Sample Compositions

Drowning

“Stop burning all the food or we will throw you into the canal!” James half jokingly teased his friends. The aroma of the barbequed food lingered tantalizingly in the air as the merry-making went about during James’ birthday party. Peals of laughter rang in the air as presents were opened and exclaimed over.

Suddenly, vociferous screams resounded through the air. “Help! Help! Somebody please help me!” Everyone’s heads spun in all directions trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. From the corner of his eye, James saw an elfin girl running hysterically towards them. Desperation was etched all over her face. When James and his friends reached her, “Sam… Sam… fell into the canal!” she sobbed breathlessly. The poor girl was on tenterhooks. The boys sprang into action immediately.

The boys climbed over the metal parapet and started combing meticulously along the slopes of the canal. The recent downpour had turned the usually subdue flowing canal into a pulsing sea monster. Currents swirled in the murky treacherous torrents. There was no sign of any flailing hands or desperate struggling of a drowning person. Suddenly, a helpless whine drifted over the roar of the water to James’ ears. James had spotted the victim! “Over there… by the branch!” he bellowed urgently and broke into a sprint, pointing to a black spot a few metres away.

Without hesitation, James grabbed a nearby branch and stepped gingerly into the precarious water. Realizing what James had in mind, the rest of the boys immediately formed a human chain behind him, each grabbing hold of the others’ hand in a death grip. Like an expert juggler, James finally got to Sam. After what seemed like eternity, both James and Sam finally made it to safety.

James handed Sam over to the poor girl who was already in sobs and tears. When Sam barked and started spewing water out of its mouth, everyone laughed in great relief. The little puppy had managed to stay afloat after falling into the canal. All the boys looked at James in admiration and he was really glad that he had managed to save a drowning puppy as a birthday present for himself!

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	half jokingly teased	speaking not seriously
2	aroma of the barbequed food lingered tantalizingly	a pleasant smell of food in the air tempting people’s appetite
3	peals of laughter	laughing loudly
4	vociferous screams	shouting loudly in a high-pitch voice
5	resounded through the air	echoed in the air
6	pinpoint the source of the voice	locate where the sound is coming from
7	from the corner of his eye	to look from the side of one’s eye
8	elfin	small-sized
9	hysterically	anxious and in great need of help
10	desperation was etched all over	a very worried expression
11	sobbed breathlessly	gasped heavily while crying
12	on tenterhooks	in great anxiety
13	metal parapet	a low protective metal wall
14	combing meticulously	searching very carefully
15	subdue flowing	controlled water movements
16	pulsing sea monster	strong currents of the waters
17	currents swirled in the murky treacherous torrents	dirty waters moving in circular motions forming very dangerous currents
18	flailing hands	hands moving wildly
19	bellowed urgently	shouted hastily
20	broke into a sprint	running very fast suddenly
21	stepped gingerly	walked cautiously
22	precarious	dangerous
23	had in mind	considering
24	in a death grip	hands held tightly
25	after what seemed like eternity	a  short moment that felt like a long time
26	made it to safety	returned safely from danger
27	in sobs and tears	crying very sadly
28	spewing water out of its mouth	vomiting water
29	looked … in admiration	showed respect

Train Crash

The sky was overcast. Dark clouds loomed above giving the sky an ominous feel though rain would come crashing through any time soon. The ride was really bumpy. Being trapped in a small cabin for the next six hours was sheer mental torture. However, thoughts of seeing Grandpa and all my favourite cousins warmed my heart, making this all well worth it!  

“BANG!!” A sudden explosion followed by an earth-shattering jerk shook through the entire train. Everyone was thrown off their seats as the train tilted perilously to its side. I landed on the floor of the cabin in the most ungracious manner, banging my head in the process. Chaos reigned in the train as passengers flew into a panic. The train finally came to a full halt. My train had run off its track!

A glance outside to the once picturesque sights of calm hills filled with greenery was now a major nightmare. To keep my balance was like attempting mission impossible. Everyone was lunging for the emergency exits. People were going berserk just to save their own lives. There was no time to spare. Anxiety charged through my veins. I grabbed the nearest suitcase off the rack and headed for the nearest window. With all my might, I heaved it at the window smashing it. I climbed out of the cabin and onto the muddy tracks. The sight that greeted me challenged my sanity.

Women were screaming, children were crying and men were bellowing above the din for their wives and kids. Dead bodies were strewn everywhere. I groped my way through the turmoil and destruction, doing what I could to help those injured. Fortunately, the rescue team reached the crash site in record time. I was whisked away to one of the hospitals to be treated. I felt thankful to be alive but my heart was heavy knowing that not all were lucky to be so.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	sky was overcast	the sky was cloudy
2	dark clouds loomed above	rain clouds covered the sky
3	ominous	threatening
4	sheer mental torture	to bring about mental suffering or pain
5	warmed my heart	caused pleasure
6	an earth-shattering jerk	a violent jolt
7	tilted perilously	slanted dangerously to one side
8	chaos reigned	confusion broke out
9	flew into a panic	became very terrified
10	came to a full halt	came to a complete stop
11	picturesque sights	scenic and beautiful surroundings
12	lunging	a sudden forward movement
13	people were going berserk	people were becoming crazy
14	no time to spare	to waste no time
15	anxiety charged through my veins	felt worried
16	heaved	lifted with great effort or force
17	challenged my sanity	tested one’s state of mind
18	bellowing above the din	shouting loudly above the noise
19	strewn everywhere	scattered all over the place
20	groped my way	blindly find one’s way around
21	turmoil and destruction	confusion and damage
22	in record time	very quickly
23	whisked away	moved swiftly away

Car Collision

School was finally over for the week. Being totally bored by the monotony of school, Edwin was feeling over the moon. More importantly, he was extremely exultant about the approaching weekend. Edwin’s spirits were immediately buoyed by the prospect of a weekend of relaxation. The arrival of Edwin’s weekend materialised with the clanging of the dismissal bells.

While Edwin was walking along the hectic road to head home from school, an unconscious smile sneaked onto his handsome face. He envisaged getting his hands on his PlayStation. Out of the blue, a deafening crash interrupted the flow of Edwin’s sweet thoughts. It was such a terrible symphony that even the deaf Beethoven would be able to hear. Coming to an abrupt stop, Edwin turned the corner to investigate the source of the thunderous sound. Edwin’s eyes went saucer-wide when he realised an accident had occurred at the traffic junction. A commotion of crowd had gathered in no time.

Acrid white fumes were ascending into the sky, shattered glass tinged with blood was scattered along the road. Metal crumpled into a heap from the sheer force of the collision. Traffic on the road and the human traffic on the pavement came to a standstill. Two men staggered out of their respective cars. One of them was drenched in blood that was oozing out from his forehead. The latter had some nasty cuts on his face. It was a ghastly sight!

A moment of paralysis struck Edwin, he was stunned speechless. He could not believe he was witnessing the aftermath of a car collision. It was a really painful scene to look at. The gentleman beside Edwin wasted no time, he took out his mobile. To Edwin’s utter astonishment, the guy called the news radio station instead of the police! Edwin was totally appalled by his response. In that second of heated anger, Edwin gave that man a stern tongue-lashing for his inconsiderate behaviour.

Visibly embarrassed by Edwin’s curt berating, the gentleman’s face turned red with shame. “Now, you can either call the police or take your hypocritical concerns elsewhere!” Edwin boomed in a stentorian voice. Without further delay, the man made the police report. Within minutes, the police and the ambulance arrived at the scene. Medical assistance was rendered swiftly to the injured. As eyewitnesses, the police rounded the gentleman and Edwin for their statements. Edwin was commended for his prompt actions, while the gentleman apologised for his earlier inconsiderate behaviour. The news that night reported that the accident occurred because one of the drivers tried to beat the red light. After that incident, Edwin concluded that both motorists and pedestrians should always observe traffic regulations.   

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	bored by the monotony	dulled by repeating activity
2	feeling over the moon	feeling extremely happy
3	extremely exultant	very excited
4	spirits were immediately buoyed	in high-spirits; cheering up
5	prospect	a future idea
6	materialised	became real
7	the hectic road	a busy road
8	envisaged	visualised something
9	a terrible symphony that even the deaf Beethoven would be able to hear	an extremely loud and disturbing noise
10	eyes went saucer-wide	forced one’s eyes to open widely
11	acrid white fumes were ascending into the sky	unpleasant-smelling smoke rising skywards
12	metal crumpled into a heap	metal all crushed up
13	sheer force of the collision	pure force of two cars that clashed into each other
14	came to a standstill	no activity
15	staggered	walked unsteadily
16	latter	the second of two persons
17	a ghastly sight	a horrifying view
18	a moment of paralysis	loss of ability to move due to shock
19	stunned speechless	loss of speech due to shock
20	aftermath	after effects of an incident
21	utter astonishment	a very rude shock
22	appalled	disgusted
23	a stern tongue-lashing	scolding made very strictly
24	visibly embarrassed	obviously humiliated
25	curt berating	direct lecture
26	hypocritical concerns	insincere care and concern
27	boomed in a stentorian voice	loud and powerful voice when scolding someone
28	rendered swiftly	help given very quickly
29	commended for his prompt actions	praised for reacting quickly
30	motorists and pedestrians	drivers and road users
31	observe traffic regulations	follow rules and regulations

Tsunami

Dappled sun rays filtered through the canopy of leaves creating mysterious shadows. A gentle breeze caressed my raven black hair as I skipped my way to the beach for some sun tanning. Suddenly, the tranquillity of my peaceful surroundings was shattered by piercing screams. Throngs of people were running helter-skelter away from the beach. Screams of the word ‘tsunami’ reverberated through the air.

My eyes grew wide as saucers. I saw a pillar of water as high as a three-storey building in the distance. It was bearing straight towards me! Without hesitation, I whipped a hundred and eighty degrees turn and took to my heels. I knew I had to find higher ground to escape the wrath of the raging waves. The roaring of the tumultuous waves grew louder and louder. I was too late. Being no match for the waves, I was soon swept away. I struggled to grab hold of something, but the force of the water was simply too strong.

“Someone save me!” I gasped at intervals, between great gulps of salty and murky water. Just as I thought I was going to die, I felt strong arms pulling at me. Coughing and spluttering, I was dragged onto the rooftop. Fellow survivors had saved me from the grip of the grim reaper. They were my saviours, my heroes! We tried to save as many others as we could. Finally after what seemed like eternity, the flash floods ceased. All around us was the macabre sight of destruction and death. The tsunami disaster killed many and injured countless others.

We were stranded on the rooftop till the rescue squad arrived. For the rest of the day, we went from house to house helping people to salvage their belongings and locate missing family members and friends. The rescue workers combed through the rubble in the hope of finding survivors.

My heart filled with sorrow for those who had lost their loved ones in this tragedy. I prayed that they would be strong and pick themselves up. Nevertheless, I felt thankful that I had survived the ordeal.   

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	dappled sun rays filtered through the canopy of leaves	patches of sun rays shone through the shelter of leaves
2	raven black hair	very black hair
3	tranquillity of my peaceful surroundings	serenity of the calm place
4	throngs of people	a lot of people
5	running helter-skelter	running in all directions
6	tsunami	a large ocean wave caused by underwater volcanic activity
7	my eyes grew wide as saucers	eyes opened very wide
8	bearing straight towards me	heading in your direction
9	whipped a hundred and eighty degrees turn	to turn around completely
10	took to my heels	ran off quickly
11	escape the wrath	flee from the anger of
12	raging waves	strong waves
13	tumultuous waves	very violent and turbulent waves
14	gasped at intervals	panted now and then
15	murky water	dark and dirty water
16	coughing and spluttering	coughing and spitting out (water)
17	grip of the grim reaper	clutches of death
18	saviour	person who rescues another person from danger
19	after what seemed like eternity	after what felt like a long time
20	ceased	stopped
21	macabre sight	chilling display
22	stranded	to be stuck somewhere and unable to leave
23	salvage their belongings	to save from loss
24	combed through the rubble	searched through the ruins
25	my heart filled with sorrow	felt very sad
26	had survived the ordeal	managed to get through the difficulty

School Bullies

The canteen was as boisterous as a cavalcade. Students were chattering animatedly and cutlery clanged as stall owners set about work to cater to all their young customers’ orders. The basketball courts and the parade square were jam-packed and buzzing with all the sporting activities. Ken was right in the middle of an empty classroom serving his detention for not submitting his homework. Sweeping the floor with great reluctance, Ken was sulking like a spoilt child. He desperately yearned for his recess. The forgetful boy reproached himself for how he could have totally forgotten about Mr Tan’s Science worksheets the previous day.

All the fun outside was beckoning persistently at Ken to peek out of the windows. Ken finally submitted to the temptation and threw all caution to the wind. He was supposed to finish cleaning the classroom before recess was over, instead he pasted himself at the windows staring intently at all the fun everybody else was having. Ken felt like he was practically munching on sour grapes. Suddenly, the lights went out. The entire classroom became as dark as a dungeon. A jolt of delight shot through Ken because a blackout meant that he need not serve his detention.

Perking his head out for a quick scan of the surroundings, Ken wanted to sneak to the fields to join his friends. Before Ken could even reach the backdoor of the classroom, the lights came back on. Along with the brightness, came four insidious figures entering the classroom, the four notorious bullies! Temperatures immediately dropped to sub-zero as Ken came face to face with the terrors in school. The chill in his spine made his knuckles turn white from clutching the broom in his hands. Being confined in the classroom with these four brought the gloom of the night along with the grim of death upon Ken. Inevitably, Ken knew he was doomed.

The leader of the pack growled with hostility, “Look who we’ve got here! Ken, our school midget! Dear boy you better hand over all your money now, or else…” Ken was grossly outsized and outnumbered so he meekly handed over all the cash he had in his wallet. The meagre amount incited the wrath of the bullies. They grabbed Ken by the collar and unleashed more verbal threats in his face. Just then the lights went out. Another blackout!

Ken froze in fear, he knew he had to do something. Seizing the golden opportunity, Ken whacked his perpetrator in his groin with the broom in his hands. The pain sent the bullies tumbling to the ground upon one another like dominoes. Ken made a mad dash for the exits and bumped into Mr Tan, who had come to supervise him. Ken blurted out the whole episode to Mr Tan. The bullies were caught. They were still growling in pain when Mr Tan escorted Ken into the classroom to confront the bullies. They were duly punished by Mr Tan and Ken felt triumphant at having justice prevail for him. Nevertheless he still had an outstanding detention to make up to Mr Tan for not finishing his homework.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	as boisterous as a cavalcade	as lively as a grand celebration
2	cutlery clanged	sounds of metal utensils hit against one another
3	jam-packed and buzzing with all the sporting activities	crowded place with people busy playing sports
4	serving his detention	being punished to stay back after class
5	sulking like a spoilt child	showing an unhappy face like a demanding kid
6	desperately yearned	wanted something very much
7	beckoning persistently	attracting very strongly
8	submitted to the temptation	gave in to one’s ultimate desire
9	threw all caution to the wind	took risks
10	munching on sour grapes	feeling jealous
11	as dark as a dungeon	a place being totally dark without light
12	perking his head out for a quick scan	stretching one’s neck to look around the surroundings
13	insidious	dangerous and mean
14	notorious	well-known for a bad reason
15	temperatures immediately dropped to sub-zero	a chilly atmosphere due to fear
16	chill in his spine	feeling frightened
17	knuckles turn white from clutching	holding something very tightly
18	gloom of the night	feeling as hopeless as the dark night sky
19	grim of death	as depressing as facing death
20	inevitably	unavoidable
21	growled with hostility	spoke threateningly
22	midget	an offensive term for a very short person
23	grossly outsized and outnumbered	at a disadvantage when compared in terms of size and numbers
24	meekly	timidly
25	meagre amount	a very small amount of money
26	incited the wrath	made someone very angry
27	unleashed more verbal threats	bullied verbally
28	seizing the golden opportunity	making the best out of a chance given
29	tumbling to the ground upon one another like dominoes	a continuous falling motion of one item falling after one another
30	duly punished	punished accordingly
31	felt triumphant at having justice prevail	a sense of victory for having fairness showed in a matter

The Conspiracy

“Bang! Boom! Bam!” The metal rattled after being abused. The echoes of its attacker’s swearing resounded in the canteen, “Stupid machine! Can’t you even produce a single miserable drop of water?” His anger burnt into the lifeless water cooler.

