Past Experience

writer: Iftekhar A Khan Munna
                                                            Past experience              

It was five years ago when I was living in Barisal, a small town in Bangladesh. One day I was chatting with my best friend in his house. I can’t remember the exact time, but it was after sunset. When I said good bye to him and left his house, I saw some fire on the roof of the house across from his.
I was the only person there, and I was shocked. I didn’t know what to do. I just shouted, “Fire! Fire!”. In my country, we do not have any emergency number like 911, so I couldn’t call anyone.
I ran back to my friend’s house and took a pot of water to throw on the fire. Then, I filled the pot several times from a small pond near the fire. In the meantime, some people had come out of their houses and started doing the same thing I was doing. The fire was on the roof of the house, so it was difficult to throw water on it, so we went to the roof of the house next door and continued throwing water. However, by then, the fire was out of control. I was so near the fire that it hurt my face.
In the meantime, somebody had notified the fire department, and they finally arrived. However, their truck could not reach the house because the road was too narrow. They stopped their truck far away and set up their hoses. But it was too late; they could not save that house from the fire. Fortunately, though, nobody had been inside the house. The house owners were safe, but they lost their house. That night I also lost something- my favorite shoes which I had just bought two days before. Also, I had to see a doctor because I felt pain in my face from the heat.
That experience was dangerous and horrible for me, but although I could not save that house, I feel peace of mind when I think that I tried my best to help other people. I will never forget about that night.