Short story continued from last week. Find out what happens to William and his friends as they spray the Fire Extinguisher around their classroom and corridor!

1. William and the Fire Extinguisher continued from last week.
Things had turned far worse than William had thought! William who had wanted to find out about the Fire Extinguisher
found himself stuck in the bathroom on the ground floor. They washed themselves. William and his 3 friends that had
come on the journey were covered in some kind of dust. They were washed themselves as much as they would. They
washed their heads, they washed their hands, their uniforms and a lot of other things around them.
Whilst they were washing themselves someone had accidentally thrown a bucket of water at Angelo. This incident had
led to an extremely lethal water fight. They had splashed themselves with buckets of water. Luckily for them it was
afterschool and this particular bathroom belonged to the Montessori section of the school. The Montessori happened to
be at an extreme corner of the school which in turn meant that noise would not be heard outside.
Once everything was over they had to plan about getting outside! If they got caught now the troubles would increase
and so would the punishment because they had not just used the Fire Extinguisher but soaked themselves from head to
foot as well. They had also broken a tap in the process.
By now the principal would have visited the scene of crime! The possibility was very high.
The security guards would have been informed to keep track of the children that were leaving the school premises. All
this was going through little Williams mind. They only had one method. They had to jump over the wall behind the
principal’s office.
This method was extremely dangerous because the wall was right behind the principal’s office but this was the only wall
William would climb. There was another wall but that was too high.
They had never jumped over that wall before but William had enough experience with walls to know that they could
jump over that wall easily. The only problem was to go there unseen.
Again William came up with a plan. They would get to the school building and then quietly walk towards the office. If
they heard footsteps or saw the principal they would hide themselves in a class or run! Under Williams leadership!
Almost like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 4, his friends and William started walking towards the office. They came
close to the office and so far they had no problems.
Here was the part that they had to be most careful at! They had find out if the principal was in his office and again they
had to find out if there were security guards close to the office.
Without much trouble the four managed to get themselves out of the school. William was the only one that had doubts
in his mind. All the others were cheerful thinking the matter was settled.
“You know what day it is tomorrow?’ said William
“Tomorrow is Friday, which means we have school tomorrow” he continued
For the moment however things were settled.
William at the end when they parted told all his friends.
“Make sure you turn up to school tomorrow, if one of us doesn’t turn up tomorrow the principal would surely have him
at the office on Monday and then that would be the end of it”
As planned all four turned up at school on the following day. The dust had been cleared.
They entered the class, one at a time, each looking behind the nervously. William and his friends again sat down quietly,
very much different to how to they would usually enter the class throwing the bag against the chair and sitting down
themselves on the desk!

2. Friday passed without any incidents. At the end of the day they were much more cheerful. Again while they were
returning home the four were quite jubilant. William however had a more serious face.
He had been the last to scramble over the wall. He had turned back and through a classroom he had seen his principal
peering at them.
How much had he seen, was the problem but then again if he had recognized their faces then he would have called
them up at the office thought William.
So far they were safe. The weekend passed without much issue.
William had passed a message to his friends on Friday, telling them not to come to school on Monday. William had
planned to skip school on Friday.
“Four children absent from the same class. Don’t you think that’s too fishy?” was Trevins reply
William was able to convince the others into staying at home. Staying at home was not easy especially at William’s
place. He had once read in a book that applying soap on the face and not washing it with water would make the eyes
look like they were sore.
Would his mother believe the sore eyes trick?
And William had not actually read it. An older brother from his school had told William about the little trick. He had told
William that he had read it in a book that he had read.
Would William believe this?
Well William had no option at the present but to try this and that is what he did. He had gone to sleep hiding a bar of
soap under his pillow.
Early next morning William woke up 10 minutes earlier than usual. He applied some water on his cheeks from the glass
of water on his study table and then applied the soap all over his cheeks. This brother had asked William to be very
careful when applying the soap to the eyes, he had told William not to apply the soap to his eyes.
William followed the instructions very carefully. He applied a lot of soap on to his cheeks but made sure the soap did not
contact his eyes. After he had applied the soap on his cheeks. He went back to bed. He waited impatiently for his mother
to come. She didn’t come, however his father did. His father pulled off his blanket and yelled
“Now you little rascal tell me, why the hell does your principal want me in his office?”
William was bewildered. He pinched himself to make sure he was not dreaming. He was not dreaming but why on earth
would the principal call his father.
Without replying to his father. He got up and ran to the bathroom to wash his face.
“I have to act like I don’t know anything.” William thought to himself
William washed his face and came out.
I don’t know what you are talking about was his reply.
He got himself ready. Whatever the situation was he had to face it. He was not a boy that would run away from
problems. He would face them.
“You need to take the bull by the horns,” his English teacher would often tell them on Monday mornings.
Here he definitely was going to take the bull by the horns. Going to meet the principal with his father was definitely
worse than taking the bull by the horns. If he would put it, it would be more like taking two bulls by their horns. Would
he be able to tackle the bulls he thought to himself while chuckling silently looking at his father?

3. That journey to meet the principal with his father was a journey that would remain in his memory for a long time.
William had a gut feeling that something was wrong and usually Williams gut feelings were always right. He had a gut
feeling that his principal may have recognized his face as he turned to look back.
If that was the case then William would not betray his friends. He would tell his principal that he had used the Fire
Extinguisher and that he had done it alone.
William knew he was in trouble. His thoughts were spot on. What he had got wrong was the fact that the principal must
have seen his face.
The principal had been looking at the proceeding the whole time. He had seen the four boys scramble over the wall. He
had recognized the four boys the instant he had seen them.
And it was not just William that was punished. It was William and his friends that were punished. All the other parents
had turned up in school as well.
The parents had to pay for the damage of the broken taps. The children were advised severely.
William had escaped! At least for the time being. Now he had to face his father. His father had been silent the whole
time and then he would have to face his mother.
He knew what to do. He had to do exactly what his English teacher would tell him on Mondays.
He would have to take the bull by the horns. He had handled one bull but now at home there were a number of bulls.
Life didn’t seem worth living! But then he thought about the little moment of splashing the Fire Extinguisher aiming it at
Trevin. That little moment of happiness was definitely worth all the trouble he had got into.
Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
Keep reading and invite your friends on the journey.
Cheers <3
Ramith Dheerasekera