A Story about Sea Animals; But really about us

Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a land not so far away, there lived a girl and a boy who were just like you…

Laura was a robust little girl of eleven years. She wore a beautiful crown of brown, curly hair that, more often than not, wore her instead. Each day her hair grew longer and longer. Each day her mother warned Laura that she’d be getting a haircut if she didn’t keep her hair out of her eyes; but it never happened. On this day, like every other, Laura walked home from school, with the wind in her hair, hand-in-hand with her brother.

Eight-year-old David was a fun, curious creature. His jet black hair was always neatly kept, except for two hurricane swirls that were tucked away in the top of his head. Most boys had only one hurricane tuft of hair, but he had two, which were a perfect match for his turbulent personality. Every day he sang a new song that he had learned in school. His melody was always perfect. He never missed a word. On this day, like every other, he walked home from school, with a song in his heart, hand-in-hand with his sister.

Today their route home was most unadventurous. They were hoping that, maybe, the dandelions would be ripe for blowing today. Maybe the honeysuckles would be sweeter for sucking today. However, they were disappointed on both counts. So, without much thought, they began skipping over the wooden bridge that would take them closer to home…just as they did every day.

And this is where our story begins, because we all know that things are not always as they seem. There was one thing – a very big thing – that was different today: the wooden bridge that crossed the creek was one day older than it had been yesterday. It was one day weaker than it had been yesterday. And today, when Laura and David came skipping along it, the bridge broke!

I can’t really explain what happened next. You would think that they wouldn’t have fallen too far down. After all, it was just a little bridge that went over a little creek in a little countryside backyard, right? Wrong!!

“Oh, Daaavvviii—” screamed Laura, as she fell through the bridge, her arms and legs waving around madly, falling and falling. At one point, she reached out and felt a rope. Quickly she grabbed onto it, then told David to do the same.

“Aaahhh,” she screamed. “Let go!” It wasn’t a rope that he’d grabbed after all; it was her hair.

David was in the midst of a glorious rendition of “You are My Sunshine” when he started falling. He screamed, “Suunnn— ” the entire way down. Too afraid to let go, he was still holding onto his sister’s hair when they plunged into the icy cold water below.

Their fall took them to a depth that was curiously farther than they should have sunk. They were instantly taken by a current that seemed much too fast for a little, woodland creek.

“Hold…on (gulp, gulp)…David!” Laura called out to her brother. She was having a hard time keeping her head above the water. “Don’t…let go (gulp, gulp)…of my hair!”

Laura was strong and very determined when she had to be, and she was determined to hold onto her brother and not ever let go – even though he was doing all the holding on, and even though it hurt a lot.

“Ok, Sis,” David managed to say. His head was bobbing in and out of the water. He was really scared.

David finally got close enough so that he could grab Laura’s hand. Hands clutched, they tried and tried to keep their heads above the water. They were excellent swimmers with medals and ribbons to prove it, but all those medals and ribbons would not save them today. Today, the water was way too strong for them.

Holding on with only their two middle fingers locked, almost frozen together, they held their breath.

“Just three more seconds, David,” Laura yelled out for the third time. “C’mon, David!” Laura encouraged. “Three more seconds (gulp).”

It was almost no use. They were scared. Their hands began to slip apart. They were going under.