Abila

Abila waved goodbye to her parents as they drove off. They were going for a dinner with some friends. Abila decided to stay at home as she had a lot of homework to do. As she settled down to do her homework, the lights suddenly went out. The house was in pitch darkness. Abila hoped that the electricity supply would be restored promptly but it was not. She groped her way to the kitchen, and switched on the gas stove. With the light, she went in search of candles. A strong wind was blowing. Unknown to her, the window curtain in the kitchen caught fire. The fire had spread quickly to the adjoining curtains when Abila came back with the candles. She rushed to the bathroom to get water to put out the flames but her efforts were in vain. Not knowing what else to do, Abila shouted of help. Her neighbors were already at her doorstep as they had seen smoke coming out of her house. Meanwhile, somebody had informed the fire-brigade. They quickly switched off the gas stove and then tried to put out the fire. The fire however, was out of control so they all rushed out of the house. The fire-brigade came at that moment and the firemen took another hour to put out the fire. Only the left wing of the house could be saved. Abila cried because she knew that she was the cause of the fire. When her parents returned, she explained what had happened. They forgave her but made her promise to be more careful in future.

in vain unsuccessful put out to make something that is burning, such as a fire or cigarette, stop burning