Jason hesitated to walk into the elevator that his friends were taking to get to the top floor of the school building. Feeling frustrated, his friends urged him to get on the elevator with them and Jason gingerly stepped inside. While the elevator was moving up, Jason was so overwhelmed with anxiety that he wanted to let his tears flow freely from his eyes. However, he decided to hold his tears back and he recalled the events of the fateful day when he had been stuck in an elevator and learnt a valuable lesson.
"Tom! Clean your room at this instant, young man!" My mother screeched, forcing me to turn off the television. I muttered something incoherently about free will under my breath as I unwillingly trudged into my room, that had clothes strewn all over the floor, toys in every nook and cranny and a musty, dusty smell that hung in the air. I took a few toy cars and haphazardly stuffed them into the shelf.
Boom! The sound of thunder that resonated outdoors startled me as I rushed into my house. Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky followed by another peal of thunder. It was the start of the June holidays and there was a slight drizzle that afternoon. I had just returned home from school just in time before the drizzle turned into a torrential downpour.
The sound of the door slamming shut echoed through the hallway as I tossed my school bag aside and kicked my shoes off. “Mom, I’m home!”
“Wow, I have not seen this journal in a long while!” I exclaimed in awe of my discovery while cleaning my bookshelves. I opened my journal and saw a picture of me on a roller coaster ride during my tenth birthday celebration. I had been looking for a journal to write my thoughts for the day and I encountered a pleasant surprise. I remembered that day like it was just yesterday. As I looked fondly at the picture, the events of that day played vividly in my mind.
“Class, quiet please!” Ms Tan, our teacher, called out to the class with her arms crossed, annoyed with the noise we were making. Once the class quietened down, she continued, “Today we have a new student joining us. His name is Luke Orye! As you know, today is the first day of this school year. He is transfer student from Sunnyfield Primary School. I hope you will help him feel comfortable in school.” All of our faces lit up.
It was one week before Christmas and my house was filled with festive cheer. The only thing I hoped to get from my Christmas wish list was a puppy. I had always dreamt of having a puppy, as I was the only child, and it could be quite lonely at times. However, I did not want to get my hopes up, as I knew neither of my parents liked the thought of having a furry companion around the house and all that came with it.
As night fell, the crowd of visitors into the hospital wards thinned out and the nurses completed their final checks. The hospital ward that Tim was in was silent aside from the low hum of the machines next to him. In a quiet moment of reflection while on the hospital bed, Tim looked bitterly upon the large healing scar on his left calf — a mark from the accident that befell him last week. Feeling a pang of guilt, he began to reminisce the events that unfolded on the fateful day of the accident.
“Ka-boom!” Peals of thunder boomed after lightning flashed across the sky. The torrential rain kept pouring relentlessly since that morning, and I had to brave through the storm alone while on the way home from school. The route I usually took was often empty of passers-by and that day, it was no different.
“Ring...!” The piercing cry of the school bell signalled the end of the school day and everyone made a beeline out of their classes. I was walking towards my mother who was waiting for me at the school gate when I saw one of my classmates, Emma. She had her handbook in her hand and it had many pen scrawls on it.