Everyone’s head was buried in his books early in the morning to cram in as much as possible as the exams were just round the corner. The reverberating loud racket disrupted the silence of the canteen as he continued his punches and kicks. I was infuriated by his misdeed and inconsideration for others. I alerted the school prefect who was standing behind me.

“Excuse me, that boy at the water cooler is very disruptive and we can’t study properly. Would you please report him for vandalising school property?” I informed him solemnly. The prefect nodded with a smirk on his face and sauntered towards the boy.

The prefect tapped the boy on his shoulder. The boy stopped in mid-kick and turned around eyes glinting in hostility. The prefect said a few words to him. My forehead furrowed in puzzlement. I thought that the prefect was going to berate him. However, to my astonishment, the boy’s face changed before my very eyes. The earlier hints of anger were now replaced with amusement! Before I could decipher what was happening, the two boys gave each other a high five and stared at me maliciously. Realisation dawned on me. They were obviously good chums and in cahoots! Feeling indignant, I stood up to them and a vicious quarrel ensued.

The commotion roused most of the pupils from the depths of their books. As our volume amplified, one of them finally raced to the Discipline Master’s office. His timely arrival prevented a fist fight that was on the verge of happening.

The three of us were reprimanded for engaging in a quarrel. However, seeing that I had stood up in righteousness, I was simply given a warning. The other two perpetrators were not as fortunate. The boy was severely punished for vandalism and the prefect was given a dressing down for shirking responsibility. To err is human, but I really hope they would learn their lesson now as I had learnt mine.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	resounded	echoed
2	anger burnt into the lifeless water cooler	to vent anger at the machine
3	head was buried in his books	studying with deep concentration
4	cram	to study hastily for an impending exam
5	reverberating	re-echoing
6	loud racket	a loud noisy disturbance
7	disrupted the silence	no longer quiet anymore
8	infuriated by his misdeed	furious by the wrong things committed
9	disruptive	troublesome
10	solemnly	seriously
11	a smirk	a self-satisfied smile
12	sauntered	walked at a leisurely pace
13	eyes glinting in hostility	eyes flashing with anger
14	forehead furrowed in puzzlement	deep wrinkles appeared on the forehead due to confusion
15	berate	scold angrily at length
16	to my astonishment	to my surprise
17	decipher	to make out the meaning
18	maliciously	spitefully
19	realisation dawned on me	to understand something
20	good chums	good friends
21	in cahoots	banding together due to association
22	feeling indignant	feeling annoyed
23	vicious quarrel ensued	violent argument resulted
24	roused	stirred up
25	amplified	increased the volume of
26	timely arrival	to appear at the appropriate time
27	righteousness	uprightness
28	perpetrators	persons committing the crime
29	shirking responsibility	neglecting his duties
30	to err is human	it is natural to make mistakes

A Scare

The morning breeze weaved among the leaves and rustled the leaves of the trees. The temperatures dipped to a comfortable cool for Jim and his friends to have their usual game of marbles! Jim’s heart raced excitedly as he headed for the school field to meet his friends. They were going to have a friendly match today with all their favourite marbles.

“Hey it’s my turn now!” Jim bellowed heartily as he ran towards his peers.

“You are late!” they chided Jim jokingly. He smiled sheepishly and Jim was let into the game. It was an intense game and shiny marbles were all over the ground. The excitement among them was sky high. Light-hearted touts and laughter filled the air. All of them were oblivious to the sleek figure that was gliding towards them stealthily.

“JANE! You... There... is... a... ‘thing’... at... your...” Words lodged in Jim’s throat. His heart was in his mouth. The creature had coiled close to Jane’s feet. It was a deadly and menacing cobra! Everyone froze in paramount fear when the snake hissed portentously at everyone. Jane burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably, “Help! Help!” Instantaneously their game turned into a life-threatening match. None of them dared to move a muscle as the creature slithered viciously nearer to Jane. She was panting breathlessly as tears fell liberally down her cheeks. Suddenly the school bell rang and broke the tug-of-war between them and the attacker. Jim boldly stretched his hands out and tugged Jane to his side. The cobra bared its glittering fangs and shot a jet of lethal poison. The poison landed inches away from Jim with a loud sputtering noise. The kids screamed their guts out, “Ahhh! Somebody help! Help!”

Just as the snake was about to launch a second attack, there was a deafening bang! The cobra fell onto the ground, hissing in agony. Blood started oozing out profusely. Three men rushed forward. Mr Lim, the principal, protectively rounded all of them behind him. Jim and his friends cowered under the shield of their guardian. Jane was as pale as a sheet and she could not stop crying. Mr Lim offered words of comfort and assurance to Jane while the other two burly looking men dealt with the lifeless creature that was offensive just seconds ago.

Their school was situated near the Singapore Zoological Gardens and the snake had escaped from there. The two other men whom they later found out were zookeepers, apologised for the scare that the vicious cobra had given them. Jim and his friends heaved a sigh of relief and thanked their saviours. They had survived the ordeal unscathed. It was indeed a close shave for all of them, especially Jane!  

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	morning breeze weaved among the leaves	the wind moved in a criss-cross motion among the leaves
2	rustled the leaves of the trees	sounds of leaves when blown by the wind
3	temperatures dipped to a comfortable cool	a comfortable cooling temperature
4	bellowed heartily	shouted happily
5	peers	friends
6	chided	lectured
7	smiled sheepishly	smiled shyly
8	intense game	a very heated game
9	excitement among them was sky high	all feeling very excited
10	light-hearted touts	challenges issued teasingly
11	oblivious	unaware
12	stealthily	sneakily
13	words lodged in Jim’s throat	speechless due to fear
14	his heart was in his mouth	feeling very frightened
15	deadly and menacing	fatal and dangerous
16	froze in paramount fear	remained motionless due to being very frightened
17	portentously	threateningly
18	burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably	crying non-stop without control
19	instantaneously	immediately
20	none of them dared to move a muscle	being afraid to move
21	slithered	moved in a gliding manner
22	panting breathlessly as tears fell liberally down her cheeks	in a breathless state and crying
23	tug-of-war	a struggle
24	bared its glittering fangs	a snake showed its teeth
25	lethal poison	venom of a snake
26	loud sputtering noise	sound of liquid landing on floor
27	screamed their guts out	shouted fearfully
28	cowered under the shield of their guardian	hid behind their protector
29	words of comfort and assurance	saying comforting words
30	offensive	on an attacking front
31	survived the ordeal unscathed	remained unhurt throughout a dangerous process or event

An Unlucky Day

“Ring!” That irritating alarm clock of mine woke me up at the crack of dawn with its shrill wailing. Cursing silently, I slammed my hand on the alarm clock and banged it against the cupboard. It immediately stopped. Satisfied, I promptly turned around and fell asleep.

“Jeremy! Wake up! You are going to be late for school!” my mother’s high-pitched scream permeated the silence, shattering all my hopes for stealing more sleep. I glanced at my alarm clock. I was so startled by what I saw that I tumbled out of bed and landed on my bottom. It was already seven o’clock! I had less than an hour to get to school! I dashed to the bathroom to wash up. To my chagrin, I slipped on a wet patch of tiles and banged my chin against the basin. I felt my tooth break off and tasted blood. Ignoring it, I went to brush my teeth. A missing tooth was better than facing the wrath of my form teacher! I swooped down the stairs like a peregrine falcon, grabbed my school bag and rushed off to school.

I ran like the wind all the way to the bus stop, where I was just in time to see the bus chugging off. “Wait for me! Wait!” I hollered, chasing after it. The bus, as if in reply, coughed out a cloud of black smoke and roared off. It was futile to try and chase it. Sighing heavily, I decided to run to school.

By the time I got to school, the parade square was deserted and voices were streaming out from every classroom. I walked resignedly to my class and stood outside the door. Bracing myself for the explosion, I took a deep breath and walked in.

“Well, don’t just stand there daydreaming, boy! Get to your seat and take out yesterday’s homework!” Mrs Liow barked at me. Sighing with relief that I did not get an earful, I crept to my seat and plopped myself down. I opened my bag and to my utmost horror, I found myself staring at a Mickey Mouse book. I groaned inwardly. I had taken my sister’s bag by mistake! Suddenly, a black shadow descended upon me as I looked into the glaring eyes of Mrs Liow. “Detention for you!” she shrieked and stomped away.

Trudging out of school, I recalled with painful embarrassment of my detention of cleaning a Primary 1 toilet. “Those kids really do not know how to keep themselves clean,” I muttered to myself. Suddenly, I heard a ‘splat’ and felt something warm landed on my head. Argh! Bird droppings! I whipped out my handkerchief and wiped vigorously at the offending spot. I screeched vulgarities at the errant offender, only to be greeted with another barrage of ‘crowning glories’. I ran all the way home, screeching like a madman. I had all I could take for one day!   

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	at the crack of dawn	very early in the morning
2	shrill wailing	a loud high-pitch sound
3	promptly	at once
4	permeated	spread throughout
5	shattering all my hopes	crushing all wishes
6	tumbled out of bed	fell out of bed
7	to my chagrin	to my annoyance
8	wrath	anger
9	a peregrine falcon	a swift flying bird
10	ran like the wind	moved very fast
11	chugging off	sound of engine moving off
12	futile	of no use
13	deserted	not a single person around; desolated
14	resignedly	in a hopeless manner
15	took a deep breath	breathed in deeply so as to calm down
16	an earful	a lecture
17	plopped down	to let body sit down heavily
18	to my utmost horror	to my greatest dismay
19	groaned inwardly	grumbled to oneself
20	descended upon me	visited unexpectedly on me
21	shrieked	cried out in a sharp piercing manner
22	stomped away	walked away heavily and violently
23	trudging	walking with heavy and tired footsteps
24	muttered	spoke in low tones
25	screeched vulgarities	called out bad words in a sharp voice
26	errant offender	a person who behaves badly
27	barrage	onslaught of

The Destruction of Terrorism

The headlines screamed: Bomb exploded at Northview Park Eatery, thirty people killed, first terrorist attach Singapore has seen. Police leave no stones unturned. This startling piece of news evoked Ryan’s memories of the terrorizing incident.

The sky was delightful expanse of azure blue. The clouds had no place in the morning sky where the majestic sun reigned supreme. Ryan, being a bubbly child, yearned for nothing more than having fun. His heart raced excitedly as his family headed for their scrumptious lunch after thoroughly enjoying their bike ride around the whole of Northview Park. Ryan’s family loves the food at the eatery there and they would never miss a chance to savour it whenever they could.

Ryan’s family located an empty booth and chattered animatedly while his father went to order their food. Suddenly, an earth-shattering blast punctured the vivacious spirits of the Sunday crowd in the eatery. Within a fraction of a second, flames and smoke were whirling in all directions. Ryan was stunned at the shocking spectacle. Everything became tumultuous! People scurried for the exits, shrills and sobs resounded through the air. Intense heat from the raging fire sank into Ryan’s skin. He looked in wide-eyed horror at his motionless father and brother. They were scorched to the bone and charred black. Ryan’s heart throbbed. He could not believe his eyes. In a total state of distraught bemusement, Ryan stood there, rooted to the ground.

Smoke charged into Ryan’s nostrils, depriving him of oxygen. Breathing in the noxious, toxic fumes of the smoke made his head spin. Darkness overcame him. Ryan lost consciousness.

Ryan woke up in the unfamiliar room, swathed in bandages. The pain was overwhelming but nothing was more unbearable than the loss of his kin. With the newspaper in his hands and the pain in his heart, Ryan read the words of the police with a new consciousness, “The acts of terrorism shall not instil fear in people but an indomitable courage to face the cruelties. Justice will prevail.”

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	the headlines screamed	main titles in a newspaper
2	leave no stones unturned	investigate thoroughly
3	startling piece of news	shocking news
4	evoked ... memories	brought up memories of the past
5	the morning sky where the majestic sun reigned supreme	a bright morning with the sun shone gloriously
6	heart raced excitedly	heart beating very fast; feeling very eager
7	savour	enjoy good food
8	chattered animatedly	in a lively conversation
9	an earth-shattering blast	an explosion that shook the grounds
10	punctured the vivacious spirits	disrupted cheerful atmosphere
11	within a fraction of a second	immediate
12	flames and smoke were whirling in all directions	a place filled with smoke and fire
13	stunned at the shocking spectacle	a frightening and shocking scene
14	tumultuous	chaotic situation
15	scurried for the exits	dashed for the exits
16	shrills and sobs resounded through the air	screams and cries filled the air
17	intense heat from the raging fire sank into ryan’s skin	felt the heat from strong fire
18	looked in wide-eyed horror	eyes widened in fear
19	scorched to the bone and charred black	very badly burnt till black in colour
20	his heart throbbed	an intense heartache
21	a total state of distraught bemusement	very upset and in a total state of confusion
22	smoke charged into his nostrils	smoke filled his nostrils
23	depriving him of oxygen	feeling breathless
24	noxious, toxic fumes of the smoke made his head spin	feeling giddy due to poisonous smoke and fumes
25	swathed in bandages	body in bandages
26	the pain was overwhelming	experiencing extreme pain
27	nothing was more unbearable than the loss of his kin	feeling the heartache over the death of one’s relatives
28	instil fear	introduce a sense of terror
29	an indomitable courage to face the cruelties	formidable guts to face distressful matters
30	justice will prevail	righteousness will rule

Trapped

“Remember to turn off the fire on the stove after the fish is fully steamed,” my mother nagged at me before she rushed out to attend a seminar.  

“Yeah..” I retorted.

It was far from exciting to spend my time watching a fish being slowly steamed. I was bored stiff. “Sizzle, sizzle...” went the fire. Soon, I felt tired. Slowly and unknowingly, I fell into a deep sleep. I was abruptly awakened by the smell of smoke. The pungent odour of the smoke was nauseating, making me feel like gagging. I stood rooted to the ground at the scene that greeted me. The hungry flames were spreading throughout the whole house, swallowing every combustible material blocking its path. The blazing red monster was advancing rapidly towards me. Clouds of filthy and queasy smoke billowed out of the windows. I knew doom was awaiting me as the hungry flames engulfed and devoured the burning house. There was no time to salvage the valuables. There was only time to escape from the clutches of death which showed no mercy.

