Fear

• Dzuy Nguyen, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2013

“Wake up, boy, wake up!” Hal turned and suddenly he opened his eye and makes a dive for his knife and thrust it at the old man chest.
The old man froze.
“What do you want from me?” demand Hal. “And where am I?” questioned Hal. “Calm down, kid, I’ll explain to you what happen,” answered the old man.

As he found you, the old man name is Ruin McArthur and he lived in a village under the mountain. “I saw you tried to hunt that rabbit but you slipped and rolled down the mountain. After I saw you, I went looking for you. Found you here!” explained Ruin. “So is there an easy way to get to the other side of the mountain?” asked Hal with worried face that he would have to climb the mountain because his only fear is of height. Ruin smiled, “Well, the easiest way is to climb over the mountain or do you want to walk 253km around the mountain?” Hal's smile faded after the old man said 253km. 253km, he thought, would take a week to get there and another the week to go back to his home. So now the easiest way is to climb over the mountain and the best strategy is to defeat his fear. “I better get going, I’ve keep you busy for too long,” said Hal. “No, you’re not well enough to even move,” Ruin replied.
So for the next five weeks, Ruin cared for Hal very careful. Each day, he gave Hal the good part of his food and he got the bad part. He also gave Hal bandages to heal up his wound and replaced the bandage every day. Every day he felt better and better until he was fully healed and one day he asked Ruin to continue his journey back to his home village. “If you must,” he sighed. “Let me give you this good luck charm to protect you in your journey.” He pulled out a red oval necklace and put it over Hal’s neck. “Thank you, Ruin. You’ve been a very nice to me,” he said. “Oh, and I also put everything that belongs to you into your backpack and some extra food, water and bandages.” He smiled warmly. “Now I have to set off for my journey, thank you Ruin and I’ll see you again.” He shouted over the distance, “Home, here I come!”
“Here we are.” he said and he set his foot on one of the rocks and makes his way home.