Urgent Summons chapter 1

These days, continuous heavy rain has kept Jack, the village head of Smithville, extremely busy. It was already afternoon when he rushed to the village office. Just as he was about to call the town to report the dangerous situation, the phone rang. It was Mayor Johnson on the line. “Jack, come to the town right away. County Commissioner Brown is here. Hurry up!”

Jack had just started to say that he was busy when Mayor Johnson interrupted him. “I don’t care. I’m giving you an hour. You must get to the town.” With that, the mayor hung up.

Jack thought that Commissioner Brown had a partnership with their village. With such bad weather, he came here in person. There must be something very important, or he wouldn’t be in such a hurry to see him. Maybe it was to offer condolences for the flood or the poverty – alleviation funds they talked about last time had arrived!

Thinking of this, Jack got very excited.

It usually took only about ten minutes to bike from Smithville to the town, but now the heavy rain had washed out the roadbed, so he had to walk. Although it wasn’t far, there was a river in the middle. The river had risen sharply these days, and the water had submerged the bridge. Jack searched for a while before he could locate the bridge. He tentatively took two steps, and the water reached his waist. He was startled. He slipped and was swept off his feet by the flood. Fortunately, he was quick – witted and grabbed a clump of wild grass by the river. Just then, Old Tom from the village came to the river to look for his lost pig. Seeing Jack’s situation, he was shocked. He quickly found a thick branch and helped Jack up.

Jack was lucky to be alive and was sweating with fear. Old Tom said, “Are you crazy? How can you cross this bridge?” Jack said anxiously, “I have to get to the town right away. Commissioner Brown is here, and Mayor Johnson ordered me to be there within an hour!”

“Oh, so Commissioner Brown is here!” Old Tom immediately realized it must be something important and started to pace around anxiously. Then he came up with an idea. They could hold a thick branch together and cross the bridge, so they wouldn’t be washed away by the water.

Jack thought there was no other way, so he agreed. After struggling to cross the river, Old Tom couldn’t go back alone, so he said, “I’ll go to the town with you. It’s so dark, and it’s better to have someone to watch out for each other.”

On the way, unfortunately, Old Tom tripped over a stone on the road and sprained his foot. Jack helped him walk, but they walked slower and slower. Jack was impatient. He bent down and said, “Come on, I’ll carry you on my back.”

But Old Tom kept shaking his head and said, “No, no, no. Don’t worry about me. Go and take care of your business first. Don’t keep the leaders waiting.”

Jack was in a dilemma. After thinking for a while, he helped Old Tom to the door of an old abandoned shed and said, “Wait here. I’ll come back for you when I return from the town.”

Jack was in a hurry and stumbled towards the town. Just as he was about to reach the town, he found that the road had been completely washed out by the flood. He was walking too fast and slipped, falling into a ditch beside the road. His head hit a big rock in the ditch. He felt a sharp pain in his head. When he reached out to touch it, his hand was full of blood. He quickly covered his head with his hand and ran to the town, all muddy and wet. He rushed into the town hospital and shouted, “Quick, help me treat this wound!”

The doctor knew him well. He stitched up the wound, put on a bandage, and then was going to give him an IV drip. Jack said anxiously, “No, there are people from the county. I have to go to the town government!”

The doctor grabbed him and said, “No matter how urgent it is, you have to take care of your life first!” Without further ado, he hung up the IV bag for him.

After a while, Jack’s head started to feel dizzy, and his eyes were about to close. Suddenly, he remembered that Mayor Johnson had ordered him to be at the town within an hour. He was so shocked that he jumped up. Looking at his watch, it was exactly one hour. Jack quickly took the IV bottle off the stand, held it up with his other hand, and rushed to the town government.

When he entered the government compound and saw Commissioner Brown’s yellow car still parked there, he felt relieved. He walked to Mayor Johnson’s office and knocked on the door. After a while, the door opened, and Mayor Johnson poked his head out. Seeing Jack, he was very surprised and asked, “Jack, what happened to you?”