Saved by a Stranger
One afternoon, Arfan was out rowing a boat in a river near his grandfather’s house. He had
come to spend his holidays with his grandparents.
As he rowed down the river, he saw a man fishing at the riverbank. Arfan waved to him
and the man waved back friendlily. He saw a bird swooping down to the river to catch a
frog and fly away. Arfan was so busy watching the bird that he did not notice where the
boat was heading.
Suddenly, there was a jarring sound and Arfan felt the boat jerk. The boat had hit some
rocks in the river, It overturned and Arfan fell into the water.
Arfan panicked. He did not know how to swim. He thought he was going to drown. He
shouted loudly for help.
The man on the riverbank had seen everything. He immediately dived into the river. He
swam towards Arfan. On reaching Arfan, he caught hold of the boy’s shoulders and pulled
him. Slowly the man swam back to the riverbank, dragging Arfan along.
When they were on dry ground again; the man said, ‘I shouted to you about the rocks.
Didn’t you hear me?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ Arfan answered as he sat up slowly. ‘Thank you for saving me.’ Then he
smiled and added, ‘I realized two things while I was in the water. One, I should always look
where I am going and, two, I must learn to swim.’
A Good Samaritan
Mohan was on his way to the factory to begin his afternoon shift. As he hurried down a
lane in the squatter area, he saw smoke coming out of a squatter house.
‘Fire! Fire!’ Mohan warned and he rushed towards the house.
People came rushing out of the houses. An old woman ran out of the house that
was on fire. She had three children with her. Suddenly, she screamed and attempted to
rush back into the house. The people around her tried to stop her.
‘No!’ she screamed. ‘My youngest granddaughter is inside. She’s only three years old. I
have to save her.’
Mohan ran to the woman and said, ‘Don’t worry’-~ Aunty I’ll save her.’ Then, he rushed
into the house. Smoke was thick in the house. He could hardly see, Then, he heard a little
girl crying. He spotted her in a corner of the room. Mohan grabbed her and stumbled out
of the burning building. He had to move fast. The fire was spreading rapidly.
The old woman rushed to Mohan. She grabbed her granddaughter and hugged her
tightly. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much for saving her. I’ll never forget you,’ she told
Mohan.
One of the men standing behind him, patted him on the back and said, ‘You risked your
life to save a little girl. There are not many brave people like you in this world.’
Mohan smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Then he realized that he was going to be late
for work.
A Natural Disaster
The weather report had stated that there would be bad weather throughout the
month. It was December and it was the rainy season~ Farid had been playing with his
brother Fariz, when a news bulletin caught his attention. ‘Heavy downpour has struck all
over Kuala Lumpur, flooding low-lying areas. Many roads are
impassable to traffic,’ the newscaster announced. It had rained heavily for three days.
That night, Farid could not sleep. Lightning flashed across the sky. Suddenly, he heard a
loud rumbling noise outside. It was so loud he felt frightened and quickly woke up his
brother. He then heard his father shouting, ‘Wake everyone up! There’s a landslide!’ Farid
was shocked and dashed out of bed. He looked through the window and saw the mud
coming down the hill. There was no time to think of saving anything!
His father rushed everyone out of the house. ‘Forget about our belongings. Our lives are
more important,’ said his father. They ran to the road below their house.
Finally, they reached the safety of the road. Farid could see that two of the houses nearby
had been destroyed by the landslide. His father made sure that everyone was safe and
they then walked to a nearby school. They stayed at the school until help arrived.
They were taken to a community hail later that night. After two days, Farid and his
family returned home. The landslide had destroyed part of their kitchen but the rest of the
house was intact. it took them almost a week to clear the mud in their house. Although
Farid was sad to see part of his house destroyed, he was glad that his family was safe.