Tongues of flames were leaping speedily towards me. I panicked. It was all because of my carelessness to leave the stove alone and fall asleep. I bolted right out of the kitchen, but alas, fire blocked my escape route. I dashed to the window, frantically trying to open it. Nevertheless, no matter how hard I tried, I could not open it. The window grills were stuck! Fear gripped me. Beads of perspiration rolled down my forehead. I had to do something fast! As a last resort, I lifted a nearby crowbar and hacked desperately at the window. The windows simply refused to give way. I was in utter despair. It was totally useless.

My hopes were kindled when I heard the piercing shrill of sirens in the distance. I stoop up, waved my arms frantically and shouted for help at the top of my lungs. Soon, the fire engines and ambulance arrived at the scene. By then, the whole house was a burning inferno. It was a matter of time before the fire reached me. About a dozen firemen emerged and sprang into action. Firemen in bright uniforms and shiny hats sprayed water from hoses that snaked up the ladders. A brave fireman hacked through the window and rescued me. Within minutes, they had brought the fire under control. After an hour of struggle, the fire was extinguished.

When I saw my mother, I sprang into her arms. Apologies tumbled out of my mouth. However, my mother only heaved a sigh of relief that I was safe. Both of us thanked the firemen profusely. I had learnt a very valuable lesson, not to leave fire unattended. Fire is a good servant but a really bad master!

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	retorted	answered back
2	bored stiff	feeling uninterested
3	unknowingly	unaware
4	abruptly awakened	to be wakened suddenly
5	pungent odour	unpleasant smell
6	nauseating	stomach-churning
7	gagging	vomiting
8	stood rooted to the ground	unable to move, usually due to shock
9	swallowing every combustible material blocking its path	burning everything up
10	advancing rapidly	moving forward quickly
11	clouds of filthy and queasy smoke	smoke that is dirty and revolting
12	billowed	puffed out
13	doom was awaiting me	thinking that one was going to die
14	hungry flames engulfed and devoured the burning house	intense fire that was burning up the whole house
15	salvage the valuables	to gather and save things of value
16	clutches of death	on the verge of losing your life
17	tongues of flames were leaping speedily	fire licking and spreading quickly
18	panicked	overwhelmed with terror
19	bolted	ran away suddenly
20	alas	unfortunately
21	nevertheless	on the other hand
22	fear gripped me	felt terrified
23	as a last resort	in desperation
24	in utter despair	very miserable
25	hopes were kindled	felt hopeful
26	waved my arms frantically	waved arms hysterically
27	burning inferno	huge intense fire
28	emerged	appeared
29	apologies tumbled out of my mouth	spoke in a rush
30	fire is a good servant but a really bad master	fire is very useful under one’s control but dangerous when it is not

Fire!

It was a silent and tranquil night. Thomas had two more chapters to finish for his crucial examinations the following day. He stifled a yawn and tried to force his eyes open as he stared at the book in front of him obligingly. Gradually, the words started to swim in his face and the tired boy nodded off.

All of a sudden, Thomas woke up feeling parched and gasping for air. Beads of perspiration dotted his forehead. He felt as if he had just been baked in a microwave oven. It was then Thomas realised that smoke was curling into his bedroom from under the door! The word ‘fire’ ricocheted repeatedly and thoughts of himself being burnt like a charred chicken raced through his mind. Thomas ran to the window to investigate further. There was a dishevelled man with matches in his hands running away at breakneck speed! ‘Arson’ reverberated through his thoughts. Thomas’ heart was palpitating vigorously and his hands turned cold and clammy.

Pandemonium filled the block of flats that was engulfed in thick ominous black smoke. The fire was like a cankerous monster, showing no mercy to humans. Neighbours were scurrying and hollering for help. While Thomas and his neighbours were making a hasty beeline for the open field, fire obstructed their way and licked the walls menacingly. Everyone was indeed at their wits’ ends! All of them were trapped in the rampant inferno. Smoke penetrated their lungs, robbing them of every ounce of oxygen. It was the wailing of the sirens echoing in the helpless atmosphere that renewed all their hopes of survival! Their immense anxiety turned to relief as jets of water shot like a paralysing dart, extinguishing the hazardous flames.

Within minutes, the fire was put out and everyone was safe and sound. Thomas volunteered all the information he could remember about the arsonist to the police. His righteous self could not wait for the culprit to be apprehended. This incident would forever be etched in Thomas’ mind.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	silent and tranquil night	quiet and peaceful night
2	crucial	important
3	stifled a yawn	subdued a yawn
4	stared ... obligingly	looked at something out of responsibility
5	gradually	slowly
6	gasping for air	breathless
7	beads of perspiration dotted his forehead	perspiration spread across his forehead
8	smoke was curling into his bedroom	smoke was filling his bedroom
9	ricocheted repeatedly	echoed over and over again
10	burnt like a charred chicken	like an overcooked chicken that has turned black
11	dishevelled	messy
12	at breakneck speed	moving extremely fast
13	arson	setting fire purposely for a criminal reason
14	reverberated through his thoughts	an idea bounced off in one’s mind
15	heart was palpitating vigorously	heart beating very fast
16	hands turned cold and clammy	sweaty palms that were cold due to fear
17	pandemonium	a chaotic situation
18	engulfed in thick ominous black smoke	surrounded by dangerous black smoke
19	cankerous monster	evil influence that is spreading
20	showing no mercy	not giving any chances
21	scurrying	running
22	hollering for help	shouting loudly for help
23	making a hasty beeline	making an escape
24	fire obstructed their way and licked the walls menacingly	fire blocked the exits and was burning the walls furiously
25	rampant inferno	uncontrollable burning fire
26	smoke penetrated their lungs	smoke filled their lungs
27	robbing them of every ounce of oxygen	depriving one of air
28	wailing of the sirens echoing in the helpless atmosphere	sounds of alarm in a terrible situation
29	renewed all their hopes of survival	gave hope once again
30	immense anxiety turned to relief	worries changed to feeling restful
31	shot like a paralysing dart	affected by an immobilising effect
32	extinguishing the hazardous flames	putting out dangerous fire
33	righteous	having a sense of justice

The Campfire

“Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!” Thunderous applause followed the rambunctious cheer from the children that gathered around me. Their innocent faces were lit up by their jubilant smiles. In an orderly fashion, all of them were seated in a circle around me. I roared to life with burst of sparks adding more excitement to the night. All of the spectators’ eyes widened in awe, as I soared higher into the night sky when more fuel was added into my base. I am the star of this gathering, I am the Campfire.

I was set up by the lovely camp leaders. They had conjured me up from wood and fuel. When the clock struck seven, the President of the children camp brought me to life. I leaped and burned with gusto to the delight of all the kids. My flames made a grand entrance, thriving on the solid fuel that formed my base.

The party started. Children’s giggles and laughter reverberated around the surroundings. The young leaders made all the children holler out their group cheers bringing the atmosphere to a new climax. Music blasted from the speakers, my flames danced to the upbeat tempo of the pop songs. The cool night breeze caressed my orange fire, giving me more energy to synchronise with the zesty tunes. The wood crackled loudly as I danced vibrantly. I glowed more brilliantly with each gust of wind that hit my face. Feeding my enthusiasm for boogie, the children joined me in a folk dance. They circled around me and danced in harmony. I was overjoyed, my fire stretched towards the sky!

As the night drew to an end, I exhausted every bit of stored energy from the wood and fuel. My flames dulled to a low glow. I lulled in soft and gentle orange hues as my flames died out in bits. The children sang and danced to their hearts’ content. I was proud to be the centre of attention tonight. As the children returned to their tents to rest for the night, I knew it was curtain call for me. Stars peppered across the chic black night sky, I fizzled out along with the cool night breeze. Being the proud Campfire, I am sure I left wonderful memories for this bunch of kids.   

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	thunderous applause	very loud clapping
2	rambunctious cheer	loud and noisy cheer
3	jubilant smiles	joyful looks
4	in an orderly fashion	in a tidy manner
5	roared to life	became full of energy
6	eyes widened in awe	eyes became bigger due to wonder
7	conjured	made something appear, as if by magic
8	burned with gusto	burned with vigorous zest
9	thriving	making steady progress
10	giggles and laughter reverberated	joyful sounds echoed
11	climax	most exciting point
12	music blasted from the speakers	music sounded loudly from the speakers
13	upbeat tempo	lively pace, especially for music
14	caressed	touched in a loving, affectionate manner
15	synchronise	to operate in unison
16	zesty tunes	lively music
17	crackled	small popping sound
18	vibrantly	dazzlingly
19	gust of wind	a strong sudden rush of wind
20	enthusiasm for boogie	interest in dancing
21	exhausted	used up
22	lulled	soothed and calmed
23	to their hearts’ content	to their satisfaction
24	curtain call	an appearance of the performers at the end of a show to receive applause from the audience
25	chic black night	very dark night
26	fizzled out	ended off weakly

Kidnapped

The day blossomed like a bright and lovely flower. The air was fresh and crisp. Warm rays of the sun filtered through the canopy of leaves, embracing the glistening dewdrops and bidding them farewell. Lucas had woken up especially early and decided to walk to school.

Everything seemed so ordinary. The birds were soaring freely in the sky. The flowers were still blooming prettily in the bushes. Lucas was humming a cheery tune in his mind and thought merrily to himself, “Nothing could possible happen on such a superb day, could it?”

Suddenly, a van screeched to a halt beside Lucas. Two men dressed in black leaped out of the vehicle with great agility. Before a befuddled Lucas could utter a single word, one of them gagged him while the other tossed a gunny sack over him. Being a large boy, Lucas put up a tough struggle but he was no match for the pair of burly arms that encased him. Lucas was lifted like a sack of flour and hurled into the van. Fear gripped the pits of his stomach. He was being kidnapped!  

The journey was treacherously long and bumpy. Lucas had to concentrate on getting enough oxygen through the musty sack. Approximately forty-five minutes later, the vehicle finally came to a stop. After rough handling by his captors, they finally removed the sack. They could not have timed it a minute earlier as Lucas felt he was turning blue in his face already. The poor boy was ashen-faced as he gasped for air. Lucas slowly regained his orientation. It dawned upon him that he was locked in a dilapidated old room. Old paint was flaking from the walls and a malodorous stench of garbage permeated the air. Lucas shuddered at the thought of all sorts of creepy crawlers swarming around the room.

In the next room, Lucas could hear the kidnappers calling his parents. “If you want your child back, it’ll be fifty thousand dollars and not a cent less!” they threatened malevolently and slammed down the phone, chuckling in glee at their imminent windfall. Lucas knew that he had to try to escape. However, all the windows and doors were bolted tight. All he could do was to wait for someone to rescue him. Fatigue finally overwhelmed Lucas and he drifted off into a restless slumber.

Suddenly Lucas jolted awake by the sound of a tumultuous commotion outside the room. He cowered in a corner praying that all would be fine. There was a series of gunshots and then uncanny silence. Slowly, the door to his room inched open. “Lucas?” It was a police officer! He was untied and saved! Lucas ran frantically out of the room knowing that justice had finally been served to the kidnappers.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	day blossomed like a bright and lovely flower	day awakened beautifully
2	warm rays of the sun filtered through the canopy of leaves	sunshine shone through gaps in between trees’ branches
3	embracing	hugging
4	bidding them farewell	saying goodbye
5	screeched to a halt	came to a sudden stop
6	leaped out of the vehicle with great agility	jumped out with acute swiftness
7	befuddled	felt confused
8	utter a single word	say a word / make a sound
9	put up a tough struggle	moved violently fighting against someone
10	pair of burly arms that encased him	strong arms that grabbed him
11	fear gripped the pits of his stomach	felt frightened
12	journey was treacherously long and bumpy	a difficult journey
13	rough handling	being treated forcefully
14	turning blue in his face	face changed colour due to lack of air
15	ashen-faced	looking pale
16	slowly regained his orientation	gained one’s sense of directions
17	dawned upon	realised
18	a dilapidated old room	a room that is old and run-down
19	malodorous stench of garbage permeated the air	foul smell filled the air
20	shuddered at the thought	trembled at a fearful thought
21	creepy crawlers swarming	pests and insects in an infested place
22	threatened malevolently	gave warnings nastily
23	chuckling in glee at their imminent windfall	laughing happily over their impending wealth
24	fatigue finally overwhelmed	totally exhausted
25	jolted awake	awoken with shock
26	tumultuous commotion	a chaotic and noisy situation
27	uncanny silence	unnatural silence
28	ran frantically	ran with passion
29	justice had finally been served	justice was being upheld

Hello, Stranger...

The silence of the night was a surprising welcome from the bustling activities of the evening. I could finally sit down at my desk and start on my preparation for the examinations which were just around the corner. My parents had gone to attend a wedding dinner. A huge grin split across my face when I realised that the entire house was at my disposal. Wanting to make the most of the time before my parents return home, I dived into my work.  

The chiming of the doorbell broke my concentration. “Who could that be?” I muttered in frustration. I was on the verge of solving the torturous problem sums that my devious mathematics teacher had concocted. Marching to the door, I flung it open. Standing outside was a stranger dressed to the nines. In his arms was a huge hamper.   

“I’m your mother’s friend. I came to deliver a present,” the charming man spoke in a pleasant and melodious voice. I was quite certain that my mother did not mention him. Just as I was about to slam the door in his face, I spied a box of my favourite Godiva chocolates in the hamper. All thoughts of problem sums, as well as my mother’s ingrained warnings of the dangers of strangers, flew out of my mind. I unlocked the gate and welcomed the man in.

“Who are you?” my father’s voice boomed from the lift landing. Upon seeing my father, the man turned ghastly pale. Then everything happened in a flash. The man stuttered and stammered for an answer, all the while trying to avoid my father’s penetrating gaze. With a shrug of his shoulders, he dumped the hamper into my arms and took to his heels.

Needless to say, the man was not my mother’s friend. The police were notified of the incident. Apparently, the con man had been going round using the same tactic to break into unsuspecting homes. I was fortunate that my father had come home in time. My parents gave me a dressing down for disobeying them and grounded me for a week after that incident. I promised to be more cautious in future and never to open the door to strangers ever again.  

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	bustling activities	excited and noisy activities
2	around the corner	about to happen
3	a huge grin split across my face	smiled broadly
4	at my disposal	available for use
5	broke my concentration	interrupted my thoughts
6	muttered in frustration	felt annoyed and complained under one’s breath
7	on the verge	on the edge
8	torturous	causing extreme mental pain
9	devious	scheming
10	concocted	invented
11	dressed to the nines	very fashionable
12	charming	attractive
13	pleasant and melodious voice	pleasing and musical voice
14	ingrained	firmly established
15	flew out of my mind	totally forgot about the issue
16	boomed	roared
17	ghastly pale	deathly pale
18	in a flash	without any delay
19	stuttered and stammered	fumbled over the words
20	penetrating gaze	piercing look
21	a shrug of his shoulders	a gesture of raising the shoulders
22	took to his heels	ran away
23	needless to say	obviously
24	apparently	seems that
25	con man	a person who is out to trick others
26	tactic	method
27	unsuspecting	having no idea what was happening
28	dressing down	a scolding

The Robbery

“Oh! Where is my diamond necklace?” Mrs Ling mumbled irately to herself while rummaging in her dresser drawers. She was getting ready to go for a wedding dinner. “I need to wear it to Mary’s wedding and impress all our relatives and friends!” she exclaimed frenetically and almost literally ripping her drawer apart.

After an arduous search, Mrs Ling finally managed to find her priceless diamond necklace. She hurriedly put it around her neck, coupled with a string of alluring earrings and bracelets. Finally after a critical perusal of her appearance in front of the arrays of mirrors, she sauntered into the living room where her edgy husband was waiting.

