Alice, a young girl of about fourteen, was rather shy and anxious and found it rather difficult to fit in at school. She loved music and singing in particular, but whenever she asked to do either her anxiety took over and she made a mess of it. So much so that whenever an opportunity came to join the others in a show, they would say don’t ask her, she is no good.
The truth is that she had a beautiful voice with perfect pitch and real power, and she longed to sing with them. Instead, she used to go down to the riverside near her home and sing her heart out, with the water and the rustling leaves as her orchestra.
One day she was walking along the river bank, singing away as usual when she heard a cry from the river. She stopped and stood still trying hard to hear where the cry came from.
It came again faintly and there in the river, hanging on grimly, to one of the trailing branches of a big willow tree, was a young boy. She knew at once she could not reach him as she was too short.
Then she remembered passing two men on their way to play cricket in the nearby field. If she could just get them to help. However, the young boy was at the end of his strength and she felt if she left him he might let go.
So she decided to use her voice to sing for help. She sang her message, ‘Help, help, a boy is drowning in the river, by the big willow tree, come quickly, help us, help us.
Her voice soared loudly and clearly above the river sounds, repeating its message time and time. Every so often she stopped to call encouragement to the boy in the river.
Then help arrived. It was the two men she had passed earlier. They had turned back when they heard her singing, and because it was so beautiful they listened and heard the important message, and came at once, running as fast as they could across the field straight to the willow tree.
They soon formed a chain and pulled the lad from the river he was so grateful, but he could hardly speak as his teeth were chattering. Using his portable phone, one of the men called for an ambulance.
They both turned to congratulate Alice on her life-saving performance, and her wonderful voice, but Alice had reverted to her usual anxious state and slipped away when everyone was busy.
A few days later, one of the men was explaining what had happened to a friend who was a newspaper reporter, who then decided to find Alice. He found her at school the next day and spoke to the headmistress about Alice’s amazing feat. She arranged to announce the event to the school and publicly congratulate Alice.
At first, it was quite an ordeal for her, but then her spirit soared, ‘No one wanted me to sing before now they can’t wait to hear me.’ Then she gave her second lifesaving performance.
The life she was saving this time was her own and you could have heard a pin drop as she sang. In the end, there was a moment's complete silence before the thunderous applause. Alice had saved herself from a lifetime of anxiety and fear.
2024 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen
Photo: Pixabay License
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