James Aldridge, The Last inch. Brief narrative content

J. Aldridge "The Last inch" was written in a characteristic style for him. The author believed that the main thing for the creator of the work - to reveal how a person is formed, to catch the moment when children turn into girls and boys. And he succeeded. In his narrative, he not only caught the moment of the boy's maturation, coinciding with a difficult test, but showed how the twelve-year-old boy surprisingly took over the strengths of his father's character.

J. Aldridge, The Last inch. Summary: The first lesson

Twelve-year-old boy Davy landed on a small plane with his father, who was once a pilot, on a deserted Egyptian shore. Ben was left without work, but since his wife was accustomed to a secure life, it was necessary to pay an apartment in Cairo and many other services, he had to stop on a lucrative, but dangerous business - shooting sharks under water. Landing the plane, the father simultaneously gave his son the first lessons of this skill. He taught that when landing the distance to the ground should be exactly six inches, neither more nor less. In fact, Ben did not even imagine that this lesson would be very useful to his son soon.

J. Aldridge, The Last inch. Summary: wounded father

Ben was preparing a movie camera for filming and scuba. He was worried that he would be able to remove a large eagle and a shark cat. Ben took a horse bait and tied the meat to a coral reef. The sharks, of course, attacked her, it turned out to be a successful shoot. And only now Ben noticed that with blood from the meat he had stained his hands and chest. But it was already too late: a shark cat was swimming directly at him. She grabbed his right hand, and walked along the left. Miraculously, Ben managed to push off the predator and get out onto the sand. On the shore, he lost consciousness.

J. Aldridge, The Last inch. Summary: the wheel in the hands of the child

Ben came to himself and asked the boy to tear his shirt and tie his hands: the right dangled, and the left resembled a piece of meat. Bleed and legs. Consciousness of the father constantly fell into unconsciousness. He could concentrate the remnants of his strength on saving Davy. The boy performed the commands of his father, not yet suspecting that he himself would have to sit at the helm. Ben asks his son to drag him to the plane with a towel, pile stones at the right door and tighten it into the cockpit. There was only a suspicion in Davy's soul that the father did not sit down on the part of the pilot. Ben told the boy that he himself had to drive the plane, only after they both got into it. He gives his son instructions on how to lift the plane. A strong wind made their situation very difficult. The plane swayed, my father had to scream. The boy's eyes were wide open with horror, but his father's will and courage were passed on to his son: he did not release the steering wheel from his hands.

J. Aldridge, The Last inch. Abstract: landing aircraft

When they reached the flight path, it was almost dark. The place for landing was occupied, but they were lucky - a large aircraft immediately started. Dodging from him, Davy lost speed. It was very dangerous. Approaching the last, dividing death and life in. At that moment, my father could not stand it and cried, losing his composure. But the boy managed to successfully land the plane. Ben calmed down and felt that he would live.

A brief retelling: Aldridge, "The Last inch." Father's recovery

Thanks to physical strength, the will to live and the ability of Egyptian doctors, Ben went on to recover. Davy came to see his father, and he asked if it was great. The boy could only nod in response. In fact, he had not yet thought about it, he still did not leave the horror of what he had experienced. But Ben knew that when Davy grows up, he will be proud of his own actions and will feel more confident for the rest of his life.