Strong Current

The nicest thing a stranger ever did for me was to save my life.

I was about seven years old and one day went on a riverside picnic with some older cousins. We had a grand time and some of them wanted to take a dip in the clear-running river. I was forbidden to do so because I didn’t yet know how to swim well so I had to be content with watching them wistfully splashing about in the water.

After a while this obviously got to be really boring so I decided to walk a short distance down the river bank, past a bend and away from my older cousins’ watchful eyes. I had this silly idea in my head that I could strip down to my undies, jump in and wade around the bend and surprise my cousins with my fish-like swimming ability.

But the moment I jumped in, I realized I was powerless to fight the tug of the strong current which swept me off my feet and pushed me beneath the water. I struggled to cry out but ended up swallowing a lungful of water instead. As I was going down for about the third time, I felt a strong hand pull at my shoulders and drag me out of the water while murmuring “Everything’s going to be alright, I’ve got you now.”

Through teary eyes, I saw a kind face looking down at me – my benefactor turned out to be a young lady who had been taking a walk by the riverbank and seen my hands waving frantically above the water and jumped in to save me. She left in wet clothes after having safely deposited me with my cousins and brushing aside their thanks.

To this day, I don’t know her name but her refined air of gentleness and courage impressed me greatly. For a long time during my teens, whenever I used to feel discouraged at anything, I'd pull myself up mentally and ask “Is this what your Good Samaritan saved you for? You can do better than this.”