The Gauntlet

It’s a rainy day again as I write this and I’m wondering if spring has come and gone and taken summer with it! I’m feeling the greyness of the day which can lead to a more sombre approach in my thinking. So, in order to lift my spirits and hopefully bring a smile to your day, I am going to share a story I wrote about a little girl winning the battle of fear.

First, however, I need to acknowledge that fear cannot be winked at with a short story. Neither can it be resolved with a lecture, a reminder, or a joke at being called a yellow-bellied chicken—to quote a childhood saying that surfaced as I wrote this! Fear can be very real, very debilitating, and very inhibiting in our daily lives. From childhood to adulthood, we walk the path of fear in the hope that at the end of that path there is ‘light’ or, in the case of my short story, a swing.

My story comes from the perspective of a ten-year-old little girl who runs the gauntlet of fear and wins! It’s not intended to be an answer to fear as we know it in our adult world, only that it will be an encouragement and a reminder of how we can learn from a child.

Even in broad daylight, darkness filled the alley. “You’d think there would be some sunlight,” Ellie thought, as she stood at the entrance of the long, concrete tunnel.  The sun’s rays blazed behind her and the intense heat had caused farmers and merchants to erect tents to protect their food and wares in the outdoor market. But there was no sunlight where Ellie looked. Brick walls loomed ahead of her, rising skyward into the blackness, fifteen stories on one side and thirteen on the other.

The Alleyway
by Brad Waring

Why would someone build a building and stop at the thirteenth floor? she wondered, staring up at the brick walls and counting the panels of wood that filled former windows. She counted the floors again. I was right. Thirteen. Right up there with black cats and walking under ladders. 

Ellie ignored the noisy throng around her as merchants and customers bartered for the best price of cauliflower, carrots or silk scarves. Instead, she stood in the middle of the sidewalk with the sun on her back studying the alley. Inhaling deeply, she stared skyward. “It can’t be that bad, can it, God?” she questioned aloud, kicking at a stone inches from where she stood. “I’ve seen all kinds of kids cut through here on the way to the swings. What’s so hard about it? It’s just an old alley.” Her conversation with God ended with Ellie stretching to her full height of four feet, pointing her chin in determination, and staring straight ahead. “I may only be ten, but I ain’t no chicken. And I’ve got You to protect me.”

With the mild scolding done and the Sunday school reminder that God is always with her, she turned from the busy street and took her first step into the alley.

She immediately felt swallowed up in blackness.

If she could have, she would have run the length of the alley, but that was impossible. Old crates that once held cabbages, tomatoes and lettuce sat dangerously high above her. Empty boxes, plastic containers and dried up vegetables littered the path, making it impossible to do anything but walk carefully through the rubble. Ellie wanted to run—oh, how she wanted to run—But that’s admitting I’m afraid. And even if I am, I won’t give in. I know I’m not alone. Even so, she dared not look over her shoulder at the sunlight. No, she kept her eyes focussed on the patch of light straight ahead to distract her from the blackness slowly engulfing her.

“I know, I will think of something happy, something to smile about.” Her words came as a whisper. A weak smile spread across her face and her whisper echoed in the damp coolness as courage took hold. Another little girl filled her mind. A little girl she’d never met. A little girl who didn’t really exist, only in books. A little girl who lived in Switzerland with her grandfather. A little girl who ran and danced in fields of wildflowers. When she’d first read Heidi, she vowed she would never forget it and that someday she would go to Switzerland and run and dance in the wildflowers too. She remembered the story as she edged deeper into the alley and her courage grew.

It was short-lived, however, when a black cat jumped down from the top of a barrel with a large and not-yet-dead rat hanging from its mouth. Ellie screamed and jumped to her left only to knock a stack of misshapen baskets to the ground. Then it was the cat’s turn to leap, and leap it did, right over the scattered baskets, dropping its prized possession on route. Landing at Ellie’s feet, the cat watched helplessly as its much coveted lunch disappeared in a hole between two broken bricks and missing mortar.

Ellie and the cat stared at one another. The cat hissed. Ellie inched backward. The cat hissed again and pounced, missing Ellie by inches. Bolting past the upturned baskets, she ran and ran and ran until she heard children’s voices and felt the sun on her face. “I  made it through the gauntlet!” she hollered with pride.  She remembered her older brother scaring her with that word, embellishing its use with wild Indians and gun-slinging cowboys and scalping, and all the stuff that older brothers loved to tease their little sisters about. But she had run the gauntlet and made it safely to the other side. Turning and looking back at the dark alley, Ellie smiled. “Wasn’t all that bad!” She laughed aloud at her bravery then skipped toward the swing that hung waiting for her.

The little Ellies in this world can teach us much if we are open to listening and learning. She admitted her fear, but it didn’t stop her from doing what she had to do. She faced it head-on and won the battle. And what was behind her courage? She remembered that God was with her at all times, and confidence in His protection and presence allowed her to run the gauntlet of fear and enjoy the pleasures of life, in her case a swing in the park!

“Yes, be bold and strong! Banish fear and doubt!
For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 (TLB)