A BBQ Tragedy

I am going to relate a true story: It was the 21st of March. Tom and Jane,between them, were holding a barbecue dinner for their parents’ wedding anniversary. They were not very well off, their parents being low paid immigrants. Hence they did not have a proper gas grill . But they had seen families enjoying barbecues on TV and they wanted a piece of the pie too. Tom was creative, he found an old tin bath that someone had thrown out. He filled it with dry twigs and topped it with some coal. Twelve year old Jane looked on with awe as she saw her elder brother make all the preparations. He was only three years her senior but seemed to her to be a lot older and wiser. Their small yard, which they had tried to decorate, looked quite festive in the twilight. Jane set out plates, cutlery, and a small cake on a table while Tom lit the fire. They had asked their parents to remain indoors until everything was ready. Tom was trying to grill the steaks he had got from the budget section of the local supermarket but they were taking a very long time to cook. “It’s almost dinner time. Aren’t the steaks done yet?” Jane asked her brother. “This fire is not big enough,” her brother replied, “Dad keeps a can of petrol in the shed. Run and get it Jane, maybe it helps the flames.” Jane quickly brought the petrol. Tom carefully took the pan with the steaks off the fire. Then he doused the coal with a liberal dash of petrol. In less than a second the small coal fire grew into large flames that rose up catching Tom’s face. For a moment, Jane stood petrified, then she ran indoors screaming. Their parents put out the fire and rushed Tom to the hospital. Their wedding anniversary was spent in the Emergency Room. Thankfully, the burns were superficial and Tom recovered in a couple of weeks. Both children learned a very important lesson: never pour a flammable liquid on anything hot or even on a small fire. Their parents learned something too: never let youngsters near a fire unsupervised, no matter how much they may beg you to.       In response to the following prompts; 3TC; March, Gas, Between FOWC; Barbecue Word of the day Challenge; Twilight Photo by Arthur Savary on Unsplash