“I just don’t see why you have to wear that necklace. Now, we are going to be really late for the wedding!” Mr Ling kept muttering like a broken radio as they made their way to the car parked in the multi-storey carpark. Just then, three men appeared out of the blue. They had balaclavas over their faces. One of them threatened with baleful intent, “Hand over all your valuables or else!” Mr and Mrs Ling were petrified. They stood rooted to the ground, their mouths agape in shock. “It’s your fault...” the livid Mr Ling turned towards his wide and started berating. “If you did not deck yourself like a Christmas tree to catch the fancy of people, this would not be happening!”

Wham! Mr Ling fell to the ground in a dead faint. Mrs Ling stared blankly at the bat that one of the robbers had used on her husband. Before Mrs Ling could even register all that had just transpired, the two irritated robbers dashed over and snatched her handbag and jewellery. In that instant, a dam of emotions seemed to burst within Mrs Ling. An ear-splitting shriek escaped from her lips and pierced through the silence of the night. “Stop or I’ll kill you!” one of the robbers placed a shiny knife at her throat. However, Mrs Ling simply could not control her emotions. She screamed and screamed devastatingly, losing track of everything around her.

Not wanting to be discovered, the flustered robbers had little choice but to make their escape. Only then did Mrs Ling rush to her husband’s side. Cradling his head in her lap, she crooned and smoothed his hair trying to staunch the flow of blood pooling ceaselessly onto the ground. “Please don’t die... Arthur, I’m sorry. Please don’t die...” her pleas echoed into the still night air.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	mumbled irately	spoke quietly in an irritated manner
2	rummaging	searching thoroughly
3	exclaimed frenetically	spoke loudly in a frantic manner
4	literally ripping	actually tearing things apart
5	an arduous search	a tough search
6	priceless	extremely valuable
7	coupled	matched
8	alluring	beautifully charming
9	critical perusal	an important check
10	arrays of mirrors	a range of mirrors all lined together
11	sauntered	walked with confidence
12	edgy	irritated and angry
13	muttering like a broken radio	nagging
14	balaclavas	a close-fitted knitted covering for the head
15	threatened with baleful intent	issued demands with an evil motive
16	mouths agape in shock	mouths wide open in shock
17	livid	extremely angry
18	berating	scolding angrily
19	deck yourself like a christmas tree	to decorate and adorn
20	to catch the fancy of people	to attract others attention
21	fell to the ground in a dead faint	fell to the ground after losing consciousness
22	register all that had just transpired	to realise what had happened
23	a dam of emotions	a rush of feelings in the heart
24	ear-splitting shriek	a very loud and sharp scream
25	pierced through the silence of the night	broke the quietness of the night
26	screamed and screamed devastatingly	shouted heartbrokenly
27	losing track of everything	totally unaware of one’s surroundings
28	flustered	anxious
29	cradling	holding something gently in one’s arms
30	crooned	spoke in a soft low voice
31	staunch the flow of blood pooling ceaselessly	stop a persistent bleeding
32	pleas echoed into the still night air	made an emotional request on a quiet night

A Bank Robbery

“Robbery! Stand still!” I bellowed. My accomplice and I stormed into the bank. The bank was peaceful before our appearance. The customers were seated and waiting keenly for their queue number to be called. Impatient frowns creased their foreheads as the glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. Our sudden invasion flustered them! My accomplice and I were quivering in trepidation and were in cold sweat as that was the first time we were robbing.

Both of us carried a weapon. I was armed with a gun, while Ah-Heng carried a knife. Everyone in the bank was panic-stricken. Tension hung in the air. Ah-Heng lashed out threats at the customers as he brandished his knife, “Hand over all your valuables now! If you refuse, you’ll be sorry!” All the customers were shuddering in fear. They handed in all that they had. Ah-Heng had all the hostages put up their hands well above their heads and huddle in a corner.

I drew my gun and worked the tellers at the counter in a demanding manner, “Put all the money in the bags now! There are really bullets in this gun! Don’t make me shoot! Quickly, I want money in the bags NOW!” My eyes widened in awe when I saw the stacks of cold hard cash filling up the bags. Excitement bubbled inside me when I finally got the feel of the chimney of money.

My moment of jubilation was burst by the shrill sound of the alarm. One of the tellers had managed to press the emergency alarm! We had to run! Had to run fast! Ah-Heng and I grabbed as many bags as we could manage and made a dash for the back exits.

All was too late. Guns were pointing at us the minute we swung open the doors. We surrendered and gave ourselves up. Everything happened in a blurry, policemen rushing in on us and I felt the chill in my bones when my hands were taken into the handcuffs. The weight of repentance hung over my heart but it was too late. Ah-Heng and I were both charged and sentenced to jail for our crime.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	bellowed	shouted
2	stormed into the bank	rushed violently into the bank
3	impatient frowns creased their foreheads	to look edgy
4	glanced	a quick look
5	for the umpteenth time	numerous times
6	flustered	upset
7	accomplice	a person who aids you in wrongdoing
8	quivering in trepidation	trembling in nervousness
9	panic-stricken	terrified
10	tension hung in the air	feeling of anxiety filled the atmosphere
11	lashed out threats	attacked verbally
12	brandished his knife	waved knife menacingly
13	shuddering in fear	shivering due to being afraid
14	huddle in a corner	gather close together
15	worked the tellers	asserted pressure on the tellers
16	eyes widened in awe	eyes enlarged because of wonder
17	excitement bubbled inside me	felt increased sense of joy
18	chimney of money	stack of money
19	moment of jubilation	an instant of happiness
20	made a dash	ran quickly for
21	all was too late	hopeless situation
22	gave ourselves up	surrendered
23	everything happened in a blurry	things happened so quickly that everything was unclear
24	chill in my bones	a sudden numbing fear
25	weight of repentance	to feel a deep sense of sorrow and shame

 Stealing in a Shopping Mall

It was the ‘Great Singapore Sale’. Colourful banners screaming the words ‘GSS’ were dangled decoratively from the ceilings of the gargantuan shopping mall. Countless varieties of merchandise were on sale, prices were slashed ridiculously low to entice customers to splurge their money on shopping. The sale areas were all packed like sardines as people hustled and jostled one another. “It is mine! Go away!” One of the middle-aged women with sunken cheeks argued with the other housewives as she tried vehemently to seize her desired wallets from the wide array of leather goods displayed at the sales counter. Joie looked at their uncouth behaviour with repugnance as she sat on a bench nearby to take a breather from her own shopping.

All of a sudden, a scrawny teenager with tousled hair hidden beneath a cap, standing as quiet as a church mouse in a corner caught Joie’s attention. His small beady eyes darted slyly from side to side as he lowered his cap surreptitiously. The bunch of noisy ladies was oblivious to his sinister presence. With Sherlock Holmes detective’s instincts, Joie observed every movement he made as he inched closer to that middle-aged woman. As quick as lightning, he swiftly nicked a black wallet from her bag and put it into his pocket skilfully like a rightful owner of the loot. Joie’s heart pounded quickly and beads of perspiration dotted her forehead as she searched her brain frantically for a reaction and what she should do.

Within a fraction of a minute, Joie’s righteous instincts revved up in her, she knew what she had to do. Using her resourcefulness, Joie rounded up a burly security guard and related to him all that she had witnessed in the past minutes. The guard widened his eyes in alarm when he heard Joie’s report. Immediate action was taken. Soon two other security guards appeared to seal the exits. At this critical moment, the gaunt shoplifter headed for the nearest escalator instead of the exits! Serious action started. All three security guards dashed after the nimble thief in haste. Joie jostled her way to the escalator and the scene that greeted her would forever be etched in her mind.

The teenage thief took a vicious tumble down the flight of escalator. He lay in a pathetic heap at the end of his fall and grimaced in excruciating pain, blood oozing from his arms and legs. The security guards cordoned off the area where the injured thief was lying. Paramedics arrived in no time. They administered first aid and attended to the thief proficiently, while the police were also called in to take down Joie’s statement. The pickpocket indeed paid a high price for his misdeed!

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	dangled decoratively	hung for decoration purposes
2	gargantuan	very huge
3	countless varieties of merchandise	a lot of different products that are on sale
4	prices were slashed ridiculously low	great reduction in prices during a sale
5	entice	attract
6	splurge their money	spend money extravagantly
7	packed like sardines	very crowded
8	people hustled and jostled one another	in a crowded place people pushing at one another
9	tried vehemently to seize	to snatch something in a fierce manner
10	uncouth behaviour	rude behaviour
11	repugnance	disgust
12	take a breather	rest for a while
13	scrawny	skinny
14	as quiet as a church mouse	to be very quiet
15	small beady eyes darted slyly from side to side	very small eyes scanned the surroundings intently
16	surreptitiously	suspiciously
17	sinister presence	evil existence
18	with sherlock holmes detective’s instincts	in high alert of criminal activities
19	as quick as lightning	very quick actions
20	swiftly nicked	quickly stole
21	searched her brain frantically for a reaction	thought very quickly to react to a situation
22	righteous instincts revved up in her	sense of justice acting up
23	resourcefulness	quick-wits
24	widened his eyes in alarm	in shock
25	gaunt	very thin in appearance
26	nimble	agile
27	took a vicious tumble down the flight of escalator	rolled down an escalator
28	pathetic heap	fell down and landed in a sad position
29	excruciating pain	extreme pain
30	administered first aid	gave medical attention
31	proficiently	efficiently
32	paid a high price for his misdeed	suffered consequences for one’s mistake

Vandalism

The day was hot and humid. The scorching sun at noon beat through the windows casting its intense heat everywhere. It was recess time and I was parched and famished. I headed for the canteen to cool down and catch my breath.

Just as I was walking along the corridor of classrooms, my ears caught the sounds of subdued laughter. My curiosity was immediately aroused and I was drawn towards the source of the sounds. No one was supposed to be in the classroom during recess time. Then I caught sight of some movements. I was astonished and stood there in disbelief. “We are having the National Day Class Decoration Competition and they are doing this?” I thought to myself indignantly. Two boys with dishevelled hair and uniforms were vandalising the fully decorated wall by drawing pictures on it. I could not stand it any longer. I decided to confront them. “Hey! How can you do this? It is a crime to vandalise,” I reprimanded them harshly. “Furthermore, you are destroying all the students’ hard work and effort!”

“Back off! You puny little thing! Don’t forget! Little Puny, we are bigger than you!” the boys snapped in my face. I saw red. Steam was blowing out of my ears. I threatened to report them to the Discipline Master. They glowered at me menacingly. Their stares were like the devil, drilling fear into me. Nevertheless, I stomped straight for the Discipline Master’s office.

Before I could break into a run, they caught up with me and grabbed me by my collar. “How dare you! You little puny kid,” the boys snarled at me. With their fists clenched, they rammed punches into my stomach. Excruciating pain shot through my body. At that instant, a teacher appeared. He had heard the commotion and had come to investigate. I thanked my lucky stars and immediately reported to him what the boys had done. Beads of perspiration were now dripping down the two boys’ foreheads. They knew that they had been caught red-handed and were now dumbfounded.

The two boys were duly punished by the Principal. I was sent for medical treatment for the thrashing that they gave me. I was also commended for standing up to them. All the pain that I suffered dispersed when I got the pat on my shoulder by the Principal.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	casting its intense heat everywhere	spreading warmth all around
2	parched and famished	thirsty and hungry
3	catch my breath	rest till breathing become normal
4	subdued laughter	laughter that was held within limits
5	curiosity was immediately aroused	stirred up interest in something
6	drawn towards the source	attracted to the cause of it
7	caught sight of some movements	saw some actions
8	stood there in disbelief	remained on a spot due to refusal to believe
9	indignantly	angry due to something unjust or wrong
10	dishevelled hair	messy hair
11	confront	to come face to face especially with hostility
12	vandalise	destroy
13	reprimanded	scolded
14	puny	inferior because of size or strength
15	saw red	became extremely angry
16	steam was blowing out of my ears	to illustrate the extent of anger
17	glowered at me menacingly	stared angrily and threateningly
18	stomped	tread heavily
19	break into a run	to suddenly run
20	snarled	spoke angrily and threateningly
21	fists clenched	tightened the fist
22	rammed punches into my stomach	to strike against stomach with violent hitting
23	excruciating pain shot through my body	extreme pain went through my body
24	thanked my lucky stars	an exclamation of relief
25	caught red-handed	caught while doing the act of something
26	duly punished	punished accordingly
27	thrashing	a severe beating
28	commended	expressed praise
29	dispersed	scattered

Inconsiderate Behaviour

“Please stand clear from the closing doors,” the public announcement system chirped civilly at the rambunctious weekend crowd that was crammed in the train cabin. Families with whining children lined the limited seats on the train. Young couples plastered themselves to the exits’ walls. Aaron was rushing to his Saturday tuition so he had little choice but to squeeze a standing space for himself in the crowded train.

With every stop that the train made, the cabin was getting more and more packed. Aaron was literally squashed against the walls of the cabin. He was forced to perform a balancing act each time the train jerked to a stop as Aaron could not even have any hand space on the iron bar or above-head handle. Suddenly, a bunch of raucous teenagers stomped into the cabin. Their rowdy chatter rose above the din that was already in the train. Nudging their way for a space, the unruly boys took the liberty of plonking their butts down on the floor of the train. Faking ignorance towards the admonishing eyes of the other commuters, the boys continued to make themselves comfortable on the floor of the jam-packed train. Aaron stared in dismal unbelief.

Being extremely disruptive, the teenagers started picking up their volumes as they chatted away animatedly. They were occupying a circumference of standing space for a lot of people, yet none of them seemed to be conscious of their inconsideration. Feeling indignant, Aaron found his assertive voice, “Stand up and make space!” The boys looked up at Aaron’s puny frame looming over their heads and burst out in condescending laughter.

Casting Aaron a threatening glower, the teenagers flashed their indifference and continued to indulge in their lively conversation, not even budging an inch of their butts from the floor of the train. Aaron’s face flushed red in anger. Steam was gushing out of his ears. It was then another loud voice boomed, “Stand up and make space!” Aaron spun his head around and saw his cousin, Jake. Being total opposites of Aaron, Jake was a bodybuilder for the Singapore National Team. His bulky frame of toned-bronze muscles would easily strike fear in even grown men. Realising that they were being confronted by a giant, the boys scrambled to their feet in jitters. “This is a public transport, not your own private cars. So wise up young kids and be considerate!” Jake’s deep voice cracked through the momentarily silent cabin. All eyes were fixated on them. The teenagers hung their heads in humiliation and being evidently embarrassed, they muttered their apologies before rushing out of the train like there was no tomorrow.

