Best Decision:
It was a quiet evening. I was out alone for a walk. It had just stopped raining, and everyone was probably resting in their homes. After I had bought myself a chocolate, I was walking home along a deserted footpath when I heard someone panting. My heart skipped a beat upon listening to this sound. I imagined a hungry werewolf standing behind me, yearning for my blood. I was devising strategies in my head to turn back and confirm if that werewolf was just a figment of my imagination when suddenly, I saw something moving at a stone’s throw in front of me. Upon further concentration, I realized that it was a human figure.
My initial gut feeling was to run far away as soon as possible and not be a part of whatever was going on there. However, a part of my mind nudged me towards the source of movement. When I closed upon the figure, I saw an elderly uncle clutching his chest and panting heavily. He was lying down on the ground. That scene took me completely by surprise, and I lost control of my limbshands and feet for a while. When I regained my senses, I ran towards him and started panicking. I did not know what I was supposed to do in that urgent moment. Absolutely no one was in sight, and this footpath was almost half a kilometer away from the first house. I immediately reached for my pocket. I was petrified when I realized I did not have my cell phone.
Now, I had to make a decision, and I was trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea. I did not know whether I should run to get help or stay with an uncle who was shaking violently now. Suddenly, I remembered a first aid training that had been given to our class a few months earlier. I plucked up the courage to bring that training into use. My hands were trembling, but I decided to do the CPR that we had been taught. I started pressing his heart and followed the whole procedure. While carrying out the procedure, something slipped out of the pocket of the uncle’s coat. It was his cell phone. Reacting quickly to this encouraging new development, I called my friend to bring a car over. My voice conveyed the emergency of the situation, and he was there in less than a minute. We took the patient to a nearby hospital in an emergency ward. The night was terror-stricken, but good news greeted us at dawn when we were told that we had saved the patient’s life.
The decisions to stave off my urge to run away and to do the CPR in those moments fraught with tension were the best decisions of my life. I had helped save a life. I had saved a father, son and a husband for someone.
Worst Decision:
It was my first day at a new school. I had just shifted to a new school in grade seven. I was not given much attention by any of my fellows in the class. I spent the first few days practically roaming like a loner. The next week, a new kid joined the class. He was very shy himself. Understanding his plight, I decided to approach him myself. By the end of the day, we were chatting like we had known each other for ages. I was contented to leave that day knowing that I had a friend.
On Friday of the same week, my friend said that we should make a plan to bunk classes and have some fun. I tried to talk him out of it, but he said that he would bunk in any case, whether with or without me. Dreading to spend the day alone at school, I decided to leave the school premises with him. We had to dodge the guards at the gate in order to leave. After we successfully managed our escape, I could not stop appreciating my bravery.
My friend said that we should walk to a tuck shop a few miles away. I hesitated a bit because I wanted to return to the school premises before dismissal time. I was not going to let my parents know about my truancy. Again, I surrendered to his incessant pleas and started walking towards the tuck shop. When we reached the shop, a tall boy wearing a hood was standing as if waiting for someone. I disregarded him and walked to the table and sat there. My friend volunteered to buy me chips and approached the shop. I started observing my surroundings. I saw the tall boy again and noticed that he was signaling to someone. When I looked in that path, I saw that my friend was also responding by hand signals. I instantly realized that there was something fishy. I glanced away but kept observing them from the corner of my eye. My friend thought that I wasn’t looking and went towards the tall boy and slipped something into his pocket. Given the stories of drug dealers that were doing the rounds in those days, I was extremely scared to be caught.
When my friend came back with the chips, I acted as normal as I could even though I was shaking from the inside. Till the time when we reached the school, I was immersed in tension. After my friend had departed for home, I went to the school principal and informed her of what I had witnessed. She assured me that she would look into the matter. The next day, the drug dealer and my fellow were caught red-handed.
It was the worst decision because I befriended someone so easily without knowing his background or without spending enough time with him. Before deciding to let him influence me, I should have made sure that I am not dealing with someone who is involved in wrong activities. I should have given it more time before deciding to trust him.
