Here's another wonderful story by my younger daughter, in 4th grade.
It reminds me of the Quote -
"Men are made stronger on realization that the helping hand they need is at the end of their own arm." ~Sidney J.Phillips
Hope you enjoy the story !!!
It reminds me of the Quote -
"Men are made stronger on realization that the helping hand they need is at the end of their own arm." ~Sidney J.Phillips
Hope you enjoy the story !!!
With Hope, Life lives on...
Author and Illustrator:
Shreya Handa
© 2014, Shreya Handa
Author and Illustrator:
Shreya Handa
© 2014, Shreya Handa
It was a beautiful morning and spring had just arrived. Birds were chirping, flowers were blooming and a cool breeze was making Isabella happy. She was twelve and cheerful. She loved to go to school every day to be with her friends. When Isabella was a baby, dancing always made her happy. She wanted to become a ballerina. It required a lot of grace and discipline for her to become an expert. She put a lot of effort and hard work so that she could perform gracefully for the people who came to watch her. She believed that dancing was meant for fun rather than winning awards in competitions.
Her ballet school did performances every weekend and she made sure she took part in them. In a few weeks, their next big performance was coming up and everyone was looking forward to it.
Isabella was getting ready to go for ballet practice. She wore her best dress because she was all excited to prepare for her next big performance. Since her mom and dad were at work, she rode her bike to her ballet school. She started riding and reached the first stop sign near her home. She was waiting for the green light when suddenly she saw a big red van coming towards her at full speed. The driver of the van began to lose control of his vehicle. Before Isabella could realize what was happening, the red van hit her very hard.
The next thing she knew was that she was lying down on a bed in the hospital. She did not know for how long she had been lying there. All she knew was that she wanted her mom and dad by her side. Soon the door opened and her family rushed into the room.
They were waiting for her to regain her consciousness. They were happy to see her alive and nothing else mattered anymore. They all gave her big hugs and lots of kisses.
Her happiness to be alive though, soon turned to sadness once she realized that she could not move her right leg. The van had crushed her leg so badly that the doctors had to amputate her leg right below the knee. The doctors told her that she could never dance again in her life. She felt so sad that she cried for many days.
She did not want to eat, drink or talk to anybody. All she wanted to do was sit in her room all day and sleep in silence. Then she remembered a quote that her mom had once told her, "The most important thing in life is to never to lose hope." She realized that she could not lose hope for herself or for her family. If she gave up on herself, then not only her life, but her parent's life would become miserable. She could not do that to them. She could not make them anymore sad. She also remembered what her teacher had once told her class about having a disability. Her teacher had said," The only disability is a weak mind that cannot face any challenges."
On remembering these important pieces of advice, she decided not to lose hope and fight back. She realized that her dream was to dance. So she took up the challenge to make sure that her disability does not stop her from achieving her dream. She wanted to get better as soon as possible. She listened to her doctors carefully by keeping calm and didn't get sad, scared or frustrated. Soon, she got her artificial leg. But it would take along time for her to learn how to pass signals through her nerves, to her artificial limb. With a lot of perseverance and lots of love from her parents, she finally achieved success in standing back on her own feet. Isabella grew into a more stronger and more determined girl after she recovered. She could dance a little but not with perfection. In her spare time, she taught little children how to dance because dancing is what she loved the most. She learned how to never lose hope and that everybody should believe in themselves. She also learnt how much she was loved by everyone and that she could never give up on herself, specially for her loved ones.
With perseverance, she finally trains her artificial leg to dance gracefully. She did exactly what her doctors said, "Train your leg and exercise regularly." It took her two full years of hardwork to fulfill her dream. Even though it was two very long years, in the end she felt very happy that she made everybody proud when she finally danced and performed for everyone on stage. After facing this accident, she now felt confident and had complete trust in herself. Isabella was now courageous enough to fight back any challenges that she might have to face, in her life.