Grade 8, Learnmore Institute
There lived a fifteen-year-old girl named Nandi who stayed in a small cottage in Newlands with her mother. Nandi’s father had passed away when she was only three years old, and since then her mother had tried to bring different men into their lives to act as father figures. Unfortunately, none of them ever stayed, and none could fill the gap her father had left.
Their neighbour was a lonely man who worked hard during the day, but drank heavily every evening. Every night after work, he would sit outside his house, singing loudly with a bottle in his hand, until he stumbled inside and fell asleep.
One evening, Nandi was in her room, studying for her upcoming exams, when suddenly the lights went out. It was load-shedding. Frustrated, she packed her books away and went to the kitchen, where her mother had just finished preparing dinner. They ate together by candlelight, chatting softly while listening to the neighbour’s off-key singing from outside. He sounded even more drunk than usual.
After dinner, Nandi and her mother made sure to blow out all the candles and unplug all appliances before heading to bed. As always, her mother reminded her to check that everything was switched off. Nandi nodded, not knowing that danger was lurking just next door.
Meanwhile, in the neighbour’s house, the drunken man had lit a candle and placed it on a small table next to the curtain. He then collapsed on the couch and quickly fell into a deep sleep. The candle slowly burned down. Eventually, it tipped over, and the flame caught the edge of the curtain. Within minutes, the fire had spread across the living room.
The man woke up coughing, eyes wide with panic. Flames surrounded him, and the thick smoke made it hard to breathe. He tried to escape through the front door, but it was blocked by fire, and the doorknob was too hot to touch. Desperate, he screamed for help.
Nandi heard the screams and rushed to her window. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw flames coming from the neighbour’s house. She ran to wake her mother. Her mother immediately called the fire department, who promised to come as quickly as possible.
Outside, neighbours were gathering, some trying to throw water on the fire using buckets. Nandi felt a strong urge to help. She quickly came up with an idea. She grabbed a wooden chair from their house and, with her mother’s help, rushed to the neighbour’s front door. Together, they used the chair to force the door open.
The door finally gave way, and the man stumbled out just as the fire truck arrived. The fire fighters rushed in to put out the blaze and check for damage.
As the man was being taken to the hospital, he looked at Nandi and whispered, “Thank you for saving my life.”
From that night on, the man never drank again. He remembered the fire, the fear—and the young girl who had risked everything to save him.