You were at the supermarket with your mother. All of a sudden, the fire alarm sounded.
It was two days to Chinese New Year. My mother told me that she had to do some last-minute shopping for the reunion dinner the following evening. She did not want to be caught in the massive crowd the next day.
Knowing that she would end up buying many foodstuffs, I volunteered to accompany her, on the condition she buys me an ice cream. She agreed and soon, we were on our way.
I sighed in dismay when we entered the supermarket. It was very crowded! In fact, we had problems moving from aisle to aisle. Many times, people kept knocking into me with their trolleys or baskets. I wished my mother would hurry. I was relieved when she finally said that she had got everything she needed. We pushed the fully loaded trolley to the cashier. My heart sank when I saw the snaking queues at each counter.
I decided to take out my mobile phone to play some games. Halfway through, the fire alarm sounded. Everyone froze for a minute or so, wondering how genuine the alarm was. It was like this, many alarms went off in shopping malls or buildings merely because the technicians were testing the alarms. Hence, many shoppers in the supermarket thought it was probably another testing of alarm.
It was until a voice came over the announcement system that there was a fire at the supermarket that all hell broke loose. My mother grabbed my hand and ordered me to follow her. The crowd went into frenzy and everyone was pushing and shoving to get out of the supermarket. My mother and I reached the exit quite quickly and we stood outside the building. Shoppers came running out one by one. Police officers and fire-fighters were already on standby. The supermarket was cordoned off by the police and the fire-fighters entered the building to check out the source of the fire as well as to put it out.
All the shoppers stayed on to see what the outcome of the fire was. Half an hour later, the fire-fighters came out and assured us that the fire had been put out. The manager of the supermarket spoke to everyone through a loud hailer. He apologised for the inconvenience caused and assured us that the company would compensate us by giving everyone a shopping voucher. He said that the fire was caused by an electrical fault and the fire was not a major one. However, as the supermarket would be closed for the day for the fire-fighters to carry out some investigation work, he asked the crowd to return the next day.
My mother was furious. She certainly did not want to return the next day. She decided to take a taxi to the supermarket a ten-minute drive away to continue with her shopping. I had no choice but to follow her. What an eventful day.
