Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones
By Andrea Wilson

One day a young boy was skipping alongside a stream, and as he skipped he glanced across to the other side. There he could see his grandmother. She was sitting in her garden which bordered the stream, surrounded by beautiful colourful flowers. Beside her was a table laden with cake and pop prepared for the enjoyment of her grandson.

The boy waved happily and continued down the banks of the stream until he came to the small bridge, where he crossed and then ran happily to his grandmother.

As they sat together enjoying the cake, his grandmother said to him, “Why don’t you cross the stream using the stepping stones. You are big enough to try now?

“Oh no”, replied the young boy, “I might slip and fall”.

The next week the young boy visited his grandmother again. This time he noticed the stepping stones across the stream. He looked at them and wondered whether he should attempt to use them to cross the stream. It wouldn’t be easy but he could give it a try. A small voice inside his head said “but what if you fall in and hurt yourself?”

The young boy turned round and ran to the bridge to cross the stream as usual.

His grandmother asked how he had crossed over. The small boy replied “I came across the bridge.” His grandmother said “I saw you standing by the stones” but the little boy said, “Yes, I wanted to try to get across but I was scared I’d fall in.” A few days went by before the next visit to his grandmothers. The young boy stopped again at where he could use the stepping stones to cross the stream. He looked at the stones and the water gently trickling around them. He stepped on the first stone and then the second, he was nearly half way over, and then with a hop, skip and a jump, he cleared the remaining stones and found himself stood on the other side.

The young boy looked back at the stepping stones and jumped for joy. He waved excitedly to his grandmother and ran as fast as he could to join her. She gave him a huge hug and smiling, explained, “You did it, I knew you could.”