Author Name: Gabriel Teo
Age: 12
School: Yew Tee Primary School

Black ominous clouds blanketed the dark grey sky, threatening everyone of a heavy downpour. A fork of sparkling bright lightning flashed, causing a crack to form in the sky. Countless of leaves were shed and came twirling in mid-air. A great clap of thunder then came close upon each other and soon, a sudden shower was released.

I was on my way back to school, sitting on my school bus. I looked out of the window, seeing the silver droplets of rain sliding around on the window. Then, all of a sudden, there was a thunderous thud and the bus screeched to a stop. I stood up and rushed to the driver to see what was happening. What I saw blew my mind away. I froze, mouth trout-like, agape in anticipation and heart racing. I could feel my stomach knot up and hair standing on its end. The sight of a gigantic tree crashing into a mini school bus sent shudders down my spine. That was the school bus transporting my younger sister home.

At that particular moment, I did not care about anything. All I wanted to do in the world was to get to that mini bus.

“Open the door!” I shouted to the bus driver.

“But…“he had hardly finished his sentence when I cut him off.

“Just get it open now!”

The bus driver nodded meekly and pressed a grey button. As soon as the door creaked opened, I dashed out of the bus. Despite the heavy downpour showering relentlessly on me, I just kept on running. When I reached the bus, I screeched to a halt in front of the door. I then started to bang continuously on the glass door.

“Let me in! Let me in!” I yelled.

Then, I realised that the bus driver was also unconscious. I quickly looked around frantically for a branch. I saw one, ran to it, picked it up and ran back to the bus. Then, I started to break the glass door.

After a few minutes of banging, I managed to break open the door. I immediately went in the bus and started screaming my sister’s name.

“Celestine! Celestine! Where are you?”

When I saw the dent that the tree had made, I thought there, for a split second, that all hope was lost. I fought back the tears as I searched frantically for Celestine. Then, I heard a soft sob. At first, I thought I was hearing things. But the sob grew louder and louder. I looked up and started towards the source of the sound. When I looked over the chair near the dent, I saw Celestine.

“Celestine! You’re alright!” I exclaimed.

“Y…Yes. Despite a s…small cut, I’m f…fine.” she stammered.

By that time, the Civil Defense had arrived. With a little help from them, we managed to pull out my sister. She was saved!

Later, after the ordeal, Celestine told me something.

“Brother, j…just now, w…when the tree was crashing on me, when I was anticipating death, there was a s…sudden moment when I t…thought I saw a sweet lady, i…in the bus. She smiled and w…waved at me and t…then the tree stopped, just like t…that…it just stopped.”

I was spooked.

“You must’ve been too scared then.” I replied.

“N…No. I am positive I saw her. I…I really did.”

When we stepped out of the bus, we realised that the rain had stopped and a rainbow arched across the horizon. It was a heavenly sight.

From that moment on, I knew that an angel had saved Celestine’s life. I clasped my hands together, made the sign of the cross and prayed, “Thank you, Lord. You have saved my sister’s life today. And for that, I am grateful to you. Amen.”