The ten buoys

Charlotte Richmond

Nathan lives in a city beside a wide river that flows many miles to the sea. He sees the river every week when he and his family cross a bridge on the way to the Christian Science Church and Sunday School.

Once Nathan went for a boat ride on the river. He noticed some markers bobbing in the water. They're called "buoys," and they float on top of the water. They are set out by the United States Coast Guard to show where the water is deep enough for boats to go ahead safely up or down the river.

As you go up the river, every once in a while there is a red buoy on the right or starboard side of the channel and a green buoy on the left or port side. Boats going upstream must keep close to the red buoys. Those coming downstream must keep close to the green buoys. If a boatman obeys these rules and stays on the proper side of the channel, he won't collide with a boat coming from the opposite direction. He won't get too close to shore or hit any sand bars or rocks, either.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

At the age of ten I began to stutter