Picture Writing: False Fire Alarm by Jing Jie (unedited)

“Town A and Town B were 250km apart…” Mr Tan droned on and on. Half the class was asleep and Jeff and Jock, the two most mischievous boys in school were bored to tears.
Jock’s face suddenly brightened. He turned to Jeff and whispered, “Since everyone is asleep, let us wake them up with a loud ring! The school fire alarm should be loud enough.”
Jeff immediately agreed. The two boys tried ways and means to get out of class. As Mr Tan knew about their notorious record, he did not allow them to leave no matter what.
Finally, it was recess, the two boys sneaked up to the fourth floor and tried to break open the fire alarm near their classroom. Their efforts were futile, as every punch or kick merely rattled the thick pane of glass.
Jeff was starting to get annoyed by the “unbreakable” glass cover and dashed into the classroom, took his water bottle and scurried to the toilet. As he filled up the bottle, he told Jock to fill his bottle with ice cubes from the canteen.
Both were laughing with glee as they stood before the fire alarm. “ Take that!” Jeff hollered as he swung the bottle right into the glass pane. The pane of glass cracked but did not give way.
Jock swung his bottle, and the glass gave way to the smashes.
The sound that the alarm made was horrifying as it rang and rang like a mad rooster. The pupils from the first floor covered their ears as the teachers went about asking what had happened.
Jeff and Jock chortled in ecstasy. So happy were the boys that they did not see the towering figure looming behind them. The figure tapped their shoulders and they spun around to see that the principal was standing behind them, folding her arms and looking sternly at the boys.
Pulling them by the ear, the principal took the boys to her office and slammed the door behind her.
Turning around, she took a deep breath and gave Jeff and Jock a good dressing down. Then she opened a cabinet and told the boys to pick any cane they fancied.
The downheartened boys picked randomly as they winced at the thought of the rattan leaving red marks on their bottoms.
Again by the ear, she pulled them to the field, where everyone was assembled. She then ordered the boys to touch their toes.
“These are the troublemakers who have annoyed us with their antics. This is the last straw….” The principal spoke as she tool a long and thick cane out from the stash.
“Smack!” The cane had hit its mark, as Jock groaned in agony, falling to his knees. The next smack was for Jeff, and he too fell to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks.
The two boys went home with sore bottoms, and a very painful lesson.