Aloud explosion brought Ahmed back to reality. He had supposedly dozed-off during one of Mr Khalid’s history lectures. He had been so drowned in his thoughts that he failed to pay attention to where the explosion came from.

Ahmed was disoriented and baffled at the sudden loud explosion. Soon there was another loud explosion. That was when someone shouted from outside the classroom, “Everyone exit the building immediately! A huge fire has broken out in the school laboratory and it is spreading fast across the school!”

Listening this, everyone panicked and started running out of the classrooms, frantically shouting for help.

Ahmed was able to find an exit quickly enough, however, a huge mound of debris from the collapsing ceiling had barricaded the door. Teachers and students were seen jumping out of the windows to save themselves and Ahmed thought of doing the same thing, only to reconsider after realising that there was another emergency exit on the other side of the building. He could either jump out of a window and risk shattering his bones, or he could run to the nearest exit and safely get out of the building.

He chose the latter. He chose to take the risk and started running as fast as he could. Sweat dripped as he ran, and his heart was racing fast. All around him, kids were screaming and trying to escape. Ahmed knew that he did not have a lot of time left, almost the entire school was engulfed in flames and oxygen was rapidly depleting.

The building too was collapsing, while Ahmed ran, pieces of the ceiling fell down around him, and the walls were crumbling down as well. Ahmed and some other kids with him, tried to find the exit and then, something horrible happened. When the exit was in sight, a huge chunk of burning rubble fell in front of the door. Ahmed was devastated; that was the only easily accessible exit left. Just as he was about to run in the opposite direction, he collapsed, while other kids dispersed in panic. There was very little oxygen and he was having trouble breathing. Although his vision was blurred and he was extremely giddy, he fought the urge to faint and ran as fast as he could with what little strength remained.

He saw the school kitchen in front of him. The kitchen too was blocked with a huge mound of burning debris, but without any second thoughts, Ahmed forced his way through, while badly injuring his left shoulder in the struggle. He then slid through the garbage chute, hoping that a trash can was on the other end of the chute, overflowing with garbage to cushion his landing.

Fortunately, he landed in a trash can full of garbage. Soon a few firefighters spotted him and tended to his injuries. His parents were shocked when they saw Ahmed full of bruises in the hospital. Thankfully he was okay, however, that could not be said about the school though. A few days after the fire, the police were able to conduct an investigation and they concluded that the fire was not an accident at all. In fact, a few students were playing around with some dangerous chemicals and a chemical reaction in the school lab that caused the explosion. Thankfully, there were no casualties, however, many students and teachers were seriously injured. Thankfully, they all went on to make a full recovery.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 18th, 2023