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Continuous Writing (Sample Narrative Essay)

Write a story that begins with 'I did not know what happiness was until...'
I did not know what happiness was until my aunts caring words sank into me on
my graduation day. There she was sitting on the front pew, looking at me with
lovingeyes, proudly as I stood on the stage giving a speech. She was my angel. She
protectedme and cared for me since the demise of my parents. As an orphan, it was not
easy for me to get acquainted to strangers. I had built a wall over the years to protect
myself from being hurt. The fatal incident of a robbery leftme broken and shattered. I
could vividly remember the
the world. Im still here for you, she advised and encouraged me.
but I cant forget them. Why me? Why my family? I asked knowing that there was no
answer to that.
Who said that you must forget them? God loves them and that is why He took them in
His care. You should be grateful that He still wants you to live their legacy, to care for the
unfortunate. They would be sad if you keep wasting your youth away, she rationalized
with me and gave me a big hug to comfort me and take my doubts away.Fortunately, her
caring words and actions awakened me. I picked myself up fromfeeling worthless and
hopeless. I was only fifteen then. However I strived hard and Isucceeded.Today, I am
celebrating freedom. Freedom from the bondage of anger and hatred. And I am
celebrating this new joy, this new me with my loving aunt. Without hersupport, I would
not have made it.By: Ainul (Form 5S1,
2010) ________________________________________________________
____
I didnt know what happiness was until the unfortunate mishap. I have never
been disappointed by the beauty of mother nature. It has taught me a lot about
appreciating Gods gifts.
The story began on a bright Friday morning. I packed my bags and was ready totake on
the adventure of camping in the jungle. At first, I was reluctant to go but after being
cajoled by my persistent friends, I finally gave in. It was a trip for sheer relaxationand
nature learning. All six of us

Ainul, Dayang, Farah, Suhaila, Yus and I finally

agreed to meet up at the schools bus stop before embarkin
g on our journey into the virgin forest. As I was half way walking towards the school, it
suddenly started raining. I
hastened my steps to the schools bus stand. Luckily for me, it started pouring when I
arrived near the school. Only then, I realized that I was 10 minutes late for the meeting.
Where have you been? We promised to be here at exactly 11 a.m., Ainul barked out.
Sorry, I had to run some errands for my mom and there was a storm out there,
Iexplained. Anyway, were all here. So, lets not waste anymore time. Lets go, I
quickly
added so that Ainul would not dwell on the subject.Thankfully, the rain lasted for five
minutes only. We hopped onto a bus headingtowards Indah Park. I was not sure if we
were ready for a steep and winding climb up thehill in this wet condition. We arrived at
the hillside alas and began to hike up about amile of the Gagak trail.It was a harsh climb
as we were carrying heavy 10 kilo bag packs complete withsleeping bags, canned food

and bottles of mineral water. I was the only one bringing thetent as the others did not
possess one. Along the climb we stopped to rest for at leastthree times. At one place, we
encountered a huge snake hissing at us from a bush about

S.M.K Muhibbah, Batu 4,Jalan Cecily Utara, 90000 Sandakan,Sabah

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10 metres away. We were lucky not to be bitten by it. We caught glimpse of the
beautifulhornbills, bluebirds and a Rufous Collared Kingfisher. After approximately forty
minutesof walking, we finally arrived at our destination, in the middle of an open forest
quitenear to the breathtaking Indah Waterfall.
Now, lets start pitching the tent, Yus ordered. We loyally obeyed her command as we
were the ones who chose her to be the group leader, being the oldest among us. It
wasalready noon and we took out cans of sardines and loaves of bread for lunch before
doingmore exciting activities of discovering nature. Yus and Suhaila went to fetch some
water,Farah and Ainul prepared the meal, Dayang laid out a mat for us to enjoy the
moment of leisure in the forest. I was instructed to search for firewoods.
Dont go too far out, Yus reminded.
Happily I went on my way gathering as many branches and twigs as I came across
on my path. This should be enough for at least two days, I thought to myself as I had
collected a bundle of them. As I turned around, I suddenly tripped over a branch and fell
down flat on my leg. Ouch! My ankle, I moaned. I could not lift myself up as the pain
on my twisted ankle was excruciating. I did not realize I was too far away from the
tent.Moreover, I left my mobile
with Yus. How can I ask for help? I wonder. At moment likethis, all I could think of
was my teachers advice. If you are lost in the forest, you need to
sit quietly at that particular spot until someone finds you. This will ease the searching
work. I
did exactly that. Sit and wait.Staring at the sky, it had grown darker. The dark grey cloud
was pregnant withrain. I prayed hard that someone in my group would notice that I was
missing.
Tickticktick. The sound of water dropping onto the leaves. I
gathered all my strength,lifted my hips and tried to move to a big tree nearby. Before I
could even blink my eyes,the rain started pouring cats and dogs. I sat myself under the
huge tree, holding the bundle of firewood to my chest. All kinds of thoughts came to my
mind.
I shouldnt have come. There have been too many obstacles. Its afternoon and it
doesnot look like it, I whined. Did I make the wrong decision? I questioned myself.
I must have dozed off. When I opened my eyes, the thick lianas hanging andgripping
onto the hundred- foot-tall trees greeted me. I could hear the sound of thecreatures of
the forest. Insects chirping, the geckos in the hide calling. It was strangely soothing. I felt
at peace as the symphony continued to play in my ears.
Sheeda! Where are you? Ainuls call came piercing into my ears.
Hey! Im over here, I shouted back in relief. I saw my friends running towards me. I
told them what had happened. Dayang and Suhaila kindly helped me up while Ainul
and Yus got into the motion of snapping pictures of the nature.In the end, we spent the
three-day break enjoying the beauty of mother nature. Irealized that I had made the right
decision.By: Nursheeda (Form 5S1, 2010)

