Joe was a skinny, tall thirteen year old. He was over six feet tall and weighed in at just under one hundred twelve pounds. He had enormous ears that stood straight out from his head. He looked wierd.

Joe was the brunt of many cruel jokes in school. He was hurt by all the bad puns he heard. "Hey, radar-ears. How's the weather up there?" and "Look! He is so skinny he don't cast a shadow!" This sort of thing was routine, but Joe never got over the hurt of hearing the same flap over and over.

Joe tried special diets in order try to fill in the middle. He lived on fats and sugars. It did no good at all. Exercise only made strong legs and arms.

The teasing and poking fun caused Joe to become withdrawn and feel he had no friends. He began to seriously consider ending it all. He could get a gun, and it seemed a good idea to just shoot himself in the head.

The rains came and water was everywhere. The creeks and rivers filled to overflowing. Water rushed along the streets and gutter ways. Then it happened. A mother was driving her two small children to school and tried to go through the washed out bridge over Elm Creek. The car floated down stream for a few hundred yards, then turned over. Water rushed into the car to shut out the air. The situation was desperate.

Many people rushed out to try saving the people but the force of the water was too great. Joe, skinny as he was, decided he could get a air hose into the car, and with a bit of luck, he may be able to keep the victims alive until the car could be pulled from the rushing water. He tied a rope around his middle, tied on the air hose, and jumped in.

It took no more than a minute to reach the car, since the rushing water carried him down stream fast. He caught on the car's undercarriage and started working his way down into the mud and debris below. With the end of the air hose clenched between his teeth he was able to breathe. He tried to break out a window but could not. Finally he discovered the rear window was open about half way. Here was his chance. With his build he could squeeze through.

Once inside the car he felt around until he found the three people trapped inside. He put the hose into their mouths, one at a time so they could breathe.

It took over half an hour for the rescuers to turn the car over and pull it up far enough to get a door open. All three victims were finally pulled to safety and suffered no long term injury. Joe, it was discovered, had a broken arm and finger, but with treatment, he healed just fine.

What about the shot in the head? If he had done it, there would have been four people die, not just one. But that is not the end of the story. Why was it so important to save the three people in that car? God knew, and set it all up, because one of those children became a doctor, and performed open heart surgery on one of Joe's tormentors, saving his life. The other young man carried out delicate negations with the Iranian government to get the release of the hostages held after the fall of the Shaw. How many lives were influenced by that skinny kid, just thirteen years old, who considered himself the laughing stock of the town? Only God knows!

What about Joe? Oh, he grew up, still skinny as a snake, to become a councilor working with troubled children. Now, just what MIGHT have been?
- - - Tom Nance