Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Write something suitable for CHILDREN (05/31/07)
-
TITLE: Waiting For The Axe To Fall | Previous Challenge Entry
By Bonnie Winters
06/01/07 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
“You played ball in the house, even after I told you not to,” said Mother. “Now look what happened.”
Tommy sat on the couch, looking at a broken vase as Mother frowned.
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again,” he said.
Mother sighed. “If you keep doing such mischievous things, someday the axe is going to fall. Now go to your room and think about what I said.”
Tommy flopped on his bed and thought about his mother’s words. “I’ll never understand grown-ups,” he said. “What does she mean, ‘someday the axe will fall?’ What axe?”
Suddenly, Tommy grinned. “Mom must mean Grandpa’s axe.” Grandpa was a hero. He saved three children from a big fire. The town was so happy; they gave him a bronze axe. He hung it over the fireplace many years ago and it was still there. Could it really fall down just because Tommy got into mischief?
He made up his mind to find out if it was really true. As soon as he was allowed to go outside, he crept quietly into Mrs. Bushy’s garden. There was her white cat, Miss Puss, sunning herself on a rock. Tommy found a large, flat stone. He crept closer to see if he could scare the cat away.
Plop-flop. The rock hit the ground where Miss Puss had been.
“What are you doing in my garden?” asked the old woman, waving her cane. She startled Tommy so much, he spun around and plunked right onto a pink rose bush.
“Ouch!” he said and ran home.
“Just wait until I tell your mother,” the old woman said.
Tommy’s legs hurt where the thorns scratched him.
Mother just shook her head and put some lotion on the scrapes.
He looked over to the fireplace. The axe was still there.
The next day in art class, Tommy sat behind Jenny. She had bright red hair fixed in two long, skinny braids. During class, he dipped the end of each braid into his yellow paint and made round circles on his paper. Splish-swish. They made wonderful brushes.
But Jenny felt the tug on her hair. “Oh, my braids!” she said as she saw the paint. “Ouch!” Tommy said, as she hit him in the eye with her fist.
Mother picked Tommy up from the nurse’s office. She sighed and shook her head as she looked at the bag of ice on his eye. As they entered the house, Tommy peeked into the living room with his good eye. That old axe was still there.
On Saturday, Mother took him to the corner grocery store. He had a dollar to spend. He looked at the candy. Then he spotted a bright, round ball. Both things were one dollar. Tommy couldn’t make up his mind. He looked at the ball and then back at the candy again. No one was watching, so he quickly popped the chocolate bar into his pocket. Then he reached for the ball.
Just then there was an earthquake. The store began to shake. Jars of pickles and boxes of cereal toppled off the shelves. “Now I’ve done it,” thought Tommy. “Grandpa’s axe is going to fall!”
When the shaking stopped, Tommy put the candy bar back on the shelf and quickly found his mother.
They hurried home to see if everything was all right. Inside the house, some of Daddy’s books had fallen off the shelf. A picture of Grandma and Grandpa lay broken on the floor.
Tommy peeked into the living room. There was Grandpa’s axe on the wall, as sturdy as ever. He grinned and looked up toward heaven. In a voice just loud enough for Grandpa and God to hear, he said, “If you’re gonna make all that fuss over a little candy bar, I don’t think I want to find out what would happen if I did something really bad!”
From that day, Tommy was a new boy. He still had mischievous ideas, but one look at Grandpa’s axe cured him every time.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.