It was the second term of my second year in Senior High School. This story happened in Senegal, by the way. In that term, I was reaching my peak when it came to being a serious student. I spent most of my time studying. We would stay in class to study even during the break when we were supposed to be out eating. We used to be called "learning machines." All we did was eat, sleep, learn, attend classes, learn again, and sleep. We did not have time for any other activities.

  That year’s first term saw my best friend and me jointly take second place in the class. This surprised everyone, including me, as I had never ranked higher than seventh since starting Senior High School. The other guys in the class told us we were just lucky that term and insisted we wouldn’t make the top four in the next one. That might sound arrogant or disrespectful, but they didn’t mean it that way. 

  In Senior High School, we competed against one another in football, academia, and other aspects of life. We competed not necessarily to show who was better but rather to spur one another on and increase our efforts. In the story "Healthy Competition Exists," I'll delve deeper into this. In our first year in Senior High School, a guy who was 16th in the first term said he would be in the top five by the end of the third term. When the results were released in the third term, lo and behold, he was the 4th in the class. His promise to us pushed him to learn extremely hard, and that yielded results. Honestly, when he first said it, we all laughed, but after he fulfilled his promise, we really respected him. This guy was one of the people who said my best friend and I would be out of the top four. You can imagine the fear within us, knowing very well his track record the year before.

  When they told us we would not be among the top four, I told them I'd definitely retain my position. My best friend did not say anything in particular. Maybe he felt his actions and results were the best way to respond. My friends' statements inspired me to work extra hard in my studies. By God's Grace, I was on course to retain my second position. I just had one big hurdle to cross. It was a Physics and Chemistry test. I knew if I had a good score on that test, the second position was mine.

  In fact, we had done some calculations comparing our averages, and I was ahead. You notice I haven't spoken about the first position, right? Well, that guy was way ahead of us. My goal was to maintain my second position that term and, if possible, try to compete with the chairman at the top in the next term. I just needed that to do well in the Physics and Chemistry test. Those close to me (on average) also targeted that test because they knew they could use it to snatch the second position from me.

  For about a week, I was seriously preparing for the test. The test was to be written on a Monday. That Sunday, I learned, learned, and learned. At 11 p.m., I was still studying; at 12, still studying, 1 a.m., I was still studying. While studying, I had one main issue, and that was mosquitoes. Mosquitoes were really biting me. Around 1:30 a.m., I decided to sleep because I knew I had to rest. I did not want to go to school late or sleep during the test. This test was too important to me. I just couldn't afford any errors. However, I was aware that the presence of mosquitoes would prevent me from having a decent night's rest. I chose to look for some mosquito coils. By God's Grace, I located some mosquito coils, but I could not locate a coil stand to mount the coil on. I searched and searched. I still could not find any. It was also getting late. I sincerely don't know what led to this unreasonable decision, but I ended up putting the coil on a bottle cover.

  To make matters worse, I placed it on the Ironing board. I seriously don't know what I was thinking. I don't know how I could be that stupid. Maybe I was feeling sleepy, or perhaps because I was rushing, or I thought I would wake up before the coil reached the bottle cover. Honestly, all these excuses are not good enough to forgive my actions. I seriously messed up. You can take a few seconds to contemplate what I did. You'll probably say a few rude words. I know I deserve it. .............

  Well, let's get back to the story. You should know that my mother was absent when this occurred and that my brother was already in Ghana. I went to bed around 2:30 a.m. The rest of the narrative was relayed to me by family members.

  Around 5:00 a.m., my younger sister claimed that she detected the smell of coil in her room. The distance between my room and that of my sisters was about 15 meters. She initially disregarded it because she thought my Dad had placed a coil on the corridor. After a while, she could smell it more and more. She informed my elder sister, who also assumed my Dad had placed a coil on the corridor. After around 15 minutes, the coil odor in their room spread throughout the entire room and was pretty potent. They then decided to open their door and find out what was causing this.

  When they opened the door, they saw sooooooo much smoke. They said it was so scary. They had trouble seeing anything in the corridor. The first thing they decided to do was try to call my Dad. They shouted "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy". They mentioned his name several times, but it was to no avail. My Dad said he heard them calling, but he thought they were calling my name (At home, everyone calls me Gabby). After a while, he realized they were still calling, so he rose from bed to come and ask me why I wasn't responding to my sisters' call. He opened his door only to see smoke everywhere.

  He could hear the voices of my sisters, so he knew they were safe. He hurried to unlock my door. He said that when he opened my door, the ironing board was on fire, and my room was filled with three times as much smoke as the rest of the house. He said he shouted "Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel". I did not respond. He said, "When I saw the smoke and the fact that Gabriel did not respond, I knew Gabriel was Dead." (This is where the title came from.)

