I knew what to do.

Everywhere around me there was complete havoc, but I was in control. Complete and utter control.

The siren blared out in warning to everything and everyone. I imagined the sprinklers turning on, left right and centre. Some people dropped their shopping; other people took it with them as they made their way to the exit doors. My mother didn’t know what to do but gesture at me to hold her hand and to come with her.

I didn’t remind her who she was gesturing to, even though I felt like doing just that.

I knew what this was.

It was a fire.

And fortunately for everyone I was the boss of fire safety.

The fire people had come to our school a few weeks ago; they told us what to do in case of a fire. They even had a quiz that confirmed I knew the most about fire safety in my class. I had a certificate to prove it. I was the king in this situation. I held the power; I knew exactly what the right thing to do was.

Not minding anybody else, I stopped in the middle of the bread section, dropped in front of the wholemeal and multi-grain, and rolled. It was a minute late, because a few seconds before I started rolling, the speakers in the supermarket had calmed everyone by telling them it was a practise drill. People stood shell shocked for a second, before continuing doing whatever they were doing prior to the chaos. That was unless they were near to the bread section and had the privilege of seeing me, giving the floor a good cleaning.

In oblivion, I rolled all the way from wholemeal, into the gluten-free section and back to my mother’s feet. Strangers passing by laughed openly at how weird but cute I was, my father turned into the isle just in time so see me making a final roll. Giggling, Mum picked me up and sighed into my slightly sticky hair. 

“Junhong-ah! You only stop, drop and roll when you’re actually on fire!”

Dad gave me a reassuring pat on the back stopping me from bursting into tears. I clutched onto his finger for dear life, frowning at the people who found it absolutely necessary to coo at me.