A Fire that Broke Out at Home

  “Shh, let’s go!” Julie whispered to her brother, John, and signalled for him to follow her. Today was their parents’ wedding anniversary, and the siblings had planned to whip up a sumptuous breakfast of bacon and pancakes to surprise them. Over the past few weeks, they had looked up various recipes and saved up their pocket money to purchase the ingredients.

  As quiet as mice, Julie and John tiptoed past their parents’ room and snuck into the kitchen. It was still early, but they had no time to waste. The children quickly started on their respective tasks. They cracked eggs into a bowl and whisked them until they were fluffy. John chopped up the bacon and Julie measured out the flour, sugar, and baking powder for the pancake batter.

  The siblings giggled as they watched their first pancake taking shape on the pan, enjoying the excitement of their secret mission. “It’s time to flip it!” Julie announced. The children exchanged a look and realised that they had forgotten about the spatula! They searched high and low in a flurry.

  “Here it is!” John proudly brandished the spatula from inside a cabinet. As they hurried back to the stove, the children were horrified to see that a nearby cloth had caught fire. The fire burned fiercely and threatened to spread across the countertop.

  Julie and John burst into their parents’ room. “Mum! Dad!” Julie yelled, shaking her parents awake. “There’s a fire in the kitchen!” Their parents quickly followed the children to the kitchen. Without a moment’s hesitation, their father reached for the fire extinguisher and doused the flames.

  The siblings felt terrible. Tears streamed down their faces as they explained the situation. Their parents hugged them tightly, relieved that no one had been hurt. From that day on, Julie and John made a promise to always be careful with fire.

  A delicious-looking strawberry cream cake stood proudly on the kitchen table. In one swift motion, Sarah carefully extracted a matchstick and struck it along the side of its box.

  Sarah stared at the flickering flame, giving it some time to burn and settle, before bringing it toward the six purple candles on the cake. One by one, she carefully lit them. The flames burnt brightly, swaying gently in the wind. Satisfied with her work, Sarah blew out the matchstick and tossed it into the rubbish bin.

  “Surprise!” Sarah exclaimed as she marched into the living room, supporting the cake carefully in her hands. “Happy birthday, Shawn!” her parents exclaimed. Her brother’s eyes widened in shock before breaking into a huge smile. The family watched eagerly as Shawn made a wish and blew out the candles.

  As Shawn reached out for the cake knife, a burning smell wafted around the room. Since the candles had just been blown out, no one paid attention to the odour. However, as the minutes passed, the smell grew stronger. It was not coming from the cake. A thin trail of smoke could now be seen drifting in from the kitchen.

  Sarah’s heart sank when she realised what was happening. She leapt from the table and dashed into the kitchen. Her worst fears were confirmed when she saw that the rubbish bin was on fire. The matchstick she had thoughtlessly tossed into it after lighting the candles had ignited the contents of the bin, and the flames were spreading rapidly.

  Sarah knew she had to act fast. She ran back into the living room and explained what was happening, struggling to get the words out of her throat. Assessing the situation, her parents decided that it would be too dangerous to try to put out the fire by themselves. The family evacuated the house and called for the fire department.

  An eternity passed before the wail of sirens broke the still morning air. The firefighters swifty sprung into action. Fortunately, the fire was contained in the kitchen, and the rest of the house was spared from the damage. Sarah apologised for her carelessness, and learnt a valuable lesson about fire safety that day. Shawn, on the other hand, never forgot that memorable birthday as he gobbled up the piece of cake he had saved from the fire.