An Enlightening Experience
How often do we appreciate our parents for the advice they gave us? Hardly ever! How often do we turn a deaf ear to their advice? Very often! I believe that is a unanimous answer given by most of us and very often, we will get ourselves into serious trouble or land ourselves in a situation where we greatly regret our act of not having listened to the advice of the wise. I can vividly recall such an unforgettable experience that I had when I was a young child of 12 years old and since that experience, I will never go against the wishes of my mother. When I was a child, I had lived in Georgetown with my mother.
Our house was right next to the woods which had always stirred up great curiosity in me in wanting to find out what dwelt within. My father had deceased by the time I was 12 and I had lived alone with my mother. I supposed it was because I was the only child; she had loved me greatly and was very protective over me. She did not like the idea of me wandering off on my own and always ensured that I was in the safety region of her sight. Even if she allowed me to explore the vicinity on my own, it was only to be somewhere within the circumference of the house.
Being as curious as the cat, I had always desired to explore the interior of the woods next door. It was as if my mother had understood my desire, she had warned me on numerous occasions never to enter the woods. “Mum, can I go out and play in the garden? ” I asked. “Donnie,” she would reply each time. “You can play in the garden but you must promise me never to go into the woods next door where the loggers are cutting and clearing the land. It is too dangerous for a little girl like you. ” “Sure, you’ve said that many times! ” I answered in amazement at her repeated reminders. “You know I’ve always stayed away from there! However, curiosity got the better of me one day. I was playing near the woods as usual when I heard laughter and people talking loudly. I listened intently and discovered that it was coming from within the woods. I wondered who that could be. Ignoring my mother’s constant reminders, I decided to enter the forbidden world. For once, I had disobeyed my mother but I was filled with great excitement. Very cautiously, I crept towards the sound. I came to an area where there were around six brawny men having their tea break under a tall tree and next to them were many felled trees.
Not far from them, there were also many colourful flowers with beautiful butterflies flittering around them. At that moment, I still had no inclination of the trouble that would soon befall on me. I was filled with awe at the beauty of the miniature garden before me. I skipped over to the flowers and started chasing after the butterflies. I was filled with elation and started to become braver as I frolicked gaily in the woods. The men did not bother about me as they thought I was not in their way and they continued with their tea and conversation.
The beautiful and gigantic butterfly that I was chasing after started to fly over to the felled trees. Not wanting to lose sight of it, I decided to follow suit. I had even climbed up and walked along a downed log in an attempt to catch the butterfly when suddenly I lost my footing and fell off the log. I screamed in agony when I landed because I was not on the hard forest floor as I had expected to. Instead, I had fallen on an axe that was facing up. Apparently, the loggers had left their axes on the floor when they went for their break. When they saw me playing earlier, they had not expected me to go so near to the downed logs.
My cries of pain and fear had undoubtedly attracted their attention and concern as they rushed over to my side. By then, blood was flowing profusely from my left leg where a three inch cut had appeared. The pain was unbearable and I almost fainted from the sight of the fresh blood. However, what was more horrifying was the thought of how I should tell my mother about the incident! I had disobeyed her and landed myself in harm’s way. I should have listened to her sound advice and stayed far away from the woods. I was afraid to face my mother but I know the blood had to be stopped and the wound need to be treated.
As I thought of the situation I had landed myself into, I started to howl loud which terrified the men who thought I must have been in tremendous pain and shock. The men tried to sooth my loud crying and to stop the blood flow at the same time. Instantly, there was panic among them as each of them tried to help but in vain. Finally, one of them tied my handkerchief around the wound and the blood was temporarily stopped but it was obvious that I needed some stitching for my deep cut. He carried me out of the woods and took me back to my house.
Along the way, I was sobbing quietly, petrified with the thought of facing my mother and what she would say to my mischief. Fortunately for me, my mother was too concern with my injury to reprimand me. After thanking the logger for his help, my mother rushed me to the nearest hospital where I received eight stitches on my left leg. I also received a punishment of not being allowed out of the house for an entire month but I know I had deserved it. I could not believe that an innocent walk in the woods could have landed me in such a plight where I could even have been killed by the axe had it pierced right through my heart!
The mere thought of the close shave still sends shudders down my spine. The scar on my left leg is not only a permanent reminder of the incident but also a deterrence for me from any further desire to turn a deaf ear to my mother’s advice. Needless to say, she never had to remind me again of the need to stay away from the woods for I never step foot into it ever again. Nor does she ever have to repeat her advice for me as I know that Mum will always know what is best for me because she is the more experience one.
