Addam and his friends
were bored. It was a hot and humid
summer afternoon in Louisiana and there was nothing to do but catch frogs in
the ditches and chase stray cats. The
small creek hidden in the woods behind their houses was an enticing yet
deceptive trap full of sharp branches sticking out of the water like
spikes. No boy in his right mind would
attempt to swim in there unless he had a death wish. Yet Addam and his friends were bored, and
anyone who knows children knows that boredom is the best motivation to get a
child to do reckless things. So he and his friends decided to loiter by the
edge of the creek. Addam picked up a
large rock and tossed it into the murky water.
He smiled crookedly at the satisfying splash. Soon the other boys joined in and rocks
started flying. Eventually they got
bored of that too and started throwing rocks at each other instead. It didn’t last long. While the boys were recovering from the
attacks, Addam went in search of a rock to surprise his brother with. What he found instead was a long sturdy rope
hidden in the mud. Addam wrapped his
treasure across his shoulders and searched the creek bank for a tree with sturdy
branches hanging out across the water.
Once he found one, he climbed as far as he could across the water and
tied one end of the rope securely to the branch. Then he tied a knot at the other end of the
rope so that one’s feet wouldn’t slip off.
The boys stopped displaying their battle scars and watched Addam with
growing excitement.
As
soon as he was finished, the boys started pushing and shoving to get to the
rope, but Addam wanted the first turn.
He stepped up onto a large rock and held the rope with both hands. Addam wasn’t afraid of falling in the
water. After being tied to milk jugs and
tossed into the river by his older brother, Addam knew how to swim. However, he was afraid of the spikes and knew
that if he slipped, he’d be coming home with water dripping out of the holes in
his body. So with that in mind, he
pushed off from the rock as hard as he could at an angle. The world spun out around him as he arced
across the water and over the deadly spikes.
The strong wind pushed his hair back from his forehead and plastered the
large grin to his face. He was filled
with pure adrenaline and courage. If he
survived this, he’d be dubbed Addam the Brave by all who hear of his heroic
feat. He reached the bank in no time and
the boys rushed over to congratulate him.
For the rest of that summer, children swung on the swing of death to
prove their bravery. Yet no one could
ever top Addam the Brave.
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