The cabin resumed its boisterous nature. Jake patted Aaron on his back commending him for the courage he had to speak up and try to reprimand those teenagers for their inconsiderate behaviour. The two cousins got into their own animated tête-à-tête till Aaron arrived at his stop. He was late for tuition again and he knew it was time to pick up the habit of punctuality as that was also a considerate act.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	chirped civilly	announced politely
2	rambunctious	lively
3	had little choice	being forced to do something
4	raucous	unpleasantly loud
5	stomped into	made attention-grabbing entrance
6	rowdy chatter rose above the din	talked rudely in a very noisy environment
7	unruly	rude
8	took the liberty	did things without permission
9	plonking their butts down on the floor	sitting down heavily or suddenly
10	faking ignorance	pretending to be unaware
11	admonishing	scolding or advise against
12	make themselves comfortable	to feel at ease
13	jam-packed	crowded
14	stared in dismal unbelief	looked at something angrily
15	extremely disruptive	very interrupting
16	indignant	angry at unfairness
17	assertive	firm on one’s view
18	puny frame	small-sized
19	burst out in condescending laughter	laughed to show mockery
20	flashed their indifference	showed disregard
21	indulge in their lively conversation	enjoy chatting away
22	face flushed red in anger	felt angry
23	bulky frame of toned-bronze muscles	big built and muscular
24	strike fear	make someone feel frightened
25	scrambled to their feet in jitters	stood up in fear
26	all eyes were fixated	stared intensely
27	hung their heads in humiliation	dropped their heads in shame
28	muttered their apologies	said sorry very softly
29	boisterous nature	lively atmosphere
30	commending him for the courage	praising him for being brave
31	reprimand	lecture
32	tête-à-tête	chit chatting
33	habit of punctuality	being on time

Shoplifting Gone Awry

“Good morning, Mrs Tan! Buying groceries?” the shopkeeper’s chirpy voice greeted the old lady beside me. This was it! My golden opportunity to quench the thirst in my dehydrated throat. My pockets were empty. The thirst for water was killing me with every passing minute. The can of coke stood like a shiny trophy, beckoning me to reach for it.

I mustered up all my courage and ran into the shop as fast as my legs could carry me. In that frantic moment, I grabbed hold of the can of coke like a vice and took to my heels. My heart was pounding wildly as I was afraid that I would be caught red-handed.

“Boy! Stop where you are, thief!” the shopkeeper hollered, sending shivers down my spine. After saying that, he stormed towards me in hot pursuit. He had daggers in his eyes. I headed to the hazardous road and saw a car whizzing past the shop. Dexterously I dodged the blow of the oncoming car and made it to the barrier in the middle of the road. When I turned back, I saw the clumsy shopkeeper standing on the road bracing the killing impact of the car. He was waving frantically and shouting incoherently. The car tried to screech to a halt but to no avail.

Instantly, the car knocked down the shopkeeper. Everyone stood rooted to the ground in bewilderment. I was flabbergasted to see the shopkeeper writhing in excruciating pain. I knew that I was going to be in hot soup.

Some passers-by alerted the police and ambulance while I stood at the scene paralyzed with guilt. My heart was filled with remorse. The police and ambulance arrived promptly. They sent the casualty to the hospital for emergency treatment. The police besieged around me.

The cool metal cuffs held my hands as I surrendered to the policemen. I deserved to be caught for my act. I was wrong to run away from my actions. A mixture of remorse and relief swept through my mind as I learnt my lesson. Poverty is not a crime but stealing is.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	chirpy voice	cheery voice
2	quench the thirst	to put out the need for water
3	dehydrated throat	throat that is dry and parched
4	every passing minute	as time goes by
5	beckoning me to reach for it	inviting me to get hold of it
6	mustered up all my courage	gathered all my guts
7	in that frantic moment	at that desperate instant
8	vice	moral weakness
9	took to my heels	ran away
10	heart was pounding wildly	heart beat very violently
11	hollered	shouted
12	sending shivers down my spine	feeling very frightened
13	in hot pursuit	chase closely after
14	had daggers in his eyes	glared angrily at
15	hazardous road	dangerous road
16	whizzing past	moving past very quickly
17	dexterously	skilfully
18	dodged	avoided
19	bracing the killing impact of the car	to prepare oneself before impact of the car hitting
20	incoherently	unable to express oneself in a clear manner
21	screech	a high-pitch sound
22	to a halt	come to s stop
23	in bewilderment	confused and puzzled
24	flabbergasted	speechless
25	writhing in excruciating pain	twisting and suffering in extreme agony
26	in hot soup	in trouble
27	paralyzed with guilt	unable to move due to shame
28	my heart was filled with remorse	to feel shameful and regret
29	casualty	injured person
30	besieged	surrounded so as to force to surrender

A Good Deed

Tim’s stomach was churning again. Clutching his abdomen tightly, Tim weaved his way through the crowded shopping mall frantically trying to locate the nearest toilet. The shopping mall was like packed snow with shoppers milling around. The whole shopping mall was like a jamboree for children and adults. Jovial chatters filled the air, while some families had babies bawling at the top of their voices. The synergy of the boisterous crowd and the merriment all around was making Tim feel horrible. He felt like he was stuck in a maze. With each passing second, Tim’s stomach churned more violently increasing his urgency for the loo.

Tim broke into a run the minute he saw the toilet sign. Running as fast as his legs could carry him, Tim dashed into the fist vacant cubicle. Almost literally ripping his pants off him, Tim finally found relief. When he got his act together, he rushed out of the miniscule space all ready to hit the arcade. As he was washing his hands, suddenly “ring… ring… ring…” a familiar sound reverberated through the empty toilet. Tim craned his neck high and low to locate the source of the sound. Then he found it! A brand new mobile phone, vibrating and ringing away in one of the cubicles. It was the phone that Tim was saving up for.

Staring at his fortunate find, Tim contemplated seriously. Knitting his brows together earnestly, Tim weighed out his conscience and his desire to nick the phone for himself. Just then, the little gadget came alive with its lively ringtones again.

After some major dithering, Tim decided to do the right thing. “Hello, hello may I know who is on the line?” a fretful voice spoke. Tim explained politely that he had found the phone and was now in the toilet. The other party heaved a sigh of relief and thanked Tim copiously for responding. Tim offered to meet the mobile phone’s owner at the information counter of the shopping mall.  

A dashing gentleman appeared and walked towards Tim in steady strides to claim his phone. Tim handed over the phone with only a slight tinge of disinclination in him. The gentleman was so relieved to have his mobile phone back that he gave Tim a reward of $100, thanking Tim for being a boy of integrity. Tim beamed a proud grin and his stomach seemed to have miraculously recovered too. Now he was really all ready to hit the arcade for his favourite games.  

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	stomach was churning	feeling queasy in the stomach
2	clutching his abdomen tightly	holding the stomach area tightly
3	weaved his way through the crowded shopping mall	walked in a threading manner in and out of a crowd
4	like packed snow with shoppers milling around	crowded with people shopping around
5	jamboree	event filled with activities and entertainment
6	jovial chatters filled the air	cheerful sounds of people talking
7	bawling at the top of their voices	crying and screaming loudly
8	synergy of the boisterous crowd and the merriment all around	the mixture of a lively crowd and people having fun
9	stomach churned … violently	a very bad stomach-ache
10	urgency for the loo	the immediate need to use a toilet
11	running as fast as his legs could carry him	running very fast
12	got his act together	regained composure
13	miniscule space	a very tiny area of space
14	hit the arcade	to go to a place filled with electronic games
15	sound reverberated	sound echoed
16	craned his neck high and low	stretched one’s neck when looking for something
17	contemplated seriously	thought over a decision seriously
18	knitting his brows together earnestly	frowning in deep thoughts
19	weighed out his conscience and his desire	measured his sense of right and wrong against his needs
20	little gadget came alive	small electronic device activated; a ringing mobile phone
21	after some major dithering	having hesitation
22	fretful	anxious
23	thanked Tim copiously	thanked Tim profusely
24	a dashing gentleman	a very handsome man
25	walked towards Tim in steady strides	walked confidently in the direction of Tim
26	a slight tinge of disinclination	a sense of reluctance
27	being a boy of integrity	an honest boy
28	beamed a proud grin	smiled proudly

Using Wits to deal with Aunt Abigail

The stream of sun rays filtered through the curtains showering my bedroom in its brilliance. I stretched my arms and lazed in bed. It was the first day of school holidays, the first day of a whole week of fun and freedom. I could sleep late every day and laze all I want. There were no more tests or examinations to worry about. I smiled like a Cheshire cat lapping a bowl of milk.  

Whistling my favourite tune, I made my way downstairs for breakfast. My happiness was short-lived when I saw a familiar face sitting at the breakfast table with my mother. It was my mother’s sister, Aunt Abigail. Horror struck me! Aunt Abigail was a nightmare to be with. She was a bespectacled thin wiry woman. Her hair was constantly pulled into a tight little bun at the back of her nape. However what I disliked most was her high-pitched nasal voice.

“There you are, Jeanie. Aunt Abigail is here to visit us,” my mother’s voice rang out with a tinge of warning. “She’s going to be staying with us for a week. You’ll be sharing your room with her so make sure she’s comfortable.” No! My head spun and I felt cornered. I opened my mouth to protest but the look my mother shot me was sufficient in cutting me off. With that, the two of them continued drinking their tea and I knew I had been dismissed. I padded out of the house not believing that this was happening to me. My holidays were ruined. Just then I had a brainwave. My face lit up in delight as my impish mind formulated a plan.

I avoided Aunt Abigail for the entire day till bedtime. When she sashayed into my room, I was ready for her. “Oh my, why is your room so warm? What happened to the air-conditioner?” Aunt Abigail grumbled in her perpetual complaining tone. In a saccharine voice, I sweetly explained to her that the air-conditioner had broken down and gestured to the leaking pipes. Then I suggested a shower to cool her off. Grumbling under her breath, Aunt Abigail shuffled into the bathroom. “Argh! Why is the water cold? Where’s the hot water?” her shrill shrieks rang out from within the bathroom. I apologised fervently to Aunt Abigail and explained that the heater was down too. Being such a stifling night, I thought she would have enjoyed the refreshing cold water.

Aunt Abigail was oblivious to my explanation. She stormed out of my room, towing her bags in her wake. My plan had worked! I danced a little victory dance in my room and patted myself on my shoulders. Hopefully, Aunt Abigail would not return for a long, long time.

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	sun rays filtered through the curtains	sunlight passed through the curtains
2	lazed in bed	to be lazy and stay in bed
3	smiled like a Cheshire cat lapping a bowl of milk	a fictional cat with a broad smile on its face; to show satisfaction
4	happiness was short-lived	joy that did not last
5	a nightmare to be with	difficult to get along with
6	bespectacled thin wiry woman	a thin and lean woman wearing glasses
7	high-pitched nasal voice	sharp voice that is produced through the nose
8	a tinge of warning	a hint of caution
9	felt cornered	felt trapped
10	cutting me off	breaking the line of communication
11	dismissed	ceased to be of consideration
12	padded	walked
13	had a brainwave	had an idea
14	face lit up in delight	face brightened in happiness
15	impish mind	to think mischievously
16	formulated a plan	came up with a plan
17	sashayed	walked in a showy manner
18	perpetual	lasting for a long time
19	saccharine voice	excessively sweet voice
20	shuffled	walked with feet sliding against the floor
21	apologised fervently	said sorry with great emotion and zest
22	stifling night	very hot and stuffy night
23	oblivious	unaware
24	stormed out	walked out in an angry manner
25	towing her bags in her wake	pulling her bags behind her

The Dog Edward Saved

The evening sky was overcast in a mixture of purple and red clouds. Thunder rumbled softly in a distance, signalling imminent rain. Despite that Edward was still in high spirits as it was Friday. Edward was looking forward to spending his weekend with his new PSP games. He hastened his steps as a gentle drizzle started to fall from the sky.

As the rain got heavier, Edward opted for the shortcut home. He decided to cut through the quiet back alley of the old shophouses. Not wanting to be soaked to the skin, Edward broke into a run. Suddenly, a distinctively ferocious bark resounded in the dark alley. “Woof! Grrrr! Woof! Woof!” Edward froze on the spot. Fear pulsated in him. His heart palpitated against his ribs. The growl escalated to an ominous snarl. Edward’s palms turned clammy as his legs started trembling uncontrollably. Merciless rain started pouring down in torrents. Edward was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. It was either he ventured forward valiantly to run all the way home or he could back out of the alley. A deafening thunder jolted Edward out of his momentous stupor and he raced forward, sprinting like an Olympic athlete.

When he was confronted with the source of the threatening snarl, Edward was shocked. It was a small Jack Russell. The poor animal was stuck. Blood stained its furry hind legs that were caught in between the openings of a rusty drain cover. On seeing Edward, it flashed its most intimidating defence for itself, its teeth. Thinking on his toes, Edward shrugged off his school bag in a bid to win the dog’s trust. Then he bent down very slowly, inching his arms forward in a comforting manner and crooning softly. He gently stroked the dog’s body giving it assurance. The Jack Russell’s malicious snarl softened to a whine. Edward knew he had finally won its trust. He set about to try to free the poor dog’s hind legs. Rain pelted down heavily on both man and animal, both were thoroughly drenched. After a tedious struggle, Edward succeeded in freeing the trapped animal. He took out his P.E. t-shirt and wrapped the injured dog gingerly.

When he reached home, his mother was all set to give him an earful. However, the sight of the poor animal saved Edward from a stern reproach. They called the SPCA and the dog was collected from Edward’s house to be treated. Edward would forever remember that particular rainy Friday.  

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	evening sky was overcast in a mixture of purple and red clouds	cloudy evening sky
2	thunder rumbled softly	low sound of thunder
3	imminent rain	rain is about to come
4	hastened his steps	increased speed of walking
5	gentle drizzle	light rain
6	opted for	chose to
7	soaked to the skin	totally wet due to being caught in the rain
8	distinctively ferocious	obviously behaving in a fierce manner
9	froze on the spot	remained motionless due to shock
10	fear pulsated in him	felt very frightened
11	heart palpitated against his ribs	heart beat very fast due to fear
12	growl escalated to an ominous snarl	a bark that became louder and fiercer
13	palms turned clammy	sweaty hands due to being frightened
14	merciless rain started pouring down in torrents	rain falling heavily
15	caught between the devil and the deep blue sea	caught in between two difficult situations
16	ventured forward valiantly	moved forward bravely
17	momentous stupor	in a serious trance
18	sprinting like an Olympic athlete	running as fast as a professional runner in a competition
19	confronted	came face to face
20	most intimidating defence	putting up the most powerful protection
21	thinking on his toes	quick-thinking
22	shrugged off	removed an object from one’s shoulder
23	giving it assurance	providing security
24	malicious	nasty
25	rain pelted down heavily	rained heavily
26	tedious struggle	a great effort to accomplish a tough mission
27	all set to give him an earful	all prepared to scold someone
28	a stern reproach	a strict lecture

A Heroic Act

“Come and buy things from here! $2 for a shirt! Come here, come here! Cheapest bargain in the world!” the hawker was shouting at the top of his voice, trying to attract the passers-by to buy his items.

My elder brother and I were visiting the night market. It was his day off from his hectic job as a policeman. We meandered through the crowd hunting for mouth-watering food and great bargains. My elder brother was munching on the delicious Chinese sausage while I was happily eating my favourite food, Chinese herbal eggs. While savouring our food, we spied a middle-aged woman bargaining with the hawker over a second-hand radio. I shook my head in amazement. I could never understand why Singaporeans are so ‘kiasu’. They always want to spend less money and save more.

As we made our way further into the boisterous crowd, the noise reached a deafening level just like that in a wet market with the meat and vegetable sellers shouting, trying to sell their products. Suddenly, my brother dumped his half-eaten sausage into my hands and ran off like the wind. I was flabbergasted. Then I realised that he was running towards a young teenager. The young teenager had small beady eyes which were darting from side to side. He was stealthily stretching his hand into a woman’s bag to get the purse in it!

