Story Contest 2017 #1 - Outstanding Stories » Sudden Fall at Balur Estate

“Sudden Fall at Balur Estate” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Saisha Agarwal, India.

Sudden Fall at Balur Estate

This is a true story by Saisha about an incident that occurred on 27th Jan 2017, when she, along with her family, went to Balur Estate.

When we reached the estate, the time was 5pm. We freshened up and at 5:30pm an accident took place. I was leaning onto a railing and sitting on the second bar of the railing, holding the first bar. Suddenly the first railing broke off and I quickly tried to hold the second railing where I had been sitting. My mother was standing next to me and she thought that she could hold me or grab some part of my body while I fell right in front of her eyes.

But she could not do anything and I fell from 14 feet above to the ground. The ground was full of stones but we don’t know how I survived that fall. My father told me that it was only by the grace of God that I managed to fall on a small mud pit under the coconut tree which was just a few inches away from the ground filled with stones.

When I fell down my father was on a call, he was speaking to my grandmother. My mother screamed my name, she started shouting ‘Saisha has fallen down!’ my father came running to me. I was trying to stand up and began to cry and was in real shock as I could not understand how all this had happened so fast. My father picked me up and then my mother took me from him in her laps. They started looking for wounds or cuts on me and the other people who were at the hotel came to look at what had happened. My father rushed me to the hospital which was another 10 kilometers away from the Balur estate, and all this while I was crying in pain.

I had an injury on my left hand and left leg and the doctor assured us that it was not a fracture and tied a crape bandage on my left hand, it was all swollen. He gave me an injection with painkillers for the pain in my hand and leg. Every day I took tablets as the doctor had prescribed, I took the medicine with difficulty as it tasted bad and bitter.

On the 3rd day we started back for Bangalore, during the trip back also I was in bad pain. After we reached Bangalore, my father told me that we would visit our doctor the next day and get a check-up done by Dr. Hemant Kalyan.

The doctor first checked my hand and leg and then suggested an X-ray. The doctor checked the X-ray and he told us that it was in fact a fracture on the left hand. He expressed his shock of how I, a kid of 8 years hold on to the pain for 3 days as it was quite a serious fracture. He bandaged my left hand to reduce the swelling as it had increased during the 3 days after the accident. He told me to come back in a week for a proper cast that would be put for 6 weeks.

Finally, I got the cast on my hand; it is difficult to study in school and complete my daily work.

But from this incident I came out as a brave kid, I could survive 3 days in the pain of a fractured hand. Everyone at Balur Estate appreciated me for the patience and bravery I showed after falling from the height of 14 feet. My parents and friends are thanking God for saving my life. My parents teach me every day to be good to others and help everyone. Yes there is some super natural power—GOD that exists in one or the other manner and helps everyone.