A Call For Courage

• Joy Szeredi, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2007

Alex staggered through the desert. He was starving and was practically dying of thirst. He could take it no longer. He had no courage. He wasn’t brave. He was only a boy. He fainted.

Alex awoke to find a man’s face staring at him. He tried to sit up but the man pushed him back down. Alex noticed his clothing was camouflage.
“Here,” the man said. He gave Alex a bottle of water. He gulped it down gratefully.
“You hungry?” the man asked.
“I’m starving!” As if on cue, Alex’s stomach let out a loud grumble. The man laughed. He pulled out a loaf of bread from his backpack and broke off a piece for Alex. The sky was beginning to darken. It looked like it was going to rain.
The man introduced himself as John. After Alex couldn’t eat or drink anymore, they started walking towards a speck that Alex guessed was the camp John had come from.
“What were you doing all the way out here?” Alex asked curiously.
“Looking for people like you,” John replied, “I didn’t want to fight in the war. I wouldn’t be any use. But I wanted to make myself useful, so I volunteered to look for people.”
“Don’t you have a ute or something?” John looked embarrassed.
“Got stuck in quicksand,” he muttered.
He glanced uneasily at the sky. It was looking threateningly cloudy. Alex and John walked on in silence.
“I wish I had courage,” Alex said suddenly. John looked at him curiously.
“I’m scared of everything,” Alex went on, “This is a nightmare. I desperately want courage.”
“Ah,” John said, “A call for courage.” They fell silent again. After a while a drop fell on Alex’s nose. Then gradually it started raining heavily. They started to run. At the first flash of lightning, John picked up Alex and started to sprint. The sand was getting slippery. Alex could feel John slipping. Then John ran through a mud pit. He fell over. Alex rolled out of his arms. When he managed to stop himself, he heard John let out a yell. Alex quickly ran over to him.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked worriedly.
“I think I broke my right ankle,” John said grimacing.
Alex was scared out of his mind. They were in the middle of nowhere, with no help nearby and it was pouring with rain. John, however, remained calm. It was part of his training to be a soldier – to not lose your head while in an emergency.
“Alex,” John said urgently, “I need you to come around to my right side to help me up.” Alex hurried over and put an arm around John’s waist. John put his arm around Alex’s shoulders and struggled to get up. Alex almost collapsed under the weight. Luckily, John got up before Alex did. John hopped out of the mud pit and collapsed on the sand still holding Alex. Alex fell with him.
“Okay,” Alex said, gasping for breath, “Now what do we do?”
“We might as well wait for the rain to stop because I’m not sure where we would go for shelter,” John replied.
Alex felt his fear go from high to over the top.
“…because it doesn’t look like there’s any shelter nearby,” John was saying, “We might have to stay here for the night.” Alex only just noticed it was getting dark. The rain was getting lighter and Alex was starting to feel tired, despite the situation he was in. He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.
Alex awoke to find John shaking him. It had stopped raining.
“Alex,” he said, “Looks like we got a ride back.” Alex noticed a man wearing the same clothes as John standing next to a ute.
“This is my brother Dave,” John said. The man smiled at Alex.
“Hi,” he said.
After John had been given a bandage for his leg, they all had some more to eat and drink, Alex leaned back in the seat as they were driving back to camp, closed his eyes and smiled. Immediately, His eyes snapped open. He heard a ticking noise. He and John exchanged worried looks.
“Dave-”
There was an explosion.

John got up, dusted himself off and wiped blood from his cheek. He looked sadly at the wrecked ute. Then, with tears streaming down his face, he limped away.
He wished courage had answered Alex’s call.