Mr Craig's Error

It was a regular Thursday morning in Millsville, the birds are chirping likewise one can hear the rattling of dried leaves being stepped on as people head out to their various places of work. It was just a normal morning in Maple Street, one of the suburbs in Millsville.

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Fifteen-year-old Johnny Drille was brushing his teeth when he heard the sharp, blaring sound of the school fire alarm.

"Not again, is there someone playing with this alarm?" Johnny said, spitting into the sink. This was the third time that week that the alarm had gone off at Maple Junior High School, always after the first period. Johnny hissed and got ready for school.

He arrived ten minutes later because the school is not too far from his house. His junior sister, Sharon, had gone to school early because of her science practical. On getting to school, he met the students pouring out of their classrooms and the principal, Mr Densel, pacing up and down with his cell phone glued to his ear. Teachers were shouting at the top of their voices to get the remaining students to the school yard.

Johnny was terrified, he had no idea of what was going on. Immediately, he saw his best friend Leo near the flagpole, and he ran to him to inquire what had happened.

"Hey, Leo, another fire drill?" Johnny asked.

Leo shrugged, "They said it's real this time, someone smelled smoke in the science lab", he replied.

"Gosh, Sharon is there", Johnny said. Immediately, his stomach turned, and he became uncomfortable. In the twinkle of an eye, Johnny was in the middle of the crowd, pushing through to locate his sister. His heart racing and trembling, "Sharon, where are you please?" he muttered.

Just as Johnny was about to shout Sharon's name, he saw her standing near a teacher unharmed. He was relieved. Sharon grinned and waved at him, he walked towards her to see if she was completely fine.

"See how you're sweating, I'm good bro. I don't know you love me this much, so you're always pretending", Sharon said to Johnny jokingly.

"Leave me madam, what happened? I was tense because I knew you would be in the science lab", Johnny asked.

"No fire, just a burnt toaster oven", Sharon replied with a grin.

"That's Mr Craig's new invention, right?" Johnny asked.

"You got it right, our overambitious science teacher was trying to demonstrate heat conduction using an old toaster oven and some wires. Just as expected, a puff of smoke erupted and the panicking Mr Craig yanked the fire alarm without thinking twice", Sharon explained.

The fire department arrived minutes later, sirens wailing and lights flashing, only to find students laughing and eating snacks on the benches and Mr Craig apologising profusely.

That afternoon, the school had to send emails to parents explaining the incidents and promising stricter safety measures. The toaster oven was quietly removed from the science lab.

The next day, the fire alarm went off again due to a prank played by a senior student, this time Johnny was in school early. All the students rushed out just to discover it was a prank, it wasn't funny to Johnny as it was for other students; instead, he was looking for his sister Sharon, until he saw her again safe. It was just a false alarm, but to Johnny, it was a call to be on alert in case it happened for real.

Thanks for your time and your comments will be appreciated.

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