  They say the love our parents have for us is incomparable. Even when everyone believes all hope is lost, our parents still believe it is possible. For my Dad to say "He knew I was Dead" meant he genuinely believed at that moment that I just could not survive what he saw. After calling out my name a couple of times, he quickly removed the iron plug from the socket and went to open the windows and doors to evacuate the smoke from the building. While he was doing that, my sisters came to my room and saw the burning ironing board. They then rushed to the bathhouse to fetch water to quench the fire. After some seconds, my Dad returned to my room, telling my sisters to go to the backyard and that it wasn't safe to inhale this smoke. He then decided to find my body in the billow of smoke. After a few seconds, my elder sister shouted, "Daddy, Gabriel is outside, Daddy, Gabriel is outside!".

  Yes, yes, yes!!!! Take a while and let it sink in; I was outside… I was really outside. This is where people start to imagine thousands of scenarios of how I ended up o. People begin to ask, "Was he outside before the Ironing board started burning?" obviously not; I slept in that room. Some people would also ask whether we sleep with doors open. No, we don't. Are you done imagining, or should I give you more time?

     Well, what I'm about to tell you obviously won't answer all your questions. I just want to tell you what I remember. I genuinely don't know how I ended up outside. I don't know whether I walked, flew, or vanished; all I remember was my younger sister shouting in my room, "Gabriel, fire, fire, fire, Gabriel, wake up, Gabriel, fire, fire, fire." It is possible I passed by her when my Dad was out opening the doors and windows. I don't remember hearing my Dad's voice or my elder sister's. I don't remember seeing them. In fact, I gained consciousness and realized I was outside when my elder sister shouted, "Daddy, Daddy Gabriel is outside."

  This is a big miracle. God was really gracious and merciful to me. He really was.

  We waited for a while for the smoke to leave the building. There was a good deal of smoke. A few neighbors stopped by to help but could not remain within the structure for more than a few seconds due to breathing difficulties. That's how bad it was. They were happy everyone was out and advised us to stay outside for a while.

  I'm sure you all are waiting to hear my Dad's reaction after I told him what really happened. If you have this thought, just know you have a sufficient level of wickedness within you, and you have to check it. Some are also saying, "If it was me, the way I'd slap him, erh, hmmm." Well, we have gotten to that part of the story.

After staying outside for about 30 minutes, we went back inside. Mind you, when we were in the backyard, my Dad kept asking how I came out of the building; I kept responding, "I don't know, Daddy, I don't know." We finally got inside!!!. When we got inside, he started complaining; he said, "I've told you, guys, always to remove the Ironing board plug from the socket, but you guys never listen." He assumed the socket sparked the fire; maybe someone forgot to switch it off. As he was complaining, my sister was crying. (My sister was 14 back then). When we were younger, my sister had some degree of fear of my father, so anytime there was a problem of any kind, she would frequently call either my older brother or myself to assist her in speaking with my father. I don't remember everything, but I remember my Dad blaming my younger sister (maybe she was the last to use the iron). After a while, I told him what really happened. He was so pissed, like really, really pissed. He said, "Gabriel, how can you make such a mistake? What were you thinking?". I'm sure you know how parents talk. He went on and on. While he was talking, my head was slightly bowed down. In Ghana, it is a way of saying I regret my actions. After scolding me for a while, he returned to his room angrily.

  After he left, my sisters said, "Hmmm, Gabriel, hmmm, we Thank God nothing happened to you." This is the funny part of the story and why I say God is really merciful. I caused the fire, yet everyone saw it; I didn't. I caused the smoke, but I did not even have an incline of what it looked like. When my Dad entered the room, I started teasing my younger sister, saying, "Gabriel, fire, fire, fire, fire." Both sisters burst into laughter and said I was not serious. Whenever my Dad came out, I put back my serious, regretful face. Even though I almost lost my life, it did not psychologically affect me because I did not see any of it. I would have probably ended up with trauma if I had seen everything. By God's Grace and Mercy, I didn't. My Family advised that I stay away from the room because I might have nightmares. I totally ignored their comments. I took the ironing board out and had a wonderful sleep that night, and all the other days, I slept in that room.

  This might be weird, but I really enjoyed my sleep the night I caused the fire, maybe because the smoke killed all the mosquitoes that night. I missed the test, by the way. Crazy, right? The test that almost cost me my life, I did not even end up writing it. And for those wondering whether I was able to maintain my second position. Yes, by God's Grace, I was the second in that term. My best friend finished fifth that term. That term was my last term in Senegal, though. In the story "Gabriel, the Crazy Decision Maker," I'll explain why that was my last term in Senegal.

  If you haven’t read my other stories, you can find them on the top left corner of the page. Don’t forget to share!!!!!!