Cultureshock

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Video transcript

I was walking with my head hanging down, kicking the stones, as I was thinking of things to do. I went to climb on the garage that I love to climb, in the back lane, opposite my street. When I got up I looked down at the floor and I saw a match… it wasn’t much but it was something to do so I jumped down from the roof, picked up the match and struck it against the concrete and it flared up and took me by surprise. I threw the burning match stalk over the fence, thinking it would have gone out.

A bit later on, as I was walking home, I could smell something strange in the air. I looked behind me and suddenly got the biggest fright ever. I seen thick, grey smoke and I knew something had caught alight and I knew it was me that had started it. I felt panicked and worried and frightened. I was running around in circles and screaming. I didn’t know what to do.

I ran back to where the smoke was coming from…I needed to know what was on fire. As I got closer I realised that it was a pile of dry grass. I looked around for something wet to try and put the blaze out. I saw some wet grass lying nearby. I threw it on to the blaze but it just seemed to make things worse. Before I knew it the garage itself was alight and I felt really scared. I knew I was in big trouble. I almost ran away but the fact that if I did that I’d be in more trouble so I decided to run home and tell my mum what I’d done.

At first she didn’t believe me but when she looked out of the window the thick cloud of smoke mushrooming into the air proved I wasn’t lying. She stood still for a few moments shocked at what I’d done and then picked up the phone and called 999. It was the longest 5 minutes of my life waiting for the fire brigade to arrive. I watched from my window as they extinguished the fire and as the smoke cleared I felt disappointed in myself for all the trouble I’d caused. The garage which I’d loved to climb on was no longer…only half of it remained, charred and smouldering.

A few years on, I’m a bit older and a bit wiser. I look back on the fire and think of the garage I loved to climb on that is no more. I was grounded by my mum for a month but the real lesson I learned that day is that it’s better to face the truth, own up to what you’d done than to run away.