BAMBOOBERSPACE Chapter 5 | Page 8

Harley ran to the door, whined and clawed frantically to get outside. Someone outside was screaming. Simon looked through the window and then shouted to Frank. “Somebody’s in the river!” The doorbell clanged as Simon grabbed the door and ran out. Just before the door closed, Harley pushed his way through.

Everyone inside the barber shop rushed to the window. “Help! Somebody help!” The voice was coming from someone on the riverbank, and a child was in the river water, clinging to a tree branch.

Frank opened the emergency closet and grabbed a thick yellow rope and three bright orange life jackets. He ran out the door and the bell clanged again. Alice jumped up to hold the door open. Joe, still half-covered with shaving cream, pulled off the big white apron from around his neck and tossed it behind as he went out the door. The men attached a rope to a sturdy sign post and a life jacket to the other end of the rope. In seconds, Simon put on a life jacket, grabbed the end of the rope with a second life jacket, and jumped into the river, while Joe aimed a huge spotlight on the yellow life jacket. Harley was already in the water. He was swimming to the person in the water and was halfway there.

Everything happened so fast. From the shop