A Fire
It was twilight time. I was watching television in my house when I heard an explosion. More
followed. So I went outside to see what the matter was.
A column of dark billowing smoke told me the story. There was a fire raging a short distance
away.
I got onto my bicycle and pedalled in the direction of the smoke. A couple of kilometres later I
came upon the fire. It was a row of motor-workshops and they were burning furiously.
The police and fire department had already cordoned off the area. I watched from a distance. A
crowd had already gathered and we gaped with amazement at the spectacle presented by the
burning shops.
The fire rose to about twenty metres and it lit up the whole area even though the sky was already
dark. The firemen desperately sprayed streams of water into the fire to control it. Now and then
explosions can be heard as gas cylinders blew up in the intense heat.
For more than an hour the fire raged. I could see anxious people trying to get near the workshops
only to be held back by the police. They were obviously the shop-owners trying to save their
shops. Actually they could do nothing but wait for the fire to be extinguished.
Finally the blaze died down and darkness enveloped us. The workshops were totally razed. Only
red-hot embers remained where they once stood. The crowd thinned and I too got onto my
bicycle and cycled home.
A house on fire
On the evening of last Saturday, we were having a tea party in our house.
All of a sudden, the happy atmosphere of the party was disturbed by a loud
noise. The guests in the party started running out of ht house in a great
confusion. I came outside, and found that the hour of our neighbor had
caught fire. The flames were rising high up towards the sky. Everybody
feared that a big fire would spread in the whole colony. We got anxious to
bring the fire under control. The wind fanned the flames. People rant o put
out the fire with buckets full or water and bags of sand.
The lady of the house was weeping bitterly. Her cries were heart rending.
Her only son was sleeping on the upper story. The fire had not yet reached
there. But cloud of smoke were summing out of the window of that room.
Going to that storey to save the boy meant sure death. I wanted to rush to
the help of the injured boy but I had injured leg. A young boy offered to risk
his life. the people put a ladder against the wall. The boy ran up like an
arrow. He brought down the child out of the flames. Both he boy and the
child were choked with smoke.
The fire began to die down. It took two hours to bring it down. The building
was reduced to ashes. It was a terrible sight. Our neighbor was in great
distress. None could say how the fire broke out. Some said that the fire was
started by some mischievous people in the colony. Other said that it was
due to the carelessness of the servant of the house who left a burning
cigarette near some clothes. In any case, the owner of the house suffered a
heavy loss. But god be thanked there was no loss of life. Everyone praised
the young boy of his bravery.
It was a hot Monday morning. Alimin was on his way home from school. As he was feeling hungry, he
took a shortcut through Pak Abus house. Upon reaching Pak Abus house, he saw a huge mango tree.
It was bearing a lot of ripe juicy mangoes. The mangoes made Alimins mouth water. He
was tempted to pick the mangoes.
Alimin put his knapsack down and looked left and right. There was nobody around. Without
much hesitation, Alimin started to climb up the tree. He picked all the big and juicy mangoes. He ate
them to his hearts content. Then he saw more juicy mangoes at the far end of the branch. He
decided to pick them. He stepped on a weak branch and reached for the mangoes.
All of a sudden, the branch broke. Alimin fell to the ground. He groaned in pain and screamed
for help. Luckily apasser-by heard his scream. He quickly ran to the rescue. He examined Alimin and
told him that his right leg was broken.Taking pity on him, the man took Alimin to the hospital.
Alimin regretted what he had done.
