Urban Legend
It happened at the park one day
like any other, where kids came to play
The sun was out, the lake was warm
and the sands were still damp, after the storm
Adults watched from afar
some from blankets, some from the bar
More from benches, others from cars
and most important, one lifeguard
The children ran across the grounds
and it wasn’t long before the sounds
Of kids playing tag and hide-and-seek
filled the air across the beach
A perfect summer afternoon
that would be marred and ending soon
Ruined beyond repair by the type of incident that
the same lifeguard mentioned was hired to prevent
See, while the kids were playing, shouting, and clowning
a child, strayed from his group and was now drowning
The lifeguard, in the tower, no attention being shown
to the youth in danger in the water while scrolling on the phone
And this is where the story turns and becomes a different type
of how heroes come to be and how legends come to life
Out of all of the kids playing, there was one I didn’t mention
the only one out of all the kids that was paying attention
Because he wasn’t the type to be focused on the games
more of the type to come to the beach to enjoy the waves
And it was at the point where he paused in the middle of play
and saw the small child in trouble that day
And even though he couldn’t swim
he ran to the shore and jumped right in
The water lapped around them both
and somehow the child managed to float
Into the arms of the rescuer and by then
the two in the water had the attention
Of all the eyes that remained on shore
the boy’s heroics were too hard to ignore
Because where all the ones who were trusted at watch had failed
this young person’s heroics prevailed
And just when it seemed they’d both reach shore
there was suddenly one and not two as before
The little boy floated into the arms of his parents
and the search party used all tools for surveillance
And eventually they had to make the decision
to turn this rescue into a recovery mission
But here’s the part that gives me pause and no peace
out of all of the people that day at the beach
No one reported a boy that day going missing
and no one reported that a boy came with them
And the divers that went and scoured the lake
searched for days and weeks, but never found any remains
So I want to tell you all this urban legend in so many words
of a tale that may or may not have occurred
But just in case you doubt the accuracy,
One of those kids
they never found
And the other one
was me
