15/08/2026
I stepped on the fifth wooden plank, and within seconds, my spotless reputation came crashing down, along with my dignity, my confidence, and every hope I had of remaining clean that day.
It was a hot sunny afternoon. I was at my mum’s office assisting in every possible way I can. I had always been the most careful of my two siblings. I valued cleanliness as though it were a treasure more precious than gold. I never imagined getting dirty at any point in my life, never!
Prior to that day, my mum had consistently warned me about the wooden planks, popularly called “pako” in our area. There were five of them lined up beside each other. They had served my mum’s customers for about five years, so they had become extremely weak, especially the ones at the edges. But the fifth plank was the one I loved and always chose to step on every time. Maybe because I have always loved the shortest distance possible – I think I should put the blame on my Math Tutor in school for teaching me the Pythagoras Theorem.
As fate would have it that day, as I hurried to cross to the next shop, I stepped on the plank and it broke. It broke my heart. It chose to end my love for it that day. As the plank snapped, my heart jumped. I tried to leap to safety but it was too late. I tried to fly—apparently, my wings had forgotten to grow. Then I gave up and found myself soaked with black water, my once beloved plank beside me broken into two, a part on my left and the other on my right.
At that point, I remained there not knowing what to do again. People started to gather, some of my peers bursting into laughter. I was deeply embarrassed, or I thought I was. Then my mum noticed and that was the beginning of the end.
Oh! She started shouting as she approached me. My senses came back to me and I quickly jumped out from the gutter. Immediately, she sent me back home to go clean up myself. I pray that day never repeats itself again because after washing with the little water left in a bowl, I had to walk back home with some black sediments still on me. I became the center of attraction that day and the more I walked faster, the more the journey seemed longer. It was a dreadful experience.
Eventually, I reached my home and I had a proper wash. I also had a rethink because it was as if I had lost my cleanliness crown. Teasing from my two other siblings continued for weeks. I could never forget that experience because I learnt a valuable lesson from it. That day taught me that heeding even the simplest warnings could prevent the biggest embarrassments.
