Escape

A Narrow Escape
This is a true story. My brother who is handicapped & myself went to Dadar in Mumbai to visit an Aunt. She lived very near the beach. I was just 15 then & my brother 5. We loved going to the beach but normally always went with our mother or elder sister. On our way back, temptation got the better of us & we came up with the great idea of walking along the beach instead of taking the taxi back home. If we walked along the beach we could get onto the road at the Mahim Fort some distance away from Dadar, from where we could take a taxi to our home.
Once on the beach, we got playing on the sand, making little sand castles, collecting sea shells of all shapes & sizes & time & again dipped our legs in the water enjoying the waves that lashed against the shore. The tide was coming in but we were blissfully unaware of anything. We drank coconut water, ate bhel puri & leisurely walked along in the sand. My brother has a paralyzed right hand & walks with a limp. But nothing came in the way of his enjoyment on the beach that day.
It was beginning to get dark now & we decided to move on. Engrossed in play we had forgotten to look around. As we moved ahead we were shocked to see that we could not go any further as the waters had covered the place ahead. Gripped with fear we turned back. But to our astonishment the waters behind us had also touched the shore. We were left on a small dry patch of land & were surrounded by water on all sides. we could see the Mahim Fort some distance away; the waves lashing against it. That was the place from where we had planned to exit. We stood there confused & afraid.
In desperation we looked around for some way out. Our only hope was a tall wall that was before us & there were huge boulders near the wall. But how could we climb the wall ? It was dark & no one in sight. The waters were threatening to cover this place too. Everything was happening so fast. I had to console my little brother who was crying . What next ? It...