743A,

Alphy looked curiously above him. There was a main beam which extended from one side of the barn to the other. It was about twenty feet high, and wide enough to stand on. Alphy glanced around. There were boards nailed to the end wall of the barn, leading up to the loft. These were nailed horizontally, like a makeshift ladder.

Alphy decided to climb up to the loft to see what was up there. He easily made his way up, using the makeshift ladder. Then he decided to walk across the main beam which was suspended some twenty feet in midair. The beam was perhaps one foot in thickness around each side, and at least fifteen feet in length. Alphy was sure he could walk across it without any problem—he was used to climbing trees and walking across fallen logs at the brook.

Alphy carefully started walking across on the beam. He extended both arms outward to keep a perfect balance. Alphy had almost crossed the entire beam when suddenly he felt a sudden jerking movement. Unbeknown to him, the workers had returned to work, and had started the process of hauling the barn on the skids. With this sudden jerk, he lost his balance and, to his horror, started falling downwards. To his surprise something caught hold of his trousers and held him in midair. It was a large knot of wood in the beam. It helped suspend him for a few seconds, long enough for Alphy to grapple the top of the beam with both hands. He pulled himself upwards and crawled down using all his limbs, until he finally reached the bottom safely. Alphy was a little shaken up from the close call with death, but he returned home

without injury.

Years later, when Alphy recalled this experience, he was convinced that his Guardian Angel was with him that day. He felt this was the only rational explanation.

“How else can one explain this?”

For a knot of wood to be in the exact location, at the precise time that Alphy went tumbling, was more then a coincidence in his mind. I would also have to agree.

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