Free Lyre by Helen Harper

Salt water sprayed up around her as she pelted in the direction of the surfer.  She could only make out flashes of his body as it tumbled over and over in the surf.   As soon as the water reached above her knees she dove forwards and tried to swim, her bare legs scuffing against the rough sea floor, but her efforts were weak and it wasn’t long before she was on her feet again, attempting to ignore the pull of the current so that she could reach the surfer in time.  He seemed an impossible distance away.  When she could no longer run against the water, she lunged forward again, her arms stretching forward in the way she’d seen others do.  Muscle memory kicked in from long forgotten swimming lessons and her legs kicked hard while her arms reached out in front, cutting through the stinging waves.  From nowhere, a wash of water crashed over her head and she swallowed what felt like several mouthfuls.  Then she was gasping for air, her fingers grappling through the waves as if seeking purchase.  Her heart was thumping painfully against her ribcage and all she could hear was pumping blood roaring in her ears.
    Numb with cold, and struggling to breathe, Yuri kicked again and reached out.  Something brushed past her fingertips and she almost yelled in exultation.  An arm came from nowhere, smacking her painfully across her face.  She cursed again and tried to grab it, pulling backwards as she did so.  The surfer’s body twisted against her, resisting her touch.  Using her other arm, she curved round his chest and tightened her grip.  He was choking and spluttering.  Another wave smashed into them, intense in its ferocity.  The surfer’s body jerked while Yuri dimly clutched his broad chest and began to try to pull him back in to shore.  Something thwacked against the back of her head and she felt herself going under.  Then her head emerged above the waves again and she kicked for all her might, her grip tight around his body.  Except his legs kept getting her way and, for every kick against the current, it felt as if the pair of them were being pulled further and further out.
    Yuri gritted her teeth.  Cold was seeping into her extremities and the thin top she was wearing felt heavy and constricting.  She clutched the surfer to her, squeezed her eyes shut and pulled, using her one free arm to cut through the water and take them back in the direction of the safety of shore.  The surfer continued to struggle against her but his movements were growing feebler.
    ‘Goddamn you!’ She screamed in his ear, before another wave swallowed away her words.  ‘I’m trying to help!’
    Something must have registered in his brain because his body abruptly stilled then she felt his legs kick as if helping her bring him in.  Yuri kicked too, her lungs beginning to burn against the onslaught of the waves and the lack of regular air.  The thought passed across her mind that this was it.  This was how it was going to end.  After everything the sea was going to take her away anyway.  The current was too strong and, even with the vague help of the surfer, his body was too clumsy and too large for her slight frame to manage.  A calmness descended across her and she felt herself start to relax.  Her legs dropped and her grip on the surfer loosened.  Then, without warning, she felt the ocean floor under her feet and stupidly realised she was close enough to shore to be able to stand.
    Clutching his back to her chest, she heaved him backwards.  She could barely see with the salt stinging her eyes, but she could feel the water becoming shallower and shallower around her as she hauled him in.  It reached her chest, then her midriff, then her waist.  And then she was half hugging, half dragging him onto the wet sand where she flipped him onto his back and stared into his slack pale face.  Somehow she had known who it was even before she really recognised his features.
    ‘Ozzy!’ she thumped his chest.  He didn’t