NARRATIVE   [An Unforgetable Experience]

          May 25 2011 was a day I will never forget. It was the day when my family suffered a tragedy. The day began like any other day and we all got ready for school while my father got ready to go to work. We all had breakfast together, enjoying our favourite banana pancakes and hot chocolate, before leaving the house. My sister and I got on our school bus while I saw father got into his car to get to work, leaving my mother doing her usual house chores.

          At 10.00 a.m., I was having a Mathematics lesson when a teacher came and told me my father was at the canteen waiting to take me home. I could sense something bad had happened. Fearing the worst, and thinking of all kinds of bad things that could have happened, I met my father who had already fetched my sister. Her face was white as a sheet.

          ‘Our house was burnt down and mom is in the hospital,’ explained my father sadly. His voice shook as he spoke. I was so shocked.

          We rushed to the hospital and the doctor told us that mom was all right. We thanked God that nothing serious had happened to her. She only suffered minor injuries. However, we lost everything in the fire, our computer, furniture, books and clothes. I found my piggy-bank in the ashes and the coins were still inside. That was all I had left. My father comforted us by saying that the house could be built and the things inside could be bought.

          ‘Mother is all right and that is the most important thing,’ he said. That is why May 25 is a day I will never forget.    [underlined the past tense]