The Story of the Wise Leader

Imagine keeping track of an adventuresome young boy who was always getting in trouble all by yourself.  Paying bills and washing muddy footprints from the kitchen floor. That would have to be the life of Aunt Polly; she had to have been the wisest leader to do all this every day.

                It all began one day in late spring,  Aunt Polly became the wise leader of the young Tom Sawyer and all the baggage that came with him. Beginning in the local hospital in the center of the town where Tom’s family and Aunt Polly had lived separately before the accident. Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer had been in  their brand new Ford Model T, when another car came speeding down the street hitting their car in the front end severely injuring Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer. They were brought to the hospital immediately and Aunt Polly had gotten a notification to go see them. On the way, she picked up Tom and they hurried to the hospital. By the time they both got there, Tom’s parents had only a few minutes of their lives left to live. Aunt Polly pulled out her hanky and wiped the tears from her eyes as Tom sat in between both his mother and father and said a prayer while sobbing as his parents left this world.

                After they had past,  Aunt Polly brought Tom to his home to pack his things in suit cases. He still had tears running down his face as she helped him pack. “Boy,” she said “I know that when your parents die, life becomes a black hole. I am here now and I will raise you till you are grown big and know what you need to know in life. You may not believe me now, but when you start your life with your own family to take care of you will then understand.” This day in her life will never be forgotten especially when Tom said “Yes, ma’am. I believe you and I love you for taking me in.”

                Despite the move in, Tom has other problems to worry about: the bully. The new kid in town was Ben Rodgers. He is now the neighborhood bully; pushing kids around like a daily use of a door. Tom had been running errands for Aunt Polly when Ben came from behind and pushed him to the cement sidewalk, breaking all the glass containers.  He got up and picked up all of the groceries capable of being eaten, and put them in the paper bag. Tom continued walking, and from behind he heard footsteps approaching, then he sprinted. Ben said, “Run! Run home mama’s boy.”

When Tom came up to his house, Aunt Polly was hanging clothes on the line to dry. “What happened Tom? Let me get you a damp cloth to wipe of the dirt and blood.” Aunt Polly asked. “It was the new kid Ben,” Tom told her, “He pushed me.” Aunt Polly replies, “All it takes is one person to stop a bully.  He can’t push you if you can’t be pushed.” Her wise words helped Tom eventually stand up to the bully: Ben Rodgers.

Aunt Polly deserves the wise leadership award because of what she has and will do for Tom to help his life and how she let him in like her own son. She leads him for the rest of his life and to the end of hers. Aunt Polly will always be known as the wisest leader that ever lived and deserves the wise leadership award.         

Deep Water

            Picture yourself drowning, trying to breathe, but only getting water. How it seeps into your lungs as your body goes limb. Fright of dying pops images of family and good friends, then black nothingness. This is how it begins; drowning: no one has found a way to prevent it, only to have lifeguards watching the water, but sometimes that does not even help. “Deep Water” by William O. Douglas, teaches you that fear can take over no matter what situation you are in.

            When you are little, there is almost nothing you can control, not even a cute little puppy. Everyone thinks that your own dog could never hurt you, but when you yank on an ear, panic races through their minds and they snap back, protecting themselves. Just as the boy in “Deep Water”, standing in the ocean when a large wave knocks him down, panic takes over and this time he can do nothing but struggle to keep himself alive. Although when I was a little girl, I had gotten knocked over by a large ocean wave in California, I did not nearly drown like the boy in the short story. I remember what it felt like to swallow the horrible salt water as it went prickling through your nose. It happens all the time, people drowning because of the panic that takes over your mind and body, and that’s when you develop a phobia of that particular thing. For the boy in the story, the phobia he had was hydrophobia, one of the top phobias around the world.

Even though phobias create panic and how that can take over your life, dying from panic is a whole different thing. Almost 1.2 million people around the world die every year from drowning, that’s about 2 people per minute according to International Life Saving Federation. Imagine what it would be like for the families of these people; what they had to go through, not even to see the person they loved one more time. At least the boy in “Deep Water” survived to see the rest of his life and to conquer his worst fear.         

While 1.2 million people die every year due to drowning and rise above their fears, what happens when you don’t rise above and eliminate the fear? “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury shows that you can be friends with a bully when you fear them, but never leave a best friend behind. Both stories relate to each other in that both main character/s develop a phobia. Social phobias occur mostly around people as for bullies that are mean and disrespectful of other people; that anger is from their life at home. Both phobias that have big effect on the people that have them and many of the people they are around.

Situations can cause fear at times and not at other times, it just depends on situation, but there is always a way to control it. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”

My Memory

Remember fishing with your dad; The cool breeze blowing in your face as you’re watching your bobber roll on top of the waves waiting for that bite. Then a yank, and the bobber is pulled down by a fish! All of a sudden you start to wind your line in playing tug-of-war with the fish, seeing who will win this round. Out of all the memories with my dad, catching a fish with him had to have been the most adventuresome and exciting one of all.

At six years old catching a fish as big as your dad’s hand is a giant accomplishment. Though I’m not a champion fisher-woman, many people have broken U.S. lake fishing records. The fish I caught is called a bluegill or a pan fish. Amos Gray, a record breaker, caught a 5 pound and 7 ounce bluegill. He beat the last record, holding the title of the biggest bluegill caught in the U.S. Though I never caught a fish that big, I love fishing with my dad. My dad teaches me patience, to wait for the fish, otherwise I would have left earlier and had never gotten the chance to catch a fish that made me feel as proud as a peacock.

Beyond catching a record fish, the short story of “Deep Water” plays a part in my memory. What if I drowned falling off the pontoon boat, even though I was wearing a life jacket? 1.2 million people die every year according to the International Life Saving Federation due to drowning, a percentage of that goes to falling off boats. My mom won’t let me go on a boat unless I’m wearing a life jacket.

The most adventuresome and exciting memory with my dad had to have been the time I caught a fish with him. Always cherish the memories you have with family and friends, because these memories you need the most in life.