“Police! Stop there!” my elder brother exclaimed. When the young teenager saw my brother running towards him, he wasted no time in escaping. He hunched his narrow sloping shoulders and weaved through the crowd. My brother was undeterred and was hot on his heels. Other policemen patrolling around the market heard the commotion and joined in the chase. I always wanted to be a policeman. Seeing this golden opportunity to catch some real-life action, I followed them without hesitation.

My brother and the policemen chased the young teenager down a narrow lane and cornered him at a dead end. I could see the teenager trembling as the police got closer. Beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead when he realised he was done for. In desperation, the teenage boy grabbed a pole lying on the ground and started swinging and hitting wildly. Everyone tried to jump out of harm’s way. My brother and another policeman managed to pounce on the teenage boy. In the midst of the scuffle, I saw the policeman drop his pistol! The teenage boy dived for the pistol and pointed it at the nearest man. It was my brother!

“No!” I screamed in anguish. “Click, click, click...” the trigger sounded ominously as the teenager struggled with it haplessly. The other policeman swiftly rounded on the teenager and pinned him to the ground. Fortunately, the safety clasp of the pistol was engaged so no harm was done to my brother. It was certainly a close shave. I was immensely relieved and thoroughly inspired to be a great policeman myself in the future.    

=========================================================================================

What the words and phrases mean…

1	shouting at the top of his voice	shouting as loud as he could
2	hectic job	a very busy job
3	meandered through the crowd	strolled through the crowd
4	mouth-watering food	very delicious food
5	savouring our food	slowly enjoying the taste of the food
6	spied	caught sight of
7	boisterous crowd	noisy crowd
8	noise reached a deafening level	became extremely noisy
9	flabbergasted	at a loss for words
10	small beady eyes	small, round and shiny eyes
11	(eyes) darting from side to side	looking around swiftly
12	stealthily	secretly
13	wasted no time in escaping	did not hesitate to run away
14	hunched his narrow sloping shoulders	thin shoulders which were bent
15	weaved through the crowd	moved forward in a zigzag manner
16	undeterred	not put off
17	hot on his heels	to be close behind
18	seeing this golden opportunity	realising that the time is suitable
19	cornered him at a dead end	to be closed into a place with no other way out
20	beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead	a nervous reaction
21	done for	doomed for death or destruction
22	in desperation	in a state when all hope is lost
23	jump out of harm’s way	to stay away from danger
24	in the midst of the scuffle	in the middle of a fight
25	dived for the pistol	pounced on the gun
26	screamed in anguish	shouted in agony
27	ominously	menacingly
28	haplessly	lucklessly
29	rounded on	turned on and attacked
30	engaged	interlocked and meshed
31	close shave	a narrow escape
32	immensely relieved	extremely glad
33	thoroughly inspired	totally motivated

http://www.englishdaily626.com/english_compositions.php?080

        The Rescue

          It was a fine day, with magnolia-white clouds floating lazily across the cerulean blue sky. I hummed happily. I was on my way to my best friend, Evangeline’s house for a day and night of fun and relaxation! Her house floated into my mind. It was a semi-detached house, complete with a swimming pool and garden! I was very excited as it was only my second visit to her gorgeous house.

I stopped at the entrance of a stretch of deserted road. It was a shortcut to Evangeline’s house. Should I use the shortcut? “Yes!” I said firmly to myself. That way, I would reach her house and the fun we were going to have that day, a lot quicker. I trotted forward and stopped, almost immediately in my tracks. Right in the middle of the dark and dingy road was….. a car? Yup, it was a car, but it was so different from the ones I had seen on the main road. They were all sleek and shiny but this one….. well, it was covered with tiny spiders beginning to make their nasty cobwebs.

“Woof!” a bark broke the silence of the morning. I leapt in surprise, Evangeline and I thought that no one else knew about this shortcut. Obviously, someone knew…. a dog, an adorable cocker spaniel! “Woof!” she barked and pawed at the car. My ears caught the sound of someone tapping. I cautiously took a step closer to the car. The sound seemed to be coming form the boot. I walked to the boot of the car and found a stick wedged between the boot and cover. I heaved and the boot cover flew open.

“Yikes!” I gave a little shriek of surprise. In the boot, lay a man tied up securely with ropes and a piece of cloth was stuffed into his mouth! I was at a loss as to what to do next. “Mmm…Mmm…..!” the man tried to say something. I galvanized into action. I picked out the wet-with-saliva cloth gingerly and threw it away. I pulled my handy pen-knife out of my pocket and sawed furiously away at the fraying ropes. The ropes fell apart within seconds and I pulled the man out of the boot. “What next?” I asked the man, who was massaging his sore ankles and wrists. “To the police station in the immediate vicinity!” he yelled as he took off suddenly. I followed suit and the cute cocker-spaniel raced just behind me.

We skidded to a stop in front of the station. Then, I took a closer look at the man’s face. “Hey! Aren’t you… the man who won a million bucks in ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’?” “Yup, I’m James Monroe,” he said grimly as we entered the police station. The policeman at the front desk did a double take when he saw the millionaire and hurriedly asked us to sit down. James Monroe then started his story. It turned out that he had been kidnapped on the way to work. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of thirty thousand dollars from his family and they agreed. The kidnappers took the ransom, ran off and left the victim bound and gagged in his own car. He was left there the night before!

“We’ll find the culprits for you,” the policeman assured James. I then told them that I would be on my way to my friend’s house. When I reached Evangeline’s house, she was angry because I was late but her anger subsided when I told her my story. She said “Cool!” when I finished. I spent the rest of the day peacefully, recalling the incident.

The next day, a surprise awaited me. James was downstairs in Evangeline’s living room with his family! I greeted all of them and asked James why he had come. He said that he wanted to give me a reward for rescuing him. But I refused his offer of fifty dollars. He caught me looking at Sylvia, his cocker spaniel puppy. Then guess what? He gave me Sylvia! He said that he had Sylvia’s brother and sisters at home to accompany him and would be glad to give me Sylvia.

That was the best gift ever, even though my mum said that I had to clean up Sylvia’s poo…..

A Race Against Time

Xing was putting every ounce of energy he had into running that race. He knew that his father, lying in hospital, diagnosed with cancer, would be watching him.
His father had been a champion runner and had won several awards before having found out about his deadly illness. Xing wanted to make his father proud and happy and to do that he needed to win the race.
Now, as he ran, flanked by seven other lithe bodies, he put every spare bit of energy into his running. He surged forward and passed Third quite easily. Now there was only Second and First in front of him. He managed to pass Second, and started to gain on First, who reacted to Xing’s challenge and spirited with desperate determination, kept his lead, even pulled ahead slightly.
Xing, muscles crying out for oxygen, stopped breathing altogether and used every last bit of his strength to pass First in one sustained burst. Heart bursting in agony, he saw in his mind’s eye, his pale father, bald as an egg from chemotherapy, urging him on. His strength renewed, Xing went on running to the finishing line. At the end, he found himself being presented with a trophy –-- he had won!
Drenched in perspiration, Xing rushed to the hospital to find his father dead and his sister sitting by his bed looking stunned and devastated. She was not crying, though. Her grief seemed to be beyond tears. For the longest time, they stared at each other.
“He was watching you,” said Xing’s sister at length. “He insisted on it. He was urging you on, cheering like a maniac. He struggled to stay awake. When you passed Second, the strain overcame him and he dropped off.
Then he came back to life! He watched you gain on First, and when your glorious moment came, his eyes shone with a strange fire. And then … he closed his eyes and never opened them again.”
Xing’s one consolation was that his father had seen him win, and had probably died peacefully and happily.
(by Natasha Ann Sahetapy)

Gorilla
1. shying away from ‘the Gorilla Gang’
2. muscular boy
3. this ritual – swaggering around picking on the newcomers to impress on them who was boss
4. secret agenda to recruit a boy good enough to represent them within the new cohort
5. profound disappointment
6. no more daring to demur
7. a bespectacled tiny boy
8. keep our distance
9. “You’re ‘kacang putih’ (chickpeas), tiny and easy to gobble down, right?” Gorilla put to us, eyeing us from top to toe, challenging us to react.
10. he had reached sanctuary, namely the sacred vicinity of the teacher’s room
11. stood by helplessly
12. his eyes widening
13. Gorilla’s stance changed
14. turned him down flat
15. Gorilla looked surprised, then angry
16. not used to being turned down
17. Gorilla’s gang looked at their leader in sadistic expectation
18. said a silent prayer for Timmy
19. adding in a mumble something which sounded suspiciously like ‘Sir’
20. I almost fell on my knees in worship of my hero
21. Timmy blinked innocently behind his thick lenses
22. Timmy made it a point of waving to the gang who gaped at him – and then respectfully bowed.
1. day blossomed like a bright and lovely flower
2. warm rays of the sun filtered through the canopy of leaves
3. embracing the glistening dewdrops
4. bidding them farewell
5. screeched to a halt
6. leaped out of the vehicle with great ability
7. Before a befuddled Lucas could utter a word
8. put up a tough struggle
9. pair of burly arms that encased him
10. fear gripped the pits of his stomach
11. journey was treacherously long and bumpy
12. rough handling
13. turning blue in his face
14. ashen-faced
15. slowly regained his orientation
16. an idea dawned upon him
17. a dilapidated room
18. malodorous stench of garbage permeated the air
19. shuddered at the thought
20. creepy crawlers swarming
21. threatened malevolently
22. chuckling in glee at their imminent windfall
23. fatigue finally overwhelmed
24. jolted awake
25. tumultuous commotion
26. uncanny silence
27. ran fanatically
28. justice had finally been served


1 bustling activities
2 around the corner
3 a huge grin split across my face
4 at my disposal
5 broke my concentration
6 muttered in frustration
7 on the verge
8 torturous
9 devious
10 concorted
11 dressed to the nines
12 charming
13 pleasant and melodious
14 ingrained
15 flew out of my mind
16 boomed
17 ghastly pale
18 in a flash
19 stuttered and stammered
20 penetrating gaze
21 a shrug of his shoulders
22 took to his heels
23 apparently
24 con man
25 tactic
26 unsuspecting
27 a dressing down

1. mumbled irately
2. rummaging
3. exclaimed frenetically
4. literally ripping
5. an arduous search
6. priceless
7. coupled
8. alluring
9. critical perusal
10. arrays of mirrors
11. sauntered
12. edgy
13. muttering like a broken radio
14. threatened with baleful intent
15. mouths agape in shock
16. livid
17. berating
18. deck yourself like a Christmas tree
19. to catch the fancy of people
20. fell to the ground in a dead faint
21. register all that had just transpired
22. a dam of emotions
23. ear-splitting shriek
24. pierced through the silence of the night
25. screamed devastatingly
26. losing track of everything
27. flustered
28. cradling
29. crooned
30. staunch the flow of blood pooling ceaselessly
31. pleas echoed into the still night air
32. loud shrill that rang high into the night


1． A steady stream of customers
2． Crowd started to dwindle
3． Sinister expressions
4． Mean and menacing
5． Beads of perspiration streamed down his face
6． Stood rooted to the ground, his legs felt like jelly
7． Regained his composure
8． Bellowed
9． Demanded in a gruff voice
10． Stormed into the bank
11． Glanced
12． For the umpteenth time
13． Flustered
14． Accomplice
15． Scared speechless
16． Taken by surprise
17． Quivering in trepidation
18． Panic-stricken
19． Tension hung in the air
20． Lashed out threats
21． Brandished his knife
22． Whipped out a knife
23． With trembling hands
24． Discreetly pressed the silent alarm
25． Activate a distress signal
26． Shuddering in fear
27． Huddle in a corner
28． Worked the tellers
29． Eyes widened in awe
30． Excitement bubbled inside me
31． Chimney of money
32． Wads of money notes/cash
33． Stammered in a tone as soft and meek as a mouse
34． Grabbed the loot
35． Moment of jubilation
36． Made a dash
37． All was too late
38． Armed officers were hiding at strategic positions outside the bank, waiting to ambush the escaping robbers
39． Gave ourselves up
40． Everything happened in a blurry
41． Chill in my bones
42． Weight of repentance
43． “Low crime does not mean no crime”


My Stay at Sentosa

During the June holidays, I stayed at Sentosa for two days. We parked our car at the World Trade Centre and took a cable car to Sentosa. Our cable car was green in colour. The ride was shaky and we saw a cruise ship with a swimming pool. We checked into the Rasa Sentosa hotel and put our things in the room. I locked my teddy bear in the safe because it was special to me. The first place we visited was the dolphin lagoon. My sister took photos of the dolphins. The dolphin show was interesting and the dolphins could jump through the hula hoops. Next, we went to Underwater World. We saw torpedo rays, sharks and electric eels. We had dinner and watched the musical fountain. The next morning, we swam in the pool. I liked the slide very much. We played with sand on the beach and walked across the bridge back to Singapore. I was very happy. I hope I can stay at Sentosa again.

A Dog At Last!

Momee! Please! I’m begging you for the one-thousand-seven-hundred-and-fiftieth time. Pleeeease let me have a dog! Please!” I asked as my mother and I walked past the pet shop. “And for the one-thousand-seven-hundred and fiftieth time, NO, no!” My mother answered back. “Alright”, I said, my face downcast.

When I reached home, I ran to my room, locked the door and flopped down on my bed. Then, I picked up my favourite toy, my toy dog, and talked to it. It was something I did whenever I was sad or angry. “Why can’t mom let me keep one; just one miserable cute dog?” I said as I recalled how my dog died four years ago. Well, although I missed it, I could not just buy another one to replace it.

“Mom! I’m going out to take a walk.” I said as I slammed the door. “Remember to take your jacket. It’s chilly outside!” Mother shouted over her shoulder. “Alright Mom! I’ve got it on!” I shouted back.

“Why can’t mom just let me keep a dog?” I mumbled softly to myself. Then all of a sudden, as if I imagined it, I heard a weak dog’s bark. I scanned the place to see if there were any dogs around. Then, I spotted a brown paper bag moving.

“Well, you can’t be too sure!” My instincts made me run to it and look inside. Guess what I saw? A sickly looking Golden Retriever pup! The paper bag was damp from the shower we had the day before.

The vet was just around the corner so I cradled it in my arms and I brought it to the vet. In the vet’s room, she checked the pup and gave it an injection. She also told me to keep it warm. Well, it’s been a year now and Sandy, the puppy I found, is running around the garden chasing butterflies. I don’t know what would have happened to her if I had not brought her to the vet that day.

An Accident

“Oh no, I’m going to be late for the wedding dinner!” Thought Judy. She was in her early twenties, of average height, had fair skin and long black hair. Judy quickly rushed out of the shower, blew her hair hastily and after changing into a long, silver sparkling evening gown and putting on a diamond studded necklace, she sped out of the house and went downstairs to wait for a taxi. Luckily, she managed to flag a taxi just a couple of minutes later and was on her way to Shangri-La hotel for her best friend Jane’s wedding dinner.

In the taxi, Judy was putting on some last minute makeup when suddenly dark clouds loomed over the skies and rain looked imminent. Then a light drizzle started and soon raindrops as big as pebbles pelted down on the windscreen and the road. An occasional flash of lightning across the sky would light the sky up like a florescent lamp lighting up a room followed by the deafening roars of thunder. The taxi driver, a dashing young man in his mid-twenties, then slowed down the taxi and turned on the headlights for safety reasons. Suddenly, there was a deafening “BOOM” and the roof of the taxi caved inwards. Thrown to the floor of the taxi by the impact, Judy suffered  some minor scratches against her elbows and knees but the taxi driver had been thrown forward causing his head to slam into the windscreen. His head was bleeding profusely and when Judy, who was afraid of blood, saw the fresh red blood, she let out a high-pitched, ear-piercing scream and then fainted.