Disappointment, disbelief and fear filled my mind as I lye on my side, sandwiched between the
cold, soft dirt and the hot, slick metal of the car. The weight of the car pressed down on the lower
half of my body with monster force. It did not hurt, my body was numb. All I could feel was the car
hood's mass stamping my body father and farther into the ground. My lungs felt pinched shut and
air would neither enter nor escape them. My mind was buzzing. What had just happened? In the
distance, on that cursed road, I saw cars driving by completely unaware of what happened, how I
felt. I tried to yell but my voice was unheard. All I could do was wait. Wait for someone to help me
or wait to die.
The third maddening buzz of my alarm woke me as I groggily slid out of bed to the shower. It was
the start of another routine morning, or so I thought. I took a shower, quarreled with my sister over
which clothes she should wear for that day and finished getting myself ready. All of this took a
little longer than usual, not a surprise, so we were running late. We hopped into the interior of my
sleek, white Thunderbird and made our way to school.
With music blasting, voices singing and talking, it was another typical ride to school with my sister.
Because of our belated departure, I went fast, too fast. We started down the first road to our
destination. This road is about three miles long and filled with little hills. As we broke the top of
one of the small, blind hills in the middle of the right lane was a dead deer. Without any thought,
purely by instinct I pulled the wheel of the car to the left and back over to the right. No big deal but
I was going fast. The car swerved back to the left, to the right, to the left. Each time I could feel
the car scratching the earth with its side. My body jolted with the sporadic movements of the car.
The car swerved to the right for the last time. With my eyes sealed tight, I could feel my body float
off the seat of the car.
I opened my eyes to see the black road in the distance above me. I could feel the cold ground on
the side of my body. I couldn't move and couldn't understand why. It had happened so quickly. I
lay there until my mind comprehended what had happened. I was wedged between the hood of
the car and the dirt. The car rustled, every movement of the car pierced my body. It was my sister.
She was okay. I could see her slowly crawl out of the back seat window then tear away. I opened
my mouth to yell her name but air failed to escape my lips. Gasping like a fish out of water, I
dreamily lied there until someone would help.
I heard an uneasy voice in the distance, "Betsy! Oh my God! Betsy!" It was my dad. I was
disappointed and embarrassed of myself. I had let him down. My voice yelled for help as my heart
beat rapidly with fear and relief. The car jiggled. I could feel the weight of the car lift slowly off me.
For the first time, intense pain struck my lower half. "Crawl out of there," someone yelled to me. I
pushed against the ground with all my might but I couldn't move. The pain was excruciating,
nevertheless I could not feel the lower half of my body. I felt paralyzed. Still struggling to move, I
felt strong arms glide around my shoulders and under my armpits. They drug me out of the way of

the falling car. My dad had saved me. As I lye on the weed covered ground, several people
surrounded me. I dreamily looked around and saw my sister sitting Indian style next to me,
plastered in blood. She had run barefoot to the nearest house to call 911 and my dad. She was
my angel. We sat there in shock. Was it just a dream? Everything had happened so fast. Every
minute lying on that dirt felt like a lifetime. Strangers kept poking every inch of my body and
prodding me with questions that I didn't have answers to. Finally, the ambulance arrived. They
rushed over to my sister and I. They asked me a number of questions that I obliviously answered
and started to get me ready to go. With a bright orange brace around my neck they slowly pushed
me onto a stiff backboard. Each tiny movement they made pierced my lower half like a knife. We
finally made it into the ambulance and made our way to the hospital.
My sister and I were sent to Delta Hospital. My sister was all right. She had stitches in her eye,
head and elbow. I was relieved that she was not severely injured. I don't know what I would have
done if something extremely bad had happened to her. I was sent to the Denver Memorial
Hospital, where I went under surgery that same night around midnight. A plate was put on my
hipbones to help them stay together. I was in the hospital for six days and in a wheel chair for
around eight weeks.
I have now realized how precious life really is and that it can be taken away in a single minute.
This is even easier when you are driving a car. One little mishap can result in extreme injury or
even death. I am lucky that my sister is all right and that I lived. I will never forget that moment
when I was lying on the ground, disappointment flooding my mind, waiting.