Question: Write A Story in Which the Main Character (Who May Be Yourself) Finds Himself in A Difficult or Dangerous Position from Which He Is Saved by An Unexpected Event
Answer: The group of people headed for Pak As fish pond. There were six strong-limbed young men walking one behind the other. On their shoulders was the unmistakable sight of a fishing net.
Fishing net the very thought made Mat’s heart pound with joy! Wow, it was fishing time again! Quickly Mat rare toward the group of men and positioned himself right at the back. He was too small to carry the net. At least he could carry the wooden float that had fallen on the ground and was being dragged along. He felt important carrying the little white float.
Steadily they trudged down the slope until they stood a couple of feet from the pond. In unison, the six young men dropped their load along the water’s edge. Mat dropped the float he was carrying onto the water.
Halim, the acknowledged authority on fishing issued quick orders. In reply, two of the strong-limbed young men dived into the water and started dragging one end of the net into the water. The net was a huge one, a good fifty meters long and at least eight feet deep. This was Pak Ah’s tried and trusted drag-net which he had used to catch countless fishes in his pond.
Soon everything was set and each able-bodied man was at his station. The plan was to drag the pond from one end to the other giving the fish very little chance of escaping. It was a well-rehearsed and reliable technique. So, everybody knew exactly what to do, well everybody except Mat.
Mat was barely twelve years old and was never before allowed into the water. All he could do was to watch from the bank and help to pick up the fish after they were caught. How he wished he ‘could be helping to pull the net too. This time Halim allowed him, provided he kept close to the bank in shallow water. Eagerly he jumped into the water and tugged at the net. It would not budge! He tugged again and again but to no avail. Hassan, who was assigned to watch over him had to tell him to stop and wait for Halim’s signal. Only when everybody pulled could the net be moved.
Halim’s signal came. The pulling began. The net moved slowly across the water. Mat felt a great sense of exhilaration. This is the life, he thought. How wonderful it was!
Soon the exhilaration gave way to exhaustion. it was no mean feat pulling the net even when there were half a dozen other people helping. Mat’s pull became weaker and weaker. Soon he became more of a passenger than a helper. He was definitely tired.
Splash, a huge fish broke the surface and jumped over the net to freedom. As if in reply other fishes started jumping too. Big and mall, the fishes were trying to escape. Most of them simply wasted their energy. A few managed to leap out of the net. A few, in the confusion, jumped back into the area where the net was being dragged!
Matt gaped at the struggling silvery fishes. It was quite a sight. in his preoccupation he did not realize that his foot had become entangled in the net; One moment of staring at the fishes, the next moment he found himself being dragged irresistibly into the middle of the pond. Mat was an able swimmer, but with one foot hopelessly caught he could do nothing. Slowly but surely the water got deeper and he was. in real danger. He yelled for help but by that time his head was almost underwater. His yell became pathetic bubbles of air around his submerged mouth.
Hassan froze. Suddenly he was aware of Mat’s disappearance. He looked around but saw no sign of Mat. The hair at the back of his neck stood up and he felt a wave of panic. What happened to him? Where was he? Hassan wanted to scream.
For an instant, he saw tiny hands sticking out of the water. Mat! Hassan reached for the hands. They were no longer there! The tow-line slipped deeper into the water. Hassan. tugged at it with all his might. He could not pull it in. He yelled for help. Everybody stopped pulling. Hassan jabbed at the water with his finger and shouted “Mat! Mat! There was a painful hush between the awful realization of great danger and the frantic action to avert tragedy. Everybody stopped what he was doing and made a bee-line to where Hassan was desperately tugging at the line. The net simply did not respond to a single man pulling.
Just when his muscles were on the verge of giving up. Hassan suddenly felt the line responding. He fell backward as the net suddenly surged toward him.
He could not believe his eyes when he saw Mat’s head suddenly appeared from the water. Mat’s hand was still waving frantically as though he was trying to swim to safety. Shortly more of Mat appeared coughing and wheezing. Mat’s face was filled with fear and panic. He could not speak as he was desperately filling air into his aching lungs.
Soon everybody was at the scene. Hassan pulled the net in. It felt so easy. Then he realized that the tow-line had snapped! If it had not, Mat would still be in the water. The tow-line was the strongest part of the net and had never snapped before. How it happened when it needed to happen no one will ever know. Mat, for one, was very glad it did.