My Moment Near Death

It was my first day with neither my parents nor my dear sister at home.

My parents had just left in the morning to visit my sister who was studying abroad, hence leaving their precious son to the care of a foreign helper.  I begged one of my parents to stay behind, but they gave me the excuse that they had to attend the parent conference at my sister’s school. I then fabricated a story that would persuade them to stay but to no avail.

Torn between loving or hating my parents for abandoning me, I felt very forlorn as I had no one to talk to after finishing my homework. A sudden cry from the kitchen woke me from my daze. Then my helper started to scream uncontrollably, like a lunatic. My initial reaction was to yell at her to be quiet because I was going to switch on the TV to relieve my boredom. She appeared in my room and gestured me to follow her into the dining room. After I chased after her into the living room, her unstable and quivering finger pointed at black smoke outside the window. A fire had broken out in the flat directly above mine! I was too stunned and taken aback to budge a muscle at first and I had to pinch myself to see if I would wake up from an unwanted nightmare. But unfortunately, the fire was real!4

“Mom and dad, how dare you abandon me! Oh God, please don’t abandon me too, help me!”  I almost bursted my thoughts out hysterically.  Miraculously, my momentary plead gave me unexplained calmness. I summoned up my courage and dialed 999 (which is the emergency number in Hong Kong).  Although I spoke really fast, the man at the other end of the line managed to take down my address and comforted me rescue would be on the way soon.

Dashing back into my own room to retrieve my mobile phone and wallet before making an exit, I realized that the fire had become so fierce that its flames were almost devouring my bedroom window, threatening to burn it down. I loved my own room with my favorite books and electronic games and did not want it to be destroyed. A horrifying thought went into my head not knowing if I would ever see my family alive. No, God would not allow that, I just knew it. I was a bit scared that it would even burn through my window and also my beloved and treasured properties! Despite my concerns, I was forced and ushered out of the house by my helpers and before I knew it, fire alarms rang throughout the building. It was deafening. Before I knew it, I was already down in the lobby of block two (I live in block three) looking up into the sky as a team of firemen tried relentlessly to put out the ferocious fire licking at my window. My helper went up to some of the residents of our building and told them how brave I was and that I was the one who phoned the police. It made me blush when some of them called me their hero.

After what seemed like eternity, the fire was extinguished and the residents filed to the elevators in order to return home to have a good’s night rest. I was due to have a lesson at home that night but because of the incident it was cancelled at the very last minute. When my helpers and I arrived home, almost as if magic, I immediately received several phone calls from various friends asking if I was okay. Some of them pointed out that the news broadcasted this incident on television. Even my grandpa came to my house to see if I was still in shock! It was a heck of a night.

I have to thank God in keeping me safe, if not, I won’t be here typing this out right now. My parents almost fainted at the shock of this happening when they got off the plane in USA but managed to allay themselves when I spoke on the phone with them. After two to three years after the incident happened, I still think that it was plausible that the fire could have been more destructive. I am just blessed that I am alive!