1. THE BLACKOUT
It was a Friday evening and Tommy was munching popcorn in
front of the goggle box. He was so engrossed with the Smurfs
on the screen that he did not realise that his parents had
stepped out of the house to run an errand.
Suddenly, the screen and the lights blacked out! Tommy was
still slurping his coke and thought the Smurfs had
experienced a blackout. After a few moments, it dawned on
Tommy that the entire house was in blackness. He began to
cry for daddy and mummy but there was no response.
He got up from his sofa and began to grope his way to find a
torchlight. He found one but it slipped through his clumsy
hands. It was smashed to smithereens. He was still yelling for
his parents when the ringing of the phone pierced through
the silence and blackness of the living room. At least there
was some display light as the phone rang but to his horror,
the caller ID reads, “Mr Zombie”! At that moment, the
cuckoo clock struck 12 midnight. A chill ran down his spine.
He was scared out of his wits and cried for help.
Then he remembered the electrical circuit box which his
parents used to reset the switch whenever there was a
power trip. He staggered towards that direction and soon
found it but it was locked!

2. Then the door slowly creaked open, letting in a stream of
light from outside. Tommy was petrified with fear. However,
that was soon interrupted by the strain of the birthday tune
coming from the piano and a gush of greetings from his
parents and friends at the entrance.
Everyone wished Tommy “Happy Birthday” and that turned
out the best and most surprising birthday party he had ever
experienced! He did a gig for good measure as that night was
also the night he had learned to overcome his fear of
darkness!
By Mr Roland Tan