A Leap of Courage

By: Gaia

There was a little girl standing on a cliff with closed eyes humming a
tune. The cliff was somehow low but it was still very steep. She was putting her
right foot forward, then the left and was continuing to do so for five times. She
was planning to jump to the bottom.

The little girl didn’t know that a man and his wife were watching her
since she stepped foot on that cliff. They were traveling back to their home and
was intrigued when they saw her. Suddenly, they saw her jump! They were
shocked. Neither the man nor his wife knows the reason why she did so.

Then, they looked over the cliff and saw the girl land on her knees. She
stood up and they saw that one of her knees was bleeding. Luckily they had a
ladder in their carriage and hurriedly went down. She was sitting in front of a
big bush and sounded like she was munching on something. They went to her
and the man tapped her shoulder to make the little girl aware of their presence.

The girl looked behind and took notice to the both of them. A bunch of
perfectly shaped and red strawberries were on her hands. “Want some?” she
asked? Both of them didn’t answer. Instead, they asked whether she was okay.
She answered with a smile, “I’m fine now”. Then they were even more confused.

“You see, these strawberries are very rare”, she said. “And is that worth
risking your safety over?” the wife retorted? The girl didn’t understand the
reason for her question.

She pondered for her response for a moment and then explained, “You
see ma’am… I have no more parents. I am just wandering all around from
place to place by myself. I haven’t eaten for a few days and that is why I was
very happy to see these strawberries.” She spoke between munches.

Suddenly, she felt the strawberries lump in her throat and froze. “She is
choking dear! Give her the water!” The wife panicked. The man hurriedly gave
her the water in his hands. “Slowly”. The man said. “Oh thank you very much”.
She replied.

“Why don’t we talk for a bit before gobbling all those strawberries down?
Okay hon?” She then stopped eating to say with a smile, “There was no other
way to get them but to jump. The Couple was surprised to hear this.

She then continued to explain. “I admit I was afraid because I know I

would get hurt but if I don’t do it, I might die from hunger. So, I closed my eyes
and hummed a tune to make my fear go away. After putting my foot forward for
five times, I convinced myself that the cliff was just low, therefore, I would not
die.”

The girl then exclaimed, “Luckily, I only scraped my knee and more
luckily, I found rare delicious strawberries. They were a treat!”

The couple smiled and thought about how brave the girl was. They were
very amazed by her so they decided to adopt her. They knew that her courage
and liveliness would make their lives much happier and fulfilled.