Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Enter (02/27/06)
-
TITLE: The Shortcut | Previous Challenge Entry
By Janelle Bailey
03/05/06 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
“Come on, Mom,” Kati called impatiently, seeing my reluctance for the chilly water. I was feeling rather sluggish, and would have liked nothing better than to be curled up at home with a book or a movie. Still, that was not the cause of this moment of hesitation. Laziness was at the heart of my problem.
The pool had already begun to churn out waves. Kati had found a floating mat, and was bobbing about enthusiastically as the waves ebbed and flowed. To join her now I would have to trek down to the opposite end of the pool to the beach, before swimming out to meet her. What a bother, when she was just meters away from the pool’s edge. But those were the rules. The bold letters “ENTER VIA BEACH ONLY” could be seen all over the center. I couldn’t miss them.
“What does it matter,” I thought to myself. “No one will care if a middle aged woman enters the pool the wrong way. Those signs are only there to prevent children from having accidents.”
Sure that no one was watching, I leapt into the water, losing my balance at the last instant. Instead of landing in the water gracefully as I had intended, I fell heavily onto an unused mat. My laughter at my clumsiness swiftly transformed into horror though as I realised that the mat was not unused after all. I could feel a small, struggling figure beneath me. I had fallen on a child!
I slid down from the mat, pulling a choking and sobbing little boy out from underneath it. One of the lifeguards took him from me, while the other escorted me out of the water.
I discovered later that the boy had been playing with the mat all along. I just hadn’t seen him. Fortunately he was not badly hurt. But nothing would change what I had done. I had broken a rule and endangered a life. My daughter and I were asked to leave immediately.
Kati didn’t speak a word on the drive home, though her eyes reproached me loudly. I had ruined our outing and injured a child, all because I was too lazy to enter the water according to the rules. It would take a great deal of time to repair what I had done.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