Meanwhile, a few pedestrians who saw the tree falling on the taxi were rooted to the ground in shock.

A few minutes later, the police, firemen and paramedics arrived in police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. By that time, a crowd had gathered around the accident area and motorists who slowed down to take a look caused a traffic jam. Two of the firemen borrowed a crane from a nearby construction site to carry up the tree while another two sawed away at the roots to make the tree easier to lift.

Meanwhile, the other firemen used crowbars to pry open the taxi doors for the paramedics to carry Judy and the taxi driver out. The paramedics the carried them on a stretcher into the ambulance and rushed them to the hospital and immediately sent the taxi driver into the accident and emergency ward. At the same time, the policemen cordoned off the area and held back the curious crowd. In an hour, everything was back to normal – the traffic flowed smoothly and the crowd dispersed.

A couple of weeks later, Judy sent a basket of fruits and a get-well card to the taxi driver who almost recovered. They soon got to know each other better and later became good friends.

At the Cinema

Last Sunday, my family and I visited the Lido Cinema on Orchard Road. We drove there in my father’s huge pick-up truck.

I had never been to town at all before. First, he parked the pick-up at the car park. After that, we went to buy our tickets. I was very excited. It was very dark when we got inside, so an usher showed us to our seats. The show had begun and it showed a panda escaping from the fierce lion. When it came to the exciting part, I clung on to my mother.

I almost choked on my crackers when the lion pounced on the panda. Soon, the show was over. It was a little brighter then.

So, we walked out of the cinema, got into the pick-up and drove home.

The Enchanted Flowers

It was a humid Sunday afternoon. The air was still. The sun was shining brightly up in the clear blue sky. Birds were chirping melodiously in the branches outside my window. However I was feeling very gloomy and bored at home. Longing for some activities, I went to the woods nearby to pick some wild berries.

I was walking alone in the quiet woods, shuffling my feet on the dried leaves. After a while, I caught sight of some unusual but beautiful flowers. There were hundreds of them. Their petals were of rainbow colours, their stems were orange and their leaves were sparkling white. The stigmas were little heads of fairies. They fluttered their petals and flew around the flowerbed, sprinkling sweet smelling pollen grains. Some were walking about, chatting in a peculiar language that I did not understand. Others were dancing and singing merrily. I could not believe my eyes. It was indeed an amazing sight.

Suddenly, I felt a pinch on my shoulder. OUCH! A fat, juicy bee had stung me and everything vanished before my eyes.

A Kind Boy and The Bird

One Monday afternoon, George was walking home from school when he heard a faint chirping sound. He looked around but he could not see where it had come from. So, he decided to find the source of the sound. This led him to a tree. He bent down and found a small bird that was injured. He took pity on it and brought it home.

When he got home, he cleaned the wound and bandaged it up. He then put it into a birdcage, which was in the storeroom.

After some weeks of care, the bird completely recovered. George was happy to see this but he knew that birds treasure their freedom too much to enjoy being caged in. So he went up to the birdcage and opened the door. The bird hopped towards the opening, stood there for a while, then it flew away. George watched it with certain sadness but he knew that he had done a good deed. He carried on doing kind deeds to both animals and people but he never forgot the little bird.

At the Beach

I like going to the beach. I had a wonderful time last week. There were miles of golden sand. I waded in the cool water along the shore. My friend and I collected a bag of shells. Many of the shells had different shapes.

When I put a shell to my ear, I could hear the sound of the sea. The sea looked blue and cool. My friend and I built a sandcastle and decorated it with shells. I dug the sand with my spade. We saw some fishermen spreading their nets on the sand to dry. We also saw them going to the sea to catch fish.

I watched the white-topped waves rush up the beach. They left behind seaweed and more shells. The seagulls circled above in the blue sky. The coconut trees swayed in the gentle breeze. It was delightful.

As I walked, I left my footprints behind on the sand. I drank cool coconut water to quench my thirst. When it was hot, I rested under the shade of a bench umbrella. Soon it was time to go home. I made up my mind to come back another day.

A Good and Helpful Boy

Tommy and Mrs Soh lived near each other. One day, they met each other at the bus stop. They took the same bus to school. When the bus stopped at the next bus-stop, an old lady who was carrying a basket of groceries boarded the bus. When Tommy saw the old lady, he offered his seat to her while he held on to the handle bar.

After thirty minutes, the bus stopped near the old lady’s house. The old lady wanted to alight from the bus. Tommy walked over to her and helped her to carry the basket of groceries while she got down from the bus. After that, Tommy went back to his seat. Mrs Soh saw what happened and she kept quiet. She looked out of the windows and deep in her heart, she felt very proud of Tommy. When Mrs Soh arrived at the school, she told her pupils what she had witnessed on the bus. Before she could finish her sentence, Tommy’s classmates clapped loudly.

Mrs Soh asked Tommy to stand in front of the class and she gave him a present as a reward. Mrs Soh praised Tommy for his kind act and she encouraged her pupils to learn from Tommy. Tommy thanked his teacher and he felt very happy that day.

Caught Red-Handed

John was a lazy boy. He used to hand in his work untidily and with lots of mistakes. His teacher was tired of scolding him and so were his parents. However, he did not bother about them. His parents had even caned him but still, he did not change.

The week before last was the week before the examination. John’s teacher kept on reminding him to revise through what he had done since it was an important one. John knew that he had not been studying for it, so he thought of a plan to cheat. During the following week, as the teacher handed out the examination paper to the pupils, John looked at the questions. He found himself unable to answer them. So, very slowly, John peeped at Jane’s paper intently as she was always the finest student in the class.

In a second, he saw a person walking towards him and glaring at him. The invigilator shouted his name. John had been caught cheating! The school principal caned John for what he had done. John had learned a painful lesson and he promised his parents that he would never repeat the same mistake.

My Holidays

During the school holidays, my family visited Taman Negara Endau-Rompin in Johore, Malaysia. We drove to Mersing and parked our car there. With our tour guide, we later hired a van which took us to Rompin.

Taman Negara Endau-Rompin is the second largest national park in Malaysia. We stayed in a wooden chalet surrounded by tall trees, all kinds of insects and strange noises. There were many wooden huts and farm animals nearby which belonged to the Orang Asli people. Orang Asli are the aborigines or natives of the jungle. Although they could not speak our language, they were very friendly towards us.

Very late at night, we went for a night jungle walk. It was scary because there were many unusual insects such as the goggle-eyes crawlers, some giant ants and a few fireflies.

The next morning, we spent four hours jungle-trekking to a spot called Blue Lagoon. We had to cross three fast-flowing rivers and beat the rapids by holding on to a thick and strong rope. Throughout the journey, we saw leeches everywhere and I was bitten by them. I was not frightened at all although my blood was oozing out. After a few days of exciting adventure, we left Rompin and headed towards Mersing.

We then visited Pulau Besar, a tropical island off eastern Johore, and a half hour boat ride from Mersing. It had white sandy beaches and lots of colourful fishes. My father taught me how to snorkel and canoe. We then hopped to another island called Pulau Rawa on a chartered boat. We had an enjoyable time feeding the colourful fishes and swimming in the deep blue sea. We took a speedboat back to Mersing and after having our delicious nasi lemak lunch, we drove back to Singapore.

I enjoyed my trip to Malaysia very much and had a wonderful time.

An Unforgettable Day

One fine morning, I was lying in bed, thinking that it was Sunday. Suddenly, my mother came into my bedroom and asked me why I was still in bed instead of getting ready for school. When I heard that, I realized that it was Monday not Sunday.

I jumped out of bed quickly, changed into my uniform and rushed off for school without any breakfast. By the time I reached school, it was already eight o’clock. The prefect wrote down my name for being late. I realized that I was my brother’s shoes when I bent down to tie my shoe laces. I was very embarrassed.

During the Mathematics lesson, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my workbook and I did not do my homework. My teacher punished me. During recess, I had to borrow money from my classmate to buy food because I forgot to bring my pocket money.

After school, I went straight home. To my dismay, I realized that I had forgotten to take my housekey when I had left my house in such a hurry in the morning. I had to wait for my mother to come home before I could enter my house. When I entered the kitchen, I quickly cooked a packet of instant noodles as I was very hungry. I gobbled up the noodles and dozed off in the living room. I had gastritis in the middle of the night. My father had to take me to the hospital. It was indeed a bad day for me.

Since then, I told myself never to be forgetful again.

Saved

“Sis, can we go for a swim? I am sweating to death!” My brother panted, his tongue hanging out of his mouth like a puppy. I wiped the beads of perspiration from my head that was steadily streaming down my face. I noddled in agreement and scooping up a couple of pairs of clothes and sunblock, we hit the road.

By the time we got to the beach, the scorching sun was directly over our heads, baking the ground with its rays. My brother and I quickly slipped into our swimming costumes, smeared ourselves with sunblock and plunged into the sparkling water. I felt instant pleasure and delight as the cool water soaked into my skin. I hovered on the surface of the water staring up at the blazing blu sky pouring down torrents of light. I was overwhelmed with joy. How beautiful the sky looked! Decorated with fluffy clouds in front of a blue backdrop. Slowly, I was lulled to sleep by the soft waves bobbing and washing against my face. Even the splashes and squeals of the kids playing seemed like music to my ears. I was in absolute heaven……

My peaceful sleep was shattered by a piercing scream. I jolted to my feet and squinted in the direction the sound was coming from. I saw a bony hand sticking out of the water, clawing thin air near where the “float” markings were. My brother’s bony hand! Now I was wide awake. “Help! Help! It is my brother out near the “float” markings, and he is going to drown!” I shrieked hysterically. I started running towards the water, blood pounding in my ears. I saw a lifeguard swim rapidly and swiftly towards my brother. Suddenly, a huge wave rolled towards my brother and swept him underwater. I toppled down on the beach and clutched my mouth, screaming. I watched the lifeguard struggled against the waves and dive into the water. He emerged with my brother hoisted in his arms.

Sprawled on the brown sand was my brother, motionless. Fresh feelings of panic swept over me and my legs felt like jelly. Keep calm! I cautioned myself.

I squeezed my hands together while the lifeguard attempted resuscitation on my brother. They frantically pumped his chest and puffed into his mouth. Tears clouded my eyes and I hugged my knees. Suddenly, I noticed a slight movement of my brother’s arm. He opened his eyes and vomited out water. I collapsed to the ground in relief.

Childhood Memories

I can still remember very clearly some of my most precious childhood memories from the age of three. Childhood is precious as it is fun, exciting but sometimes painful. Let me tell you some memories about my childhood days.

At the age of three, while my family and I were having a party, I fell as I was running on the wet floor. I knocked my head hard on the concrete floor and my head hurt terribly. My parents rushed me to the Singapore General Hospital. The doctor X-rayed me and found no fractures but he told my father to observe me for a day. The next day, I returned to my normal self. I was fortunate that I did not have a fractured skull.

The next memory is, when I was four. My father took me down to the void deck to learn how to cycle daily. I learned quickly as my father was a good teacher. He often told me to look ahead when I was cycling. At first, I learned on a four-wheel bicycle. In about a month, my father removed a wheel. Two months later, I knew how to cycle a two-wheel bicycle. I was very happy.

This third memory was a very exciting memory for me. My father was going to work as a pilot and brought my family and me along with him. I was five years old then. It was the first time I travelled on an aeroplane and visited the cockpit, there were many switches. There were some overhead too. There was also a double-decker bed beside the cockpit. My father said that when they had to go for long distances, they had to bring four pilots. Two would sleep, two would work first. They took turns. The cockpit was really very interesting. To my disappointment and dismay, I had to get back to my seat as lunch was being served so I left the cockpit.

Childhood days are for learning and I think they are the most important part of my life.

A Burglar

One hot sunny afternoon, James and David went to the park to cycle. While cycling they saw a man dressed in black clothes holding a sack over his shoulder. The man looked around suspiciously. Mr Lim and his family were away for a vacation in the United Kingdom.

The burglar climbed up the ladder into Mr Lim’s mansion. James and David were suspicious so they hid behind some bushes. They were shocked to find that there were actually two thieves. So they quietly sneaked out of the mansion’s gate, ran to the nearest telephone booth and dialed 999. They told the police what they had seen and gave them the address and a brief description of the man. The police urged them to quietly observe what was going on inside the house while they send the patrol car to the scene of the burglary.

James and David hid behind the bushes of Mr Lim’s garden and maintained the surveillance of the house. For a while, they did not hear any sound. They thought the thieves had escaped from the back door.

Soon though, the patrol car came; Four policemen came out of the patrol car. One of them guarded the back door, two of them stood at the gate while one went into the house. The thieves heard footsteps so they dashed out of the house through the main door. The policeman in the house caught hold of one thief and pinned him down on the ground. The other thief ran towards the main gate. A policeman grabbed him but he slipped out from his hand. Another policeman grabbed him hard and pinned him down onto the ground.

When Mr Lim returned home he learnt about the incident from the newspaper. He invited James and David to his mansion and gave them a reward each.

A Narrow Escape

 The sun was shining brilliantly. Beads of perspiration trickled down my face. Frustrated. I swept my hands across my forehead. A look of anguish was on everyone’s face… even the teachers’.

“Ring…” The bell rang. Thankful to be out of the class, all of us scurried like little ants into the canteen. Gratefully, my friend Joel and I took long sips of water from the water cooler. I leaned against the dark, grey walls. They felt damp and cooling. I closed my eyes as I slowly recovered from the immense heat… I had fallen asleep. “Daniel… help… help…” a small voice was heard as it woke me up from a troubled sleep. A small sweaty hand tugged at my shirt. I was getting fainter.

It stopped. I opened my eyes and gave a cry of horror. Joel… he… I knew what was happening. It had happened before. In the nick of time, I rushed to the teachers’ staff room. I searched and searched… My teacher was not there. I spotted the principal.

“My friend… help!” I practically pulled her to Joel. “Oh my goodness!” She exclaimed. She told me to look after Joel while she called an ambulance.

“Do you have an inhaler?” I asked.

“Never… bring,” Joel answered, his voice softer with every breath he took. Five minutes passed. Ten… fifteen.

The wailing of sirens was heard in the distance. Very soon. Joel was sent to hospital. I was despondent the whole day. Horrible thoughts flickered through my mind. What had happened to him?

The next day, I called Joel’s mother. She said that Joel was still feeling weak. Two days passed…

After two days, my teacher and I went to visit Joel. He was, though pale in the face, radiant looking. Just then, the doctor arrived. He said that Joel was to be discharged in a few days. Three days passed… Joel was home! I felt elated to have my best friend back. It was a very narrow and close escape for Joel. Nevertheless, I was glad to have my best friend back…

Bees!!!

“I’m bored!” Sara said with a sigh, “It’s a Saturday morning and there’s nothing to do!” “Hey I’ve got an idea!” Exclaimed Natalie,” Let’s go to the East Coast Beach!”

“Great idea Natalie! I’ll go ask mum!” said Timmy.

After a few minutes, Timmy came back with a big happy smile on his face. Even though he did not say a thing, we knew the answer.

