October 06, 2007

Colin, Anne and Julie were best friends since childhood. They were enjoying their summer vacations when they thought of exploring the beautiful mountains in the northern areas of their country.

“Let’s take some tents, clothes, food and drinks for the trip. It’s going to be a long way from home, remember to take torch, binoculars, etc,” said Colin. The girls had a good time preparing everything. At last, they were ready. They boarded a bus and started their journey. Soon they arrived at a beautiful spot, where they put up their tents, unpacked the food and collected woods for fire. After all the hectic work, they were ready to have their dinner.

Julie brought out the food basket. While they were eating, thick black clouds appeared on the sky. Colin sensed danger and asked the girls to go inside the tent. They were very tired so they went to sleep.

In the middle of the night, it started to rain heavily. It rained very hard and suddenly their tent flew away. Anne shrieked.

“Hurry! Pack up all the things and move to the forest!” shouted Colin. They hurriedly packed their belongings, covered themselves in raincoats and moved to the forest.

“Now what?” said Julie grumpily, she was very annoyed that she had to wake up in the middle of the night.

“Wait till the rain stops, so we can go back home…” said Colin. She put down the bag containing food. Anne sighed.

“Hey look!” screamed Julie with excitement. She pointed towards a hill top. There stood a little cottage with lights turned on.

“Do you think they’ll let us in for one night?” said Anne, scared at the thought that they might get in trouble.

“Let’s give it a try,” said Colin, and walked up to the door.

“I don’t think it’s a great idea,” muttered Anne from behind. Colin knocked. An elderly lady with a gentle face looked out.

“Yes?” she asked sweetly.

“Uh… we were camping in the hills and it started to rain…um… Could you let us in for one night, please?” said Colin.

“Sure! Come, come! I normally don’t get many visitors… it’s only me mostly…” She led them into a cosy little room. She served them cookies and milk and gave them a nice room to stay the night in.

The next day, when it stopped raining, the kids thanked the old lady and walked out from her house.

They had a very enjoyable trip in the mountains, they returned home and told all about the old lady to their parents. Their parents listened and smiled. Colin’s father spoke “Oh, so you met old lady Mary on your trip.”

“Old lady Mary? Who’s she?” asked Colin.

“Oh, she’s a legendary woman who appears every time someone gets into trouble. She really doesn’t exist, she’s a kind of angel or spirit, but she’s very helpful.”

The kids were startled to know about this. They had never imagined they would ever encounter an angel in their lives. But, it was a good trip which they would never ever forget.