Skip to main content

A near drowning incident | Essay for 9 year olds | Elijah Wee | Singapore

What a harrowing experience to have nearly drowned - here's my essay on "A near drowning incident", written when I was 9 years old.



            A soft wind whizzed through the crisp morning air, causing the emerald leaves of the nearby Angsana trees to rustle. Plants swayed in the breeze, as if dancing. Glistening drops of morning dew could be found dotted on them. The sun had risen majestically up into the sky, sending down the warm rays of the sun. It was the perfect day for swimming.

            “Tom, Jim, Mike, Luke, since it’s such a nice day, would you like to go to the beach for a swim with me?” Dick suggested enthusiastically to his four best friends who were staying at his house that night. Without hesitation, Dick’s friends agreed, nodding eagerly. Moments later and Dick and his friends had changed into their swimming trunks and set off for the beach.

            Reaching the nearby beach, Dick and his friends applied sunblock onto themselves before plunging into the cold sea waters. Dick and his friends swam with powerful strokes. Half an hour later, Dick challenged his friends, “Who wants to swim with me to the life buoy over there?” None of Dick’s friends accepted the challenge, knowing that it was very deep that far off the shore. Besides, it was high tide and the waves were increasing their furious thrusts onto the swimmers. Dick’s friends tried to change his mind but to no avail. “Then I will swim alone,” Dick called out to his friends. As audacious as the day, Dick started swimming away out towards the further reaches of the shore line.

            Five minutes of swimming away and Dick felt the muscles of his right leg cramping up. At that juncture, wave after wave of the sea water started to sweep him farther from the shore. Dick screamed out hysterically for helpUnfortunately, nobody could hear Dick as he was quite a distance away from the shore line. Before swimming further out, Dick told his friends that he would return within the next ten minutes. However, seeing no sign of him, Dick’s friends started to extend their search for him. At this juncture, Dick’s friends spotted Dick flailing his arms wildly, and his head bobbing up and down amidst the rough murky sea water. At first, Dick’s friends thought that he was waving to them, but after hearing his desperate cries for help, it dawned upon them that Dick was in danger of drowning.

            Mike, being the best swimmer in the group, swam with powerful strokes and tore through the vehement currents like a torpedo. Reaching Dick, Mike wasted no time in pulling him to safety. On reaching the shore, one of Dick’s friends administered CPR onto Dick. Fortunately, five minutes later, Dick came around. He was then helped home by his friends.

            Dick’s mother opened the door when the group of friends arrived at the doorstep, exhausted from the recent ordeal. Mike said that they wanted to talk with her. As the friends helped to lay Dick onto his super-single bed, Mike related the incident to Mrs. Lee. Within minutes of Dick’s friends’ departure home, Mrs. Lee’s eyes narrowed and Dick felt as though they would burn right through him. “You should never have swum so far away from the shore, knowing that the waters there would be much deeper and the currents stronger.” Dick’s mother berated on furiously. Dick could only listen on, feeling as hapless as a baby. “I’m so sorry, mum for being so foolish,” Dick apologised ruefully.

            To this day, the near drowning incident is still etched in Dick’s mind. As the saying goes, “A burnt child dreads the fire.” Whilst he still loves swimming, especially at the beach, Dick never again swam too far away from the shore.

If you like this essay, you may like to read:
  1. Jane saves a cat
  2. A near drowning incident at East Coast Park

Til the next time,

Photo credit: kern.justin / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stuck in the lift | Short essay, story for kids | Elijah Wee | Singapore

"Stuck in the lift" - an experience I am sure a number of you may be able to relate to ... but in this particular case though, it was a little worse than the usual one ...              Brave.             I had always thought I was brave. As brave as a lion. Not fearful of anything.             Until the lift had broken down.             I was waiting patiently for the lift doors to open. A mother and her daughter waited patiently. The mother, clad in a light blue dress made of best quality material, clutched her daughter’s hand. Her lustrous blond hair cascaded down her well-toned shoulders. My innermost thoughts were soon jolted by the familiar mechanical sound of the lift’s doors opening. If only I had reconsidered taking the stairs …             Accompanied by the monotonous whirring sounds of the lift’s mechanical system, we were each absorbed in our thoughts as we looked on at the ascending numbers flashing in sequence on the lift display. Bump!

An Act of Bravery | Essay for kids | Elijah Wee | Singapore

"An act of bravery"  was an essay I wrote and was featured recently :-) Hope you like it.             Davin’s act of bravery was certainly admirable.             “Class, this is the new student, Davin Chang. Please welcome him as our new addition!” Mrs Phua, our teacher, informed everyone in her usual chirpy voice. Shooting a look at him, I instantly made a silent decision never to befriend him. Davin was as skinny as a twig and looked shy. What’s more, his school uniform was as old as the hill, indicating that he was probably living in extreme poverty. All of us must have shared the same thoughts, for everyone seemed to look at him in utter disgust. From that day onwards, we made an “oath” - never to befriend him. After all, why bother befriending Davin when he was poor and looked like a rodent?             I should have remembered back then not to judge a book by its cover.             Excitement bubbled in pupils like soda water as they dashed off towards

An act of kindness | Essay for Primary School kids | Elijah Wee | Singapore

" An act of kindness" , a essay I wrote earlier in Primary 4 (10 years old) ...           School was over.          “Mountains and mountains of homework! Why do our teachers have to give us so much homework these days?” lamented Jason as he trudged home with heavy footsteps on the pavement. His schoolbag weighed like a ton of bricks. Jason felt that sooner or later he would collapse because of the heavy weight! Jason’s face was as glum as an oyster and he was not in the best of moods.          However, Jason’s mood was soon destined to be changed.          At that juncture, from the corner of his deep-set eyes, Jason spotted an old man hobbling past him. He was a tall shrivelled person who looked as though all body juices had been dried out of him long ago in a hot oven. On his feet, he wore worn-out leather shoes, which looked as though they had been patched up a million times. The old man had scanty white hair, a wrinkly face which was as pale as death. He u