By Adeola James, August 3, 2011 — I knew a young lady around twenty three years of age, lively, adventurous, and always trying things out. For example, she would jump on a train in Paris and since the fare can take you anywhere, she would stay on the train until it reached its final stop. When she got out of the train, she would find herself in the country area with nobody in sight. She would just walk around until she found a quiet place, stay there for a while, enjoying the silence and the beauty; later, she would pack her bag and jump on the train t return to her student abode in the St. Antony student quarters.
That young lady had many lucky breaks, visiting many places that way. But one day her luck almost ran out. She had the weirdest trip of her life. She was traveling by train from Edinburg to London. She had to change train in York, an old English city where the Romans built a wall that encircled the city. Since Janet had about six hours to wait for her next train, she decided to walk around the city on the Roman wall. How crazy can you be!
She started one mile, two, three miles. It was a dull day and it was getting towards evening. Each mile took her further away from the city center into remote areas. Then all of a sudden, from nowhere at all, appeared a man who greeted her, told her he was a photographer and would like to take her photograph if she would just pose for him. She was fearful as no one was within sight and the wall was high, jumping down was not an option. So she had no choice but to agree. The unexpected happened, this gentleman started to unbutton her top attire. The young woman began to beg him; he took out a knife from his pocket. The young woman did not cease to beg. Then she looked down and saw two police officers. This rascal might have noticed them, because suddenly he took flight. There are angels all around, indeed. Disoriented, this young woman said her prayers and continued walking until she reached a safe place to get off the wall.
How do we get to know about life? Would you consider this young woman brave or stupid or simply crazy? Or just young and trusting? I leave you to judge. She had a narrow escape that day which still makes her shiver whenever she thinks of that experience.