I had to stay back to help my teacher at school. She needed help to decorate the classroom and she knew I was very creative and artistic. I did not have the time to decorate the class as I had a funeral to attend to and had to rush home in order not to be late. Yet, I couldn’t refuse to do the request made by my teacher.

After about 30 minutes or so, my teacher and I finished decorating the classroom. She offered me a ride home but could only send me home later as she had a meeting. The bus had gone off already, so I walked home. I had to be home by 5.30pm but it was already 5pm and my house was quite a long distance from the school. I had walked half the way to my house already.

It was a scorching hot day and I felt so tired; it was as though I was in an oven. I needed to get home fast and I remembered that there was a shortcut to my house somewhere near where I was. It was a forbidden shortcut and was known to be dangerous but on the other hand it would make my journey a lot easier and faster.

My parents said that it was a dangerous shortcut with an unsafe bridge. I thought about it for a while. Being a person who takes risks, I opted to take the shortcut. I went through the gate that led to the old bridge. I took a few slow and careful steps at first. I felt it shaking a bit. I quickly dashed through the bridge, hoping the faster I went through it, the easier it would be to cross. It shook a lot but I got through safely.

I thought all the danger had gone and done with. Little did I know that there was a pack of wild ferocious dogs on the other side of the fence which I was about to cross. I crossed over the fence and started to walk to the junction that led to my house. But after just a couple of steps, three dogs jumped out at me. Gathering my quick senses, I managed to avoid the dogs and escape from them.

I kept running all the way home. I arrived just in time but I realized I could have been killed or seriously injured. I learned that I should never do something I was forbidden to and also to always listen to my parents’ advice and instructions. I was grounded for a month when I let my mother know what had happened. I have learned a lot from this experience and will never repeat it again or it might be my funeral.