Without Looking Back by Tabitha Suzuma Page B

whipped from his mouth and extinguished. He felt liberated, intoxicated and wildly free.
    The bottoms of his jeans were getting soaked as he splashed through freezing shallow pools of water left behind by the retreating tide. The sand grew firmer still, the little bumps left by the waves pummelling the soles of his feet. He skidded to a stop at the water’s edge and began to turn
fouettés
, his favourite dance move. His heart thumped as if it was about to burst but he was determined to beat his personal best of twenty-five turns. When he finally allowed himself to stop, collapsing dramatically onto the wet sand, he felt as if he was going to pass out, but it was a wonderful feeling – a feeling of pushing your body to the limit, a feeling he hadn’t had since his last dance lesson. He had missed it so much.
    When he could finally breathe again, he rolled hisjeans up to his knees and waded out into the sea as far as he could, his feet and ankles throbbing with cold as he stared out at the grey-green water and crashing waves. From holidays in the south of France he remembered only crowded beaches, soft yellow sand and warm blue water. This was different – stark, cold and desolate.
    He turned round to wade back onto dry sand and realized how far he had run, the huge dunes now only molehills in the distance. He could also make out three tiny figures, smudges only, making their way out towards him, following his long trail of footprints. It seemed to take them for ever, even though the smallest of the three figures appeared to be running.
    Millie got to him first, her cheeks bright pink from the cold. ‘Wow, there’s no people, there’s no people,’ she crowed.
    Max arrived next, wearing his earphones and beat-boxing into the wind. Dad arrived last, sounding puffed, carrying a bucket and spade and the picnic bag. ‘Good grief, we’re all going to freeze,’ he said. ‘Louis, what have you done with your shoes?’
    Millie tiptoed to the water’s edge and began to squeal. Max ran to join her and pretended to be trying to push her in. Millie’s screams strengthened.
    ‘Max, for heaven’s sake don’t let her fall in the water!’ Dad shouted across the wind.
    Louis did a string of cartwheels and backflips along the sea edge, the water soaking into the cuffs of his sweatshirt. Max splashed him and Louis splashed him back and soon they were engaged in a water fight.
    Dad shouted something about not having any dry clothes to change into, and so to shut him up, Max started organizing a game of sumo wrestling, drawing out the ring in the sand. He then set out the rules, adding that whoever fought Millie had to do so on one leg.
    Max and Dad went first, and even though Dad was stronger and heavier, Max was much more agile and kept jumping out of the way and tripping him up, until finally he got Dad to step out of the circle. Against Millie on one foot, he really struggled and came perilously close to the circle edge before finally getting her to step out. But as Louis stepped forward, Max’s eyes narrowed and Louis immediately realized Max was going to give it all he’d got. They pounced together, grabbing each other by the shoulders, and tangled for several minutes, their puffs and grunts filling the air. Millie cheered for Louis and so Dad cheered for Max, and for a long moment there was a standoff, their feet raking up thesand. Then Max’s superior strength began to show and Louis’ feet began creeping back towards the circle’s edge. Waiting till the very last minute, when Max was almost sure he’d won, Louis suddenly turned on the ball of one foot and spun himself round, and Max went flying out of the circle with the force of his own push.
    Louis fell onto his knees, punching the air in triumph while Max got slowly to his feet, brushing the sand off the front of his jeans. ‘Did you just pull some fancy
dance move
?’
    And they were off, the game of wrestling turning into a game of tag, until nobody could run