1The hills were green and wide, and the sheep were gentle and quiet. David watched over them every day, guiding them with his shepherd's staff and a worn leather sling he kept tucked at his side
2But he was not afraid. One morning, David's father sent him to carry bread and cheese to his older brothers, who stood with the army of Israel on a rocky hillside. David walked the long path
3, his small brown bag swinging at his hip, the sun warm on his shoulders. When David arrived, he heard a deep voice boom across the valley. There stood Goliath — a warrior taller than any man David had ever seen
4. "Is there no one brave enough?" The soldiers behind David stepped back. Whispers moved through the crowd like wind through dry grass. No one stepped forward
5. This, he felt, was no different. "I will go," said David quietly. The king's men brought David a heavy bronze helmet and thick armor. David tried to take one step and nearly toppled over
6. "I cannot wear these," he said honestly. "I am not used to them." He set them aside. Instead, David walked to the nearby stream. He reached down and chose five smooth stones
7. Goliath looked down at David and let out a rumbling laugh. "You send a boy with a stick?" he called. His shield was raised high. His boots shook the earth with each heavy step
8, steady arc — round and round, the way he had done a thousand times on quiet hillsides under open skies. The stone flew. Goliath's great shield dropped with a crash that echoed across the valley
9. The enormous warrior swayed — and then, with a sound like a falling oak tree, he was still. A long silence spread across both hillsides. Then, slowly, the distant soldiers on the far ridge turned and walked away
10, the empty sling hanging at his side, five stones in his bag and four still unthrown. The sheep back home were waiting. The sky above was very blue and very wide.
