Write a narrative of a memorable birthday experience where things didn't work out the way you expected.
Birthdays are always special to me. I like to enjoy with my friends and family. As I look back to reminisce the years of my life, I remember one such birthday which just went totally differently than any of my expectations. This was a few years back, but it is still very clear in my memory. I don’t think I can ever forget the things which happened with me on that day, neither do I want to.
It was my seventh birthday, and we had prepared for a birthday bash at my place. Both my parents were very excited about the event. They were busy preparing all the food and the other things for the invitees. I was waiting for my friends. I was exceptionally excited about the party. Nothing seemed to be more enjoyable than the gathering of family and friends.
Josh and Annie were meant to reach my home, and I was getting restless for them. I gave Josh a call. “Hey, mate! Where are you, brother?” I asked him over phone. “We are on our way. We’ll be reaching soon.” spoke the voice from the other end. All was set and I was sure this was going to be such a great birthday! I was very eager and exuberant. My friends finally came over. Both my parents were still busy with the work downstairs.
Soon everyone filed in with their gifts and it was time to cut the cake. Everything was great until after I had cut the cake and everyone got busy with food and everything.
We were lazing around downstairs. I had just started opening the gift packs were talking to people when we heard someone scream at the top of her voice. “What happened?” I exclaimed, as I saw a shiver run down my father’s spines. The house was on fire! The curtain of the lounge was blazing with flames. There was a ruckus all over the house. The invitees started screaming out of fear and some immediately ran out to the garden in front of the house.
Someone rang the fire service, and soon there were a couple of fire engines standing in front of the house trying to calm down the raging blaze. No one was sure how the fire broke out. The three of us knew, however. We now remembered how we had left the lit up matches on the carpet of the floor, in the hurry to come out of the room.
We looked at each other with the feeling of guilt and hysteria in our eyes. Josh asked me as he saw the fire engines fighting the fire, “Should we tell them? I am really sorry, man.” Annie was half in tears as she knew our ‘fun’ had led to something very serious and unprecedented. The wooden house was engulfed with flames as I saw the gray smoke coming out of my room.
My mother came to me. She hugged me and broke down into tears. Father was looking at our beautiful house, which was now half destroyed. All of this was due to my nonchalance. “Don’t worry, you will get over this,” consoled the old neighborhood aunt, who had come over to our place for the party. Nothing helped. My mother kept on sobbing. She had decorated the house all by herself, and it meant so much to all of us, especially to her.
While we were mourning over the loss of a good part of our house, we found out that my father’s work friend had caught a few burns. It wasn’t a serious injury, but it did leave him with a few marks. This made us and the guests who were there, speechless. A perfect evening was ruined.
The fire was put out after a fight of half an hour. All the time we stood there on the lawn. We saw over lovely house being scarred by the cruel flames. The guests dispersed after giving their condolences. My friends went back home with the trauma and repentance. Everyone surmised that the cause of the fire might have been a short circuit. We were still wondering about the cause of fire when my mom and I overheard my friends talking.
“Nah. I think it’s too dangerous.” Anne replied.
“I feel bad about not telling them.” Josh replied.
“Their house was burnt down, Josh! I don’t think they’re gonna take it well.” Anne exclaimed.
My mom called them both to herself and gently asked them what they were talking about. They both started crying. Finally, Anne told her.
“It’s all our fault. Josh and I started the fire.”
“How is this your fault? What did you do?” Despite the fact that our house was on fire, my mother had managed to keep her calm.
“Josh grabbed a candle from the cake and lit it up. I asked him to give it to me. He refused so we started fighting over it. After some time, the candle broke and we left it there. We didn’t know. The candle was still lit when we left it there. The curtain must have caught fire from the candle.” She said this and started sobbing louder than ever.
My mom, however, is a kind woman. She hugged both Anne and Josh while they cried their hearts out to her. She told them that she wasn’t mad at them. Someone then took both the kids and dropped them to their homes.
A day that was going to be fun, seemingly, turned out to be a total disaster. All of my gifts had burnt as no one had bothered to pick them up when the fire lit up. Half of the portion of our house was burnt and many important things along with it. The worst part of it was that my mom’s books were all lost. She had collected those books all her life, ever since she was a teenager. Her collection was both huge and impressive. There were novels and books of all kind in her collection. Unfortunately, our own little library had burnt down.
The turn of events on that birthday was unprecedented. I still remember the day with utmost clarity, and it will always be there in my memory. The incident is memorable in a disturbing way. The chronology of occurrences did not go according to our plan. In the end, a fun day was ruined just because of a little carelessness of two kids’ part. No one was watching the kids either, so there was a little carelessness on the adult’s part too. The day is etched to my memory, clear as yesterday.
