The Fall
John was at the Botanic Gardens with his parents. He liked to feed the fish in the pond. There were tortoises there too.
John sat at the edge of the pond while his parents sat on a bench behind. He had a packet of bread with him. He broke the bread into small pieces and tossed them into the water. He watched in fascination as the fish devoured the bread so quickly that the tortoises had none. Just then, John saw a tortoise swimming alone in the center of the pond. John stood up, moved as close to the edge as possible, and stretched out to toss the bread to the tortoise. His father saw what he was doing and jumped up worriedly.
“Be careful!” he shouted and ran towards John. John had such a fright that he lost his balance and stumbled forward. His father pulled off his T-shirt. However, he, too, lost his balance and both of them fell with a splash into the water.
John’s mother burst out laughing when she saw them standing in waist-deep water. Spluttering and dripping wet, they climbed out of the pond. Their faces turned red with embarrassment when a group of children pointed at them and giggled. John and his parents left the place immediately.
