The Well

“Help me!” I yelled, for the hundredth time. There was no response. “Figures I’d pick today to forget my cell phone,” I muttered.

I was lying at the bottom of a large, dry, open well. The opening of the well was about thirty feet above me. The well was about six feet in diameter, which gave me plenty of room to lie on its floor and groan in agony. I had been trying to repair some broken stone blocks in the side of the well when the rope I was using broke. I fell to the bottom of the well, where I broke an ankle and possibly other body parts as well. That was the last time I was ever going to use ropes from the abandoned barn across the street!

I sighed and looked up again at the opening, trying to figure out what I was going to do, when a shadow covered the opening of the well. A voice boomed out from above. “Hello?”

“Thank heaven!” I shouted. “Please help me – I’ve fallen into the well.”

“The road of life is paved with suffering,” the voice replied. “We must go through many trials in our walk upon the earth.”

“Right,” I said. “I think I’ve broken my ankle, and maybe a few other things as well. Can you go get some help?”

“We must not adapt the road to suit ourselves,” the voice said. “We must adapt ourselves to the road.”

“Good point,” I said. “Do you have a cell phone? I’ve left mine in the house.”

“Suffering strengthens the soul,” the voice replied. “It builds character. Great men are forged through great trials.”

“Do you speak English?” I asked.

“It rejoices my heart to see my brother being put through trials,” the voice said. “You will become a stronger man as a result of this. I cannot bring myself to deprive my brother of an opportunity for personal growth.”

“Tell you what,” I said. “If you will help me out of this well I’d be glad to push you in it and let you moan in pain at the bottom of the well while some complete imbecile rattles on and on about unpaved roads. Do we have a deal?”

“I will pray for you,” the voice said. “May you find solace in your time of need.”

The shadow disappeared.

“I’ll show him solace,” I muttered. “If I ever get out of this well he will have more solace than he knows what to do with.”

I felt a drop of water. Looking up, I saw that it had begun to rain. “Wonderful,” I said.