The Beach
(Uchenna Tale #1)
by Chisom Ogoke
One day, Uchenna and her guardian angel went to the beach.
Now, Uchenna loved the beach!
She loved to feel the warm sand between her fingers and toes.
She loved to dig for seashells and catch crabs poking out of their holes.
She loved to watch the water and its many waves.
She loved to swim.
And whenever she was in the water, she would float on her back,
stare at the sky, and count the birds that flew over her.
And Uchenna did all of this at the beach that day and was at peace…
until a restless spirit came by
(some might even say a demon!)
and saw Uchenna and her peace.
Now, it was well known in those days that restless spirits hated peace
because they could never have it.
So when this one saw Uchenna floating peacefully in the water,
it said to itself,
“Peace? I can’t stand the sight of peace.
This is what I will do:
I will touch the water—wake it up!
And take away her peace.”
Without being noticed, the restless spirit swooped down,
touched the water, then waited.
All of a sudden, the water began to rise,
the waves became choppy,
and Uchenna was fighting to swim!
She cried out to her guardian angel,
“Help! Help me!”
And her guardian angel,
being sooo mysterious at times,
threw her a line of string that was thinner
than a spider’s web.
The restless spirit saw this and laughed!
“How is that supposed to help her?”
But Uchenna grabbed hold of the string and,
to give herself courage,
sang this song:
“Even with a string of hope,
I'm not letting go.
You'll turn this string to rope
and pull me ashore.”
And as Uchenna sang and sang and sang,
her guardian angel pulled and pulled and pulled
her through the crashing waves,
the tides,
and all that water
back to shore!
And guess what?
When Uchenna was back on land again,
she was completely dry,
as if nothing had touched her.
Uchenna and her guardian angel spent many more hours at the beach
until it was time to go home.
And when Uchenna did get home,
boyyy, did she have a tale to tell that day.
The End.