Must include fire, prisoner, and boat.
A match dropped. Smoke started to fill the boat. The prisoners were awakened by the smell. Guards ran across the boat, trying to find the cause of the smoke. Prisoners began yelling.
“Fire! Fire!” one of the guards yelled.
The boat had been on the way to a penitentiary when a guard dropped a match while trying to light a candle. The guard had been too groggy to notice the fatal mistake.
Prisoners were crying out in fear. The waves hit the boat with more intensity. The sail caught on fire. It blew in the wind, spreading the flames. Everyone was at a loss.
“We can not reach any water! God, save us all!” Lewis, a prison guard, said. “We are going to die out here!”
“Can you just be quiet for a minute, please? We have to find some water,” A fellow guard, David, exclaimed. “Lewis, go start releasing the prisoners. We can not just leave them here to die.”
The flames took over part of the boat. Everyone ran to one end, trying to avoid the flames.
One of the prisoners started to give orders. “Jump in the water! We might drown, but it is a risk we have to take! “
Some of the prisoners started to jump in the water. The guards started to jump in too. Within seconds, everyone was in the water.
“There! I see land!” Lewis said. “Everyone, start swimming, or suffer the consequences.”
At last, everyone reached land.
Lewis exhaled slowly in disbelief, “David, you will not believe this. I just counted, and every single guard and prisoner is here. Not one is hurt.”
“How could that be true?” David said. “I know we did not get all the jail cells open in the boat. We had to jump before the boat completely burst into flames. Are you sure they are all here?”
“Yes, David. I was in charge of counting them before we left the land, not one person is missing.” Lewis said with a shaky breath. “I did not believe it myself, but it is only by the grace of God that we are here right now.”
“Agreed,” David said.
Before Lewis thought any more about it, he began singing. It was a song he had learned when he was a child.
“When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul.”
The prisoners looked at him like he was crazy. But all of a sudden, another voice was heard, then another, and yet another. Soon every prisoner, of all the unspeakable crimes, and every prison guard were singing in unison,
“When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul.”
That night, the prisoners and the guards united with one sole purpose; to praise the Lord.
Afterword by Isaac Shaw
This story warms my heart. Easy to follow, but interwoven are big ideas—ideas we need today more than ever. It’s inspiring. Beautiful.
Thank you, Mary Kaylin, for taking the time to share a snippet of your amazingness.
Nice!