True Thanksgiving My name is Jason Morrison, and I live in a town near Plymouth, Massachusetts. Currently I'm visiting a friend who is in the hospital. Oh, don't worry, it's nothing too serious. Just a few minor burns and scratches. It could have been worse though, as you will understand when I tell you the story. It was the day of our grade-school's annual Thanksgiving play. Everyone had been looking forward to it (and Thanksgiving vacation) for weeks. I had a part as a pilgrim, and my best friend Mark was playing a Native American. We thought it was the perfect set-up, and we ran around during practice terrorizing the other cast members. The teachers sure had their hands full, but lucky for them, we settled down in time and allowed the practice session to continue. When we reached the part about the turkey however, the practice was again interrupted, this time by a sound that struck fear in the hearts of all who heard it. "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!""That's the fire alarm! THE SCHOOL IS ON FIRE!" shouted a teacher, sending everyone running in a blind panic. "Settle Down!" shouted Mr. Hewitt, our school's principal. "Everyone, settle down and and exit the building in an orderly fashion. Teachers, count the heads of the children in your classes and make sure they all get out safely! Now, HOP TO IT!"He ordered. Everyone calmed down (as well as could be expected), and we were all filed outside to the parking lot. The teachers were busily counting the students and checking names off of their lists, and we were all looking at the school, searching for signs of fire. At first glance, it didn't look like anything was wrong with the building. However, upon closer examination we soon noticed thick, black smoke wafting through an open window in the middle section of the school. As I looked around at the other people in the parking lot, I suddenly realized that I couldn't see Mark! "Do you know where Mark Baker is?" I asked the nearest teacher. "No, I haven't seen him. I certainly hope that he made it out in time!" He exclaimed. He turned and watched as smoke began to pour from more windows, this time from some of the classrooms closer to the auditorium, where we had been practicing our play. I started searching the crowd, looking for Mark, but I couldn't find him anywhere. By this time, flames coming from the building were visable, shooting out of open classroom windows, and shattering closed ones. Just as the flames reached the roof of the classrooms close to the auditorium, Mark suddenly appeared in the doorway of the auditorium, carrying a small boy! They were both coughing, and covered with soot, and tears were streaming down both of their faces, but they seemed none the worse for wear. The Firemen had just arrived, and they ran to get the boys to safety before the roof of the school collapsed. We didn't hear Mark's story until later, but when we did, we all thought that Mark deserved a medal. You see, when the first warning about the fire came and everyone panicked, one of the younger boys in the cast named Tony ran out of the auditorium, in the direction of the fire. Mark had seen him, and ran after him, shouting at him to stop. But Tony was too scared to hear him. By the time Mark had caught up with the boy, the hallway had already begun to fill up with smoke. Mark tried to get Tony to calm down long enough for them to get to safety, but Tony just would not listen. He ran off again! Mark chased after him, and caught up with him again. But this time instead of speaking to him, Mark simply picked up Tony, swung him over his shoulder, and made his way outside, to safety. Mark is a really great guy. Thanks to his selflessness, this Thanksgiving was filled with happiness, especially for Tony's parents. I'm happy too, since Mark is getting out of the hospital on Thursday. We have a personal goal to see how many leftover turkey sandwiches we each can eat. Happy Thanksgiving!
The End
by Celia Helen Tracy
copyright © 2001 Celia Helen Tracy
Spelling/Vocabulary Words Engulf, Great, Happiness, Know, Massachusetts, Native American, No,
November, Opposite, Personal, Personnel, Pilgrim, Plymouth, Really,
Selflessness, Thanksgiving, Thursday, Turkey, Vacation, Weather, When, Whether.