog.

Thamira felt proud to show off his swimming skills to his cousin. After swimming a little further, Thamira wanted to see how far away he was. So he stopped and tried to stand on the riverbed like he did in the school swimming pool. It was then that Thamira realised, that his feet couldn't reach the bottom of the river. The bottom was too deep.

Thamira panicked and started kicking his legs. He tried to shout at Duneth but ended up swallowing a lot of water. This made matters worse by making him cough. Thamira got very scared and realised that he was drowning. He started waving his hands and splashing water. "Help!" he managed to scream.   

Duneth saw what was happening. Although he too panicked, he tried to control his fear. He remembered his grandfather's valuable advice on what to do in an emergency, "Step One – Stay calm! Step Two – Find the best practical solution."

"Ok how do I help him?" thought Duneth looking around. There were some thick vines growing on the trees nearby. He yanked and pulled out a long vine that was hugging a tree.

Duneth carefully walked on the rocks and got as close as he could to Thamira. The rocks were covered in moss and were very slippery. Duneth knew that he had to be extremely careful or they'd both be in trouble. Duneth tried to throw the vine towards Thamira. After a few attempts, he managed to throw it near Thamira, who grabbed it. Duneth slowly pulled it towards the rocks. When Thamira reached the rocks, Duneth carefully pulled him up.

After coughing for awhile, Thamira was feeling a little better. So they decided to go back home. "Please don't tell anyone about what happened," begged Thamira. "No, we have to tell them and get you to the hospital. Because if you have water in your lungs, it can turn dangerous!" said Duneth. "We will get scolded for sure. But it's better to get scolded than to fall sick."

The boys sure got a good scolding by the adults. After Thamira was checked at the hospital and released, they came back home. Duneth's grandfather said, "Although what you two did was very wrong, Duneth putha was very wise to think of a quick solution, rather than just panic and watch." "That's true," said Duneth's father, "so many people in our country drown and die because people panic and don't think of safe ways to help!"  

"You should never bathe in unknown lakes and rivers. Even if you are a good swimmer, there can be so many unknown dangers like crocodiles and flash floods. Also, whenever you do go to swim, you should take some sort of floating device like a tube, and a long, strong rope with you, just as a safety measure," said Duneth's father. "The same is true for sea baths," said Duneth's grandfather. "There can be sea currents and other dangers. So it's very important to keep your safety in mind, while having fun with your friends."