1. Integrity
If only we had been less insidious and more understanding. Every time when we, Melden,
Ray and I, the three best friends, came to the Science laboratory, we would remember that ominous
Monday when something extremely terrible happened to us.
"Ring......" the timely toll signalled the start of recess. All of the pupils rushed out of their
classrooms enthusiastically. Melden, Ray and I decided to play soccer outside the Science laboratory
as the school field was crowded with lots of people playing happily. Floating in ebullience, we passed
the soccer ball to each other skilfully when, suddenly, Ray kicked the soccer ball so hard that it flew
straight towards a fish tank outside the laboratory.
Within the blink of an eye, the ball crashed into the fish tank full of fishes swimming around
happily. When we reached the fish tank, our eyes widened with horror as we saw water gushing out
of the gaping hole on the glass panel. Some of the unlucky fishes were already on the concrete floor.
They were twisting and wriggling their bodies with their mouths open, trying to breathe. My friends
and I were transfixed by the scene in front of us. We were too shocked to react and stood rooted to
the ground, paralysed with fear.
After we came back to our senses, we realised that we were facing a moral dilemma. Then,
Melden suggested that we should run away. Without a second thought, we fled. As we were
running, we accidentally bumped into our form teacher, Miss Tay. We felt a chill run down our
spines. We mustered our courage and told her about what that had happened. When Miss Tay
heard everything, she was livid with anger. It seemed like steam was pouring out from her ears and
nose. Seething with ire, she gave us a tongue-lashing. We had to pay for the repair fees and also get
new fishes for the fish tank. We were also caned by our parents for being so careless.
We learnt our lesson well.
