This was my second piece submitted at Sarah's class under the theme "Writing about Childhood".
It is hot and sticky. I am lying in bed pretending that
I am sleep in case mother comes in to check. It is 3.35 in the afternoon
precisely. Looking at the clock makes me think how slowly the world moves. Why
can it go faster? If I knew I could change the time and convince my mother that
it is 4.30 I would, but I tried that trick before and it didn’t work.
My mind is alert; I want to do something, not lying
down in bed like a fossil. I wonder if my friends next door Juan and Pedro are also
awake. I bet they are. They have better parents than me, they can do things
that I can’t, like going to buy the milk when is dark. Mother thinks that is
dangerous for seven year olds to cross the road at night just in case there are
boggy men lurking in the dark. I don’t believe that nonsense, do you?
I look at the clock again. It has hardly moved 10
minutes. What a bore! The city is quiet; it is very hot, I am covered in sweat,
the curtains are all drawn up and is dark in the room but I can see everything;
mother says that she can’t see in the dark but I can. What do parents know
about anything? For instance, why to “have to sleep siesta”? Surely, this is an
adult’s rule. Children like me want to play, go out and play with my friends.
Why do I have to stay here for hours? Mother says that it is good for children
to “sleep siesta”. Why? I don’t mind if it is hot, I can take the heat.
I want to be old and change the rules. Parents think
that they know better but if only they realised that children don’t like
siesta. It is like going to see your old auntie when she is ill and pretend
that you really like her. I am going to make a noise to see if mother
hears. “Knock, knock…” “No, she is
definitely sleep” I will sneak out quietly…
It is almost 5 o’clock and soon the siesta will be over.
Great, I love to see if Pedro bought the football that he said his father was buying
for him. I also want to see if Juan got the new football stickers. I got some
that I want to swap with him.
Suddenly my thoughts are interrupted by a big noise
like a door slamming. I can hear voices in the corridor. Mother opens the door
and I hear people shouting. Someone shouts, “Fire, fire”! I rushed to the door
and see our next door neighbour’s red face telling mother that the light-bulb
factory across the road is on fire. How exciting!
I run downstairs jumping the steps in groups of four.
As I go down I meet with Pedro and Juan who, as I suspected, were awake and are
also running to see what is happening. When we get there the fire engines are
arriving. The sound that they make and their engines swirling red lights make a
big impression on me. I never have seen a real fire before, only in the movies.
What a treat!
***
I remember with fondness those childhood days of long
tedious siesta and more importantly when the old light-bulb factory went up in
flames. That made a big impression on me which I still remember.
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