An hour later, we took a bus together with our mother to the East Coast Beach. When we reached the place, we looked around for a shady tree to sit under. When we had found it, we unpacked our things and ate the sandwiches that our mother had packed. They were delicious. After some time we decided to take a walk along the beach. Our mother agreed, but told us to go without her because she would prefer to sit under the tree and complete her book. We waved good-bye to our mother and went off.

Fifteen minutes later, we spotted a beehive. Timmy, being such a busy body, took a stick from the ground, and disturbed the bees. Suddenly, about a “millin” bees came out from the hive and charged at us. Immediately I shouted, “Down everybody – just lie flat and cover your face with your hands!” For once everyone obeyed without protest. After lying down what seemed like hours, we were relived to find all the bees flying back to their hives.

When we saw out mother, she was still engrossed with her reading. When she heard our voices, she looked up and for a while looked rather surprised to see out distraught faces. We told her what happened. She was glad that we were not hurt.

It was getting dark and we decided to head for home. What a close encounter!

On Losing a Friend

On remembering how my best friend, Elizabeth, died to save my life, tear rolled uncontrollably down my face. I remembered vividly the incident that happened less than a week ago…

It was a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon. I was feeling bored at home so I called Elizabeth. She was also feeling bored! After discussing for a few minutes, we decided to go far out into the sea to scuba-dive.

After putting on our gear, we left for the middle of the sea. Elizabeth and I jumped from the boat into the water. The water was very clear so we could see all the colourful fishes and corals. We were swimming peacefully when Elizabeth patted me on my back and pointed to a dark but moving “object”. As the object got closer to us, we had a shock. It was a shard!

We paddled as fast as we could. Unfortunately, the shark followed close behind us. It bit one of my flippers! Seeing that, Elizabeth turned and swam forward to protect me. The shark bit her in her chest and head. Elizabeth’s head bled profusely while her chest sustained minor injuries. I immediately got hold of Elizabeth and swam away but Elizabeth left a trail of blood for the shark. Holding Elizabeth tightly, I changed my direction, faced the shark and kicked right into its face. The shark immediately turned and swam off.

Grabbing hold of this golden opportunity, I swam as fast as lightning, pulling Elizabeth along. When we reached the water surface, I waved my hands up in the air. A kind fisherman and his son saw me and rowed their boat over. They lifted Elizabeth, followed by me. The fisherman headed as fast as he could for the shore.

When we reached the shore, I left Elizabeth on the sand while I called for an ambulance. In less than five minutes, the ambulance came and brought Elizabeth to the nearest hospital. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was pronounced dead on arrival.

Be Punctual For School!

The sun rose and sunlight shone onto my face. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked. I sat up and looked out of the window. I saw cars zooming here and there. I looked at my alarm clock and it was eight in the morning so I sat on my bed motionless. I was shocked. I had to reach school at seven fifteen and it was eight. Furthermore, I lived in Paya Lebar, a thirty minute drive if my father drove me to school but my parents were already at work. I jumped out of my bed, rushed to the toilet and brushed my teeth. As I was turning back, I stepped on the soap and slipped on the floor. A bruise was growing on my head! I got up and ran back to my room. I changed into my uniform and grabbed a bag and rushed out of the house and slammed the door behind me.

I ran to Paya Lebar MRT station and took a train toward the eastern side of Singapore. There was no place for me to sit so I stood and kept looking at my watch for it was nine. Suddenly, the train screeched to a stop and the driver announced that there was a power failure. It was hot and stuffy while waiting for the train to move again. The train jerked suddenly and I fell on my bottom. The train started to move again and when I reached Tampines, it was nine thirty. I took a bus to my school and a prefect took my name down and warned me not to be late again.

I agreed and ran to my classroom and it was ten o’clock. As I opened the door of my classroom, everyone was staring at me and when I looked up, my teacher was staring at me with folded arms. I was worried and scared. The teacher scolded me and shouted at me to get back to my place. The teacher asked us to take out our English Textbook, Six A and I took out One A! I realized that I had taken my little sister’s bag! My face turned white as the teacher was walking towards me. I stood up and confessed that I had taken my sister’s bag and everyone laughed at me. The teacher asked me to get out of the classroom and wait for the Principal to come and cane me. The Principal did not come and my teacher forgot about ne the whole morning until the school was dismissed. I was really kind of embarrassed and reminded myself to always label my bag and switch on the volume of my alarm clock louder. I was very miserable.

The Punishment

One fine Saturday morning, I was walking to school. As usual, I heard the chirping of birds, the roar of the engines as the cars passed by and the rustling of leaves. I also whistled a tune as I was walking. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew a piece of paper in my hand away. I immediately gave chase and the paper led me to a rubber band. Just then, the skinny, small-sized and freckled faced Marco walked past me. An evil thought raced through my mind.

I immediately picked up the rubber band, aimed at Marco’s left leg and shot Marco with the rubber band. Marco yelped. He turned back, facing me and stared at me with big squid-like eyes which began to fill with tears. By then, the guilt in me rose. The timid boy kept quiet and I was afraid that I would be punished by the teacher. I regretted what I had done. Then, Georgina, the head prefect questioned me. I stood rooted to the spot. She asked in a suspicious voice, “What did you do again?” I was dumbfounded.

“He shot me with a rubber band!” Marco complained in a squeaky voice. “Then you shall be punished by Mrs Lenard!”, Georgina said. Georgina’s voice grew louder and louder each time she spoke. I had to follow Georgina to Mrs Lenard, the Discipline Master’s office or else she would announce my name to the whole school and that would be even more embarrassing. While I was walking, many thoughts raced through my mind. What if I was punished? What if everyone teased me?

In Mrs Lenard’s office, she questioned me. My mind was blank. I suddenly came to my sense and admitted that I had shot Marco on his left leg. She praised me for admitting my wrong deed. She gave me a chance and promised not to tell anyone about my wrong doing. I breathed a sign of relief. I thanked her and went off. I continued whistling to my class. I had two reasons to be happy. Firstly, for admitting that I had done something wrong and secondly, Mrs Lenard had let me off. I was in high spirits that day.

A Brush with Death

It was a sunny afternoon. Mr Lin and his friends decided to go scuba-diving. They went out in their speedboat, put on their diving gear, and dived into the water.

They started exploring the coral reefs. A shoal of fish swam past Mr Lin. He was distracted and swam away from his friends to get a closer look at the fish. The fish noticed him and darted away. Disappointed, Mr Lin turned around and started to head in the direction where he thought his friends were. He realised that he was lost after some time.

He swam about in desperation to find his friends, when suddenly, he found himself face to face with a great white shark! He froze in terror. The great white shark stared unblinkingly into his eyes. Mr Lin tried to scream but no sound came from his mouth. The shark swam forward, its mouth wide open, revealing rows of sharp teeth. It lunged forward and seized his leg. Mr Lin was too frightened to think straight and grabbed whatever was near him to hit the shark. Unfortunately, he grabbed the shark’s tail, which provoked the shark further.

Meanwhile, his friends, who were searching for him, realised that there was a commotion behind him. They spun around and saw their friend struggling with the shark. They swam quickly to their friend’s rescue. One of them thrust a spear into the side of the shark. It let go of Mr Lin and struggled before swimming away. His friend quickly brought him to the surface.

Mr Lin fortunately had only suffered three or four deep gashes on his leg. It was one encounter he would never forget.

A Visit to the Dentist

As Jay stepped into the clinic, his heart was beating faster and faster. He went to the smiling receptionist and told her his name. He sat down on a chair and waited anxiously for his turn. The receptionist called his name and she brought him into a room. Beside the dentist wearing a spotless white coat was a big comfortable chair. “Ouch! Oh no my tooth is hurting…” Joy uttered.

“Jay… come on… Sit down” the dentist said. He sat down quietly and told the dentist that he had a toothache. The dentist inspected Jay’s mouth and prodded him. He told Jay that it was a decayed tooth that caused him a toothache. Jay just nodded his head. The dentist pulled out a bottle of liquid and pierced the needle into Jay’s gums. Suddenly, Jay’s gums became as cold as ice and numb. The dentist took out a pair of forceps and extracted his tooth. When it was out, the dentist showed him the ugly and decayed tooth. He had a shock when he saw that and he could not believe that his own tooth was so ugly. He saw a trickle of blood flowing from his decayed tooth.

Jay gave a sigh of relief when it was over, as he need not get so worried about going to the dentist again. He told many people about his experience so that they would not be worried and scared about going to the dentist.

An Unforgettable Day

It was late in the evening. I was all alone studying for my Mid-Year Examination when the lusty crowing of my neighbor’s rooster, which was kept in his backyard, distracted me. Out of curiosity, I stood on my newly bought swivel chair to get a good view of the proud bird. Before I realized it, the chair immediately swung in a clockwise direction, causing me to lose my balance. In split seconds, I landed on the parquet floor with my face upwards staring at the ceiling and both my arms at my sides. “I’ve broken my arm, I’ve broken my arm!” I screamed to alarm my mother who was watching television.

In an instant, she rushed into the room to see what had happened. I was lying on the floor writhing in great pain as I had broken my right arm. My parents immediately rushed me to the nearest hospital – Changi Hospital. Fortunately it took about five minutes to reach the hospital by car.

At the hospital I was given priority to see a doctor, as mine was an emergency case. Within minutes my name was called and a doctor examined me. I was referred to the X-Ray department to have my right arm x-rayed. When the doctor saw the X-ray films, he confirmed that my right hand had been broken and hence I needed to stay in the hospital for a few days to mend the broken bones. According to the nurse who was attending me, I was the first child-patient to be admitted in that hospital since it opened not long ago.

The next day, I was wheeled to the Operating Theatre for an operation. It was freezing cold. As I was very frightened, I prayed with all my heart that the operation would be a success. All around me were nurses and surgeons in “strange” attire as if they were from another planet. At first I could hear them talking but later I went blank.

I woke up to find myself crying. It was a horrible experience. My parents told me that the surgeon had inserted a metal piece into my arm and I would have to undergo another operation to take it out. The thought of going through another operation immediately sent shivers down my spine.

The second operation was not as bad as the first one. I had to wait in the cold theatre for the surgeon to come. I was put to sleep before the metal piece was taken out.

The following day, I was discharged from the hospital. Exhilaration bubbled inside me like soda water. I learnt a valuable lesson from that experience. Although my right hand has healed, the scar remained. It was indeed my most unforgettable experience.

A Disappointing Event

“Go, Kian, go!” The spectators chanted fervently.

Beads of hot perspiration trickled down my aching forehead. I was about to compete against other competitors in the long-distance running event. I was feeling very nervous and waved shakily at my classmates who were supporting me.

“Bang!” The starter gun went off, along with the screams of the crowd.

I jogged at my own normal speed, saving my energy for the last few laps. A few runners ran ahead of me, but I stayed at my speed. For the last few laps, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. The blinding rays of the sun shone mercilessly on my back, causing me to perspire even more. Squinting, I could make out the figures of the two runners up front.

Summoning all the strength I had left, I sprinted towards the finishing line, at last overtaking my two tough competitors.

Suddenly, an acute pain shot through my ankle. Ignoring it, I continued my run towards my goal. But the pain got worse and finally it was almost unbearable. I stumbled and my knees buckled under me, and I slumped onto the rough track, grazing my knee a little.

My teacher and classmate gasped and stood up almost at once. By that time, the first-aid people had come and they massaged my leg, consoling me. My eyes were blinded with water, not knowing whether it was my sad, disappointed tears or my perspiration. I fainted under the sweltering sun because of the unbearable pain.

When I woke up, I looked around, with interest in my new surroundings. Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through my left ankle. Then I remembered what had happened and realized that I was in a hospital.

Voices could be heard at the door and when it creaked open, I jerked upright. It was my teacher and classmates. They comforted me with soothing words and hugs.

“I have let you down,” I mumbled, but my teacher seemed not to hear that comment.

He encouraged me to work harder next year and win a medal for the class. I lifted my tearful face and looked around. I broke into a delighted but painful smile.

“I WILL win it, I promise” I said confidently, much to their surprise and astonishment.

I heard that a boy named Jeff, won the race and brought his class glory when he carried the Champion Trophy to his overjoyed classmates. From that painful, disappointing, unforgettable day onwards, I vowed to beat Jeff and other competitors and bring my class to glory and honour by winning a medal and the Champion Trophy to pay back my embarrassing moment.

A Scary Encounter

It was a cool afternoon. I was walking home after school. The area through which I was traveling was deserted. I felt very much alone as I trudged down the silent path.

Suddenly, I heard the rustle of leaves followed by a menacing snarl. I spun round and came face to face with a dog. The dog was huge with sharp white fangs and its eyes glinted with anger as it charged towards me. I noticed a broken metal chain around its neck and I felt myself shake with fear. Despite my fear, I turned around and continued walking, hoping it would not follow me. But it was in vain, for every time I turned around I found myself staring into its evil looking eyes. Avoiding its eyes I plucked up my courage and threw a stick at it, hoping to drive it away.

The stick hit the dog squarely on the back. The dog growled horribly and lunged towards me. I screamed and started running, with the dog in mad pursuit. But who was going to help me when no one was around to save me from this crazy creature. My bag weighed me down and soon I was exhausted. It was only my terror and fear that kept me going. Soon I reached the main road. I saw the astonished faces of the passers-by as I ran past them. “Help! Help!” I shouted to them, panting with exertion. The dog however remained oblivious to the people around it. It continued chasing me, just me, occasionally snapping at the skirt trailing behind me.

Luckily, a group of men armed with sticks heard my pleas for help and saved me by shouting and hollering at the dog while waving the sticks threateningly in the air. This was evidently too much for the wild scraggly dog and it backed a hasty retreat as it darted back down the path which it had come. I was left standing hot, tired and rather shaken. I thanked the men profusely and then started back home, the longer, yet safer way.

I never really knew why the dog had attacked me, but I suppose it was because I had trespassed on its territory. Anyway, I never dared to use that route again in fear of being attacked by the dog. It was also later that my mother told me never to run away from a dog as it would become suspicious of what you were doing. I learnt my lesson well and will be careful with dogs, particularly big ones, the next time I see them.

A Kind Deed

Mark, the security guard was on his round at the shopping center during the afternoon shift. As he rounded a corner, he spotted a group of adults huddling around a small boy. They were shooting questions at the little boy who was almost in tears.

He immediately went over and dispersed the small group of adults. By that time, tears were already rolling down on little Tommy’s cheeks. “I want my mummy,” he said softly through sobs. Mark consoled him and led him by the hand to the information counter.

As they walked through the sea of people, Mark found out the little boy’s name was Tommy Lim and he had lost his mother after wandering off while his mother had been looking at some suits. When they reached the information counter, Mark explained to the man at the counter that Tommy had lost his mother.

Subsequently, an announcement blared over the public address system. “ A little boy aged five in a blue t-shirt and black shorts has been found. Would his parents come and claim him. He is at the Level 2 Information Counter. Thank you.”

Not long later, a middle-aged woman came running to the information counter. There was a flustered look on her face and she was biting her lips nervously. As soon as Tommy spotted her, he ran happily towards her shouting, “Mummy, mummy!” in the next instant, she carried him and hugged him tightly. “Thank God, I’ve found you!” She said, her panic slowly disappearing.

It was a joy for Mark to see both mother and son reunited. He felt that it was the best thing that day. Tommy’s mother came over and thanked Mark as well as the man at the counter profusely. “You are welcome! It’s our job,” replied Mark graciously, happy to have helped Tommy find his mother.