The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXX

Egemen Sozmen
Sedef Seker, Teacher
ide Okullari, Istanbul, Turkey
It was a sunny day. My friend, my dog, and I were in our summer house. We
prepared to go to the sea. We went there by walking. When we went there, we
checked the temperature of the water. I was ready to have fun. We swam, we
played, and we had lots of fun.
When we came back from the sea that evening, I felt happy. At that moment,
I heard a “bark” sound. I turned back and saw two dogs fighting to the death.
Both of them were angry and hostile. They were trying to kill each other.
Everyone was sitting and watching it like a TV show. I ran toward the dogs and
tried to scare them away. They didn’t stop. Then I shouted at them. When I
did that, one of the dogs bit the other’s leg and almost chewed it off. That was
the worst moment in the fight. It was horrible. I couldn’t believe that everyone
was watching me and looked like they enjoyed themselves.
I shouted at the dogs and ran closer to them this time. I didn’t hurt them, but
I scared them away while everyone was just watching me. One of the dogs lay
a little farther from me, but the other injured one ran away crying. Humans
are very cruel; they just sat and watched me while I was trying to stop the fight.
Then we went back home. I was sad about the injured dog. The other didn’t
have anything bad, but he bit the other one’s leg. Later that night the injured
dog came back, and he could walk perfectly. How could he get up so fast?
I was very happy that the injured dog healed so fast. If I hadn’t been there,
I think one of the dogs would be dead or hurt much more. I love animals and
want everyone to protect, feed, and take care of poor animals.
It was one of the saddest days in my life. People should have helped me, but
they didn’t even look at me. I learned that if you want to do something, don’t
be afraid to try. I had never jumped in front of dogs in my life, but I had to
because they were fighting to the death and I don’t like animals hurting each
other. To me courage is being (and acting) brave, fighting, standing up to
your fears and enemies, and trying to believe your hopes and dreams. If you
believe in what you’re doing and work for it, you will reach your goal. Don’t
be scared of your enemies and fears. Fight them and you’ll see who wins.
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