Saturday, September 27, 2008

Inconsiderate neighbours

“Bye, mum! Bye dad!” I said, as I bade my parents goodbye. “Amanda, be a good girl and study hard for your examinations!” my mother said as she gave me a hug. “We’ll be back in three days time.” My father told me. My parents took their luggage and proceeded out of the house. Finally, the house to myself- nobody to order me around!

‘The mathematics test would be held in three days time,’ I thought, ‘I think I ought to start my revision.’ I rocketed to my room. I took out my problem sums book and started working out the sums.

Suddenly, loud blaring music erupted from my neighbour’s-Jen-house. Jen was a popular girl in school. She had long, silky hair and fair skin. All the boys drooled when they see her and all the girls wished to be her friend. Jen was good in sports and was also the top pupil in class. Her parents had recently gone to Thailand.

‘The music will stop in about a few minutes,’ I thought, reassuring myself. How wrong was I! One hour later, the blaring music did not stop- in fact, it became louder and louder.
I was boiling with rage. My face had turned to the colour of molten lava. “How could anyone be so inconsiderate?” I shouted, my voice cackled with anger. I tried to concentrate on revising my work, but the music was simply too loud. “Fine! Fine! I ‘ll go to bed!” I screamed.

I rolled from one end of the bed to the other, unable to sleep. I pressed the pillow against my ear, but the music was so loud that the pillow had no use at all. Turning and tossing on my bed, I did not sleep a wink that night.

Ring… ring… my alarm clock rang. I got out of bed. Shadows had appeared under my eyes. I was dog tired. I went to school straight after having breakfast.

“Good morning, Mr Lim,” the class droned on monotonously. “Good morning class! Today, I want to remind you that your mathematics exam will be held tomorrow. You are to revise the chapters on: Triangles, 4-sided figures…” Mr Lim droned on. I let out another yawn. My eyelids felt so heavy. I was oblivious to what Mr Lim was saying. In fact, I was so tired that I did not know what happened at school that day.

When I returned home, I immediately took out my assessment to revise for my upcoming test. After eating my dinner, I proceeded to my room to revise. Suddenly, the same, blaring music erupted from Jen’s house. “Oh, no! Another sleepless night…” I groaned.

The next morning, I was woken up by the same ringing of my alarm clock. My eyelids were exceptionally heavy. I went to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face to freshen myself up but to no avail. After having a quick breakfast, I dragged myself to school.

“Class, please take out your pencil case and leave your bags outside the classroom,” Mr Lim said sternly. We obeyed his orders immediately. Mr Lim gave out the test papers. I wrote my name on it, my hands trembling madly. “You may now flip over your examinations paper and start doing your test,” Mr Lim said. My eyelids felt very heavy. Every time I blinked, I find it harder to open my eyes. My eyelids closed completely. I fell into a deep slumber……

“Five minutes left!” Mr Lim’s voice jolted me out of my slumber. I jumped. “What am I going to do?” I muttered, lines of worries ceased on my forehead. Then, Mr Lim announced, “Time’s up! Put your pens down.”

I reluctantly gave Mr Lim my examination paper. I was fuming. I shot daggers at Jen. My blood was boiling. I swore revenge. When I reached home, I slammed my bag on the floor. That will be the last straw! I went to Jen’s house and knock on the door. Knock…knock… “What do you want?” Jen asked as she opened the door. Mustering my courage, I said, “Ummm… Jen, can you lower down the volume of your Hi-5 set when you use it?” “Why should you care what I do in my house?” she retorted.


Suddenly, Jen gave me a tight slap on my cheeks. My face burned in anger. I gave her a punch on her nose. Her nose started to bleed. “How dare you!” she screamed. I flung a well-aimed punch at her stomach. Jen ducked to her right. She lifted her leg and kicked me at the stomach. “Bull’s eyes!” she yelled triumphantly. I doubled back in pain.

“Stop that!” someone screamed. Both Jen and I turned. To our surprise, we saw my parents and Jen’s parents. My mother’s face was red in fury. Patches of red had appeared on her cheeks. “You better apologise to our neighbor.” She ordered. “But… but…” I relate the whole story to Jen’s parents and my parents. This time, Jen’s mother was fuming. Her face had turned to the colour of molten lava. “How could you, Jen! I thought you are a sensible girl. I’m very disappointed in you!” Jen’s father shook his head as he reprimand Jen. “Apologise now,” her mother ordered.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. Jen and I look at each other. Our faces turned bright red. I shook Jen’s hands and said, “Let’s be friends.” Jen broke in to a grin. From that day onwards, Jen and were the best of friends. We helped each other in times of needs.

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