英语睡前故事— The Connection

The Connection

It was the summer after fourth grade that I came to realize that the connection we have with other people is necessary for our survival. Joel Walker, age 11

“I’m gonna die! I’mgonna die!” I was screaming over and over, hanging on for dear life. Suddenly, my toes slipped out of the crack that had been supporting me. “I’m gonna die!” I screamed again. If I don’t find a place to secure my foot, I thought, I’ll fall in! I felt around with my toes and found a place to steady myself. Looking up through the steam, I could see my friend Warren kneeling above the pit.

“Grab my hand!” he shouted. I stretched my hand as far up as I could without losing my balance. I couldn’t get a grip on Warren’s hand because of the sulfur that covered my hands.

“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you,” he assured me. “We’re gonna get you out, Joel.”

Warren stayed next to the steam vent and talked to me while some of the other boys ran to get help. I knew they’d do everything in their power to save me.

Our friendships had grown out of the connection we had made, and the trust we had built with each other, while on a club soccer team called the Ameba. We had really learned how to communicate with each other while playing by saying things like “Behind you” and “Open over here.”

We kept the team together for the whole year. That summer we had the chance to go to Hawaii for the Big Island Cup Tournament. It was the first time in ten years that a team from our area would have the opportunity to go. All we needed was the money to get there! Our team went door-to-door in our community, and the generous donations we received paid for our tournament costs. We were on our way to Kona for a nine-day adventure.

We got to the hotel and put in a few hours of practice the first day. The followi ng day, we weren’t scheduled to play a game, so we decided to do some sight-seeing.

We went to see the ruins of a burned-down village that had been in the path of an erupting volcano’s river of molten lava. There wasn’t enough time to hike up to the volcan o’s opening, so we went to see the steam vents at the Volcano National Park. A steam vent is a crack in the earth’s surface caused by the pressure and heat of a volcano. The same steam that erupts from the volcano also comes out of the steam vent. Some vents are large and easy to spot by their steam, which rises into the air. Others are small and difficult to see, so we had to be careful where we walked because they are sort of hidden in the grass throughout the park.

I wanted to take some pictures, so I went exploring with Warren in search of a steam vent to photograph. Just as I heard Warren call out, “Joel, you’re walking past one,” I turned too sharply and tripped over