Hello there readers! My name is Raghav and this is a piece about my experience on how I almost got caught by the police. I chose this piece because I wanted to let others know what I did was wrong. I also wanted to tell the readers that don’t do the same thing I did. Before you guys read this story, I want to clarify some things. The first clarification is that the story takes place in an apartment complex. The second clarification is that the Island (mentioned throughout the story) is a name that my friends gave to a concrete circle with tons of grass and stones on it. This is also where the incident happened. The third clarification is that the fire was started in a rock that had a hole in it. That’s all you guys need to know! Happy Reading!

In a country far, far, away, a group known as the Blaze existed. A group binded by one promise: I, as a member of Blaze, shall never reveal what happened during the summer of 2018, neither today, tomorrow, nor after my death. As a member of the group, I am binded by the same promise. But here I am, betraying my bond with the Blaze, to tell you what happened at that time…

At the Island…

It was 9:30 at night; my friends and I were working on to getting the test trial started for the past 30 minutes…

“Ready guys?” I asked, holding my jacket against the rock to block the wind.

“Wait a sec,” one of my friends said. They were trying to light up the matchstick, but it kept dying.

“You guys better light it up quickly!”

“Hey, why don’t you do it? You’ll see how hard it is.”

Good grief! He’s an angry bird! I thought.

“Maybe adding more tinder will help,” I said, picking up some dry grass from the ground.

“We’ll take care of that; just hold the jacket straight,” my friend replied, shrugging off the idea like it were a annoying fly.

“Anyways, we should probably get going. The neighbourhood has windows you know.”

“We’ll be fine. Just wait a fe-”

“I think he’s right man. We should probably get going.”

“Alright, Alright. But we’re coming back tomorrow to do this.”

“Agreed.” With excitement and adrenaline running through my veins , I started walking back to my pavilion.

About 29 hours later,

Back at the Island…

CRACK!

“Guys! The wood! It light up! We did it!”

“Let me see this.” I squeezed myself through the overwhelming crowd that surrounded the rock to see a petite fire, dancing amid the darkness that encompassed it.

“Dude, what are you waiting for! Add more tinder before the fire dies!” I urged him.

“Right.” He took some wood chips and started placing them in a teepee shape around the fire. We watched as the fire slowly ate the molecules in the wood chips; as it slowly grew from an infant, to a teenager, and to an adult in a matter of minutes.

“Stop right there!” My heart skipped a beat. I slowly turn around to see a old lady staring at us.

“What are you four kids doing?”

“Uh…” my friend grabbed me by the shoulder.

“We were just helping our friend with his Boy Scout stuff. He needed to start a camp fire, so we were helping him do that,” he lied.

“So, I assume that y’all were thinking of starting a fire here?”

This time around, I take the lead. “Yes ma’am”

“I also assume that y’all already started the fire?”

“Yes ma’am.” We moved away from the rock, so the lady can see the fire inside it.

“You kids know that somebody could have called the police, right?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then, why are you guys doing this?”

“Were really sorry ma’am.”

“Just stop the fire. I won’t call the police on you guys because my son did the same thing when he was your age and destroyed a garage. Make better choices next time, alright?”

“We're really sorry ma'am. We won’t do this again.” We hurriedly stomped out the fire and slowly walked away from the abomination.

At the Apartment Complex…

“WERE ALL GOING TO DIE! MY COLLEGE, CAREER, AND EVERYTHING IS DESTROYED! WHY DID WE EVEN DO THIS! WHAT IS THE POLICE CATCH US! WE’RE FOR SURE SPENDING THE REST OF OUR LIVES IN JAIL. AHHHH!” My friend was freaking out.

“Keep it down! We’re not going to jail for this little thing! Even if we do, we’ll be jail mates!”

“Ha! Good one Raghav!” For the next few minutes, life on earth didn’t make a single noise. It was like the world understood how pressured we felt and thought, Why add more burden to them? Let’s stay silent for a few minutes. Because their intuition, a thought popped up in my head.

“Guys!”

“What?”

“Get over here.”

“Just leave us alo-”

“It’s really important.”

“Fine.” Everybody got up and walked up to me.

“Place your palms over mine.” I extended my arm so everybody can do so.

“Now repeat after me: I, as a member of Blaze,”

“I, as a member of Blaze,”

“Shall never reveal the truth about this day,”

“Shall never reveal the truth about this day,”

“Neither today, tomorrow, nor after my death.”

“Neither today, tomorrow, nor after my death.”

“Three, two, one, BLAZE OUT!”