Write a story with the ending “- he had learnt his lesson.”
It was an extremely hot day. The sun beat down mercilessly on Xiao Ming as he walked home from school. Every now and again, he took out a soaking wet handkerchief and mopped his brow with it. The road home was long and Xiao Ming’s bag was heavy. He began to grow weary and yearned for a cool drink to quench his thirst. So he could scarcely believe his eyes when he rounded a corner and saw a stall selling watermelon, papaya and guava slices.
At first, he thought it was a mirage resulting from the oppressive heat, especially as he had no recollection of any fruit stall at this particular corner. However, Xiao Ming was a pragmatic boy, not given to wasting time on speculation. He went up to the stall and gave it a kick. He missed though and his foot met with the cemented umbrella stand making him yell in pain. Only then did the stall keeper notice there was a customer. He looked up and gave Xiao Ming an oily smile. “Hot day isn’t it?” he said, swatting a fly away.
Xiao Ming made no reply. He seldom answered rhetorical questions. A fly buzzed past his ear. Another one landed on his nose and made him sneeze. A third one stopped on his sweaty shirt and cleaned its wings. Xiao Ming waved at them impatiently and they all flew off, only to hover over the fruits.
“How much?” he asked the stall keeper. “Sixty cents for any fruit,” said the man. The first fly landed on a slice of watermelon, the second stopped on the papaya, and the third cleaned its wings on a piece of guava. However, Xiao Ming didn’t notice. He thought the flies were papaya seeds. This was because his eyesight wasn’t very good but he could never be bothered to go to the optician.
“I’ll have one of each,” said Xiao Ming eagerly. He could almost feel the sweet, cool, fruit juices running down his parched throat. He paid the man and continued on his way home, sinking his teeth into the juicy fruit. The flies buzzed after him but decided to return to the fruit stall after a while.
Finally, Xiao Ming reached home. As he crossed the threshold, he was seized by an agonising pain in his stomach. Dropping his bag on the floor, he ran towards the toilet as fast as his legs could carry him. That was only the beginning.
Poor Xiao Ming spent the rest of the day in and out of the toilet. It was lucky that the next day was Saturday and he didn’t have to go to school. He felt miserable and thoroughly sorry for himself and vowed never to eat or drink anything that looked even remotely unhygienic ever again. He also told himself that he would visit the optician regularly to ensure perfect vision, corrected or otherwise. Indeed, he had learnt his lesson.
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