She held on to the fragile branch with a death's grip as the roaring water threatened to drag her away.
She gasped, the bubbling swirls entering her mouth. There was no hope left...
It was now a battle of grips... hers or the water's... Which would win? It felt to her like she would lose for sure.
But then, in all that sound and fury, she seemed to hear a tiny, soft voice... wait! That sounded just like.... She must be losing it... Dying for sure. Or maybe even dead. Else that voice... how now?
She was now in her 50s and that voice was hers when she was 6! "
I must be hallucinating!"
With her thoughts synchronized with the waters around her, she decided... "Alive or dead, let me see what ex-I has to say"... And she waited for the voice again...
And it said... "You are not a loser... Many battles - big and small- you have fought. Won some, others lost!... But from each you have learnt and grown stronger... So just hold on... This too shall pass"
And she held on...
The cameras flashed, the people clapped.. as she received the Bravery award... For having saved a few people while herself clinging to the branch for her life!
How did she do that? Well... that's another story of what she spoke with them about, how she made them hold on to their branches...

#WritcoStoryPrompt16 #Guy3 #life #Struggle #battle #Brave
© Guy3