A House is Not a Home

1.0About the Author

Zan Gaudioso is an author based in California. She has contributed to the stories and has also edited the famous Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul III book series, The Buddha Next Door: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories. These books consist of short stories that seek to comfort and inspire readers.

Central Idea:

2.0Challenges in Teenage

The narrator has particularly discussed a real incident from his life that had a great impact on him as a teenager. He joined a new school and found it difficult to adjust to the new environment. He always felt lonely and isolated in his surroundings. He missed his teachers and friends from his old school and visited them often. His teachers told him to participate in extra-curricular activities in the new school to mingle with new people and to make friends.

One Sunday afternoon, he was doing his high school homework while sitting at the dining-room table in his house. It was a cold day and his cat was lying on top of all his papers, purring occasionally, while his mother was stoking the fire in order to keep the house warm and cosy. Out of nowhere, he suddenly noticed smoke coming in through the seams of the ceiling. In no time, the entire room was filled with smoke and the narrator along with his mother rushed out of the house and saw that the roof was engulfed in huge flames.

The narrator was panic-stricken and looked dazed as he ran to his neighbourhood to call the fire brigade. Meanwhile, his mother rushed into the burning house to collect all the important documents and some pictures of narrator's deceased father. The narrator was terrified when he saw his mother risking her life in order to get her things from inside the house. In the meantime, the fire brigade arrived and saved his mother. The firemen wrapped blankets around the narrator and his mother. Suddenly, the narrator recollected that his pet cat was missing and could not find her anywhere. He became upset and cried heartily on not finding his cat and assumed that his pet might have died in the fire.

The narrator's house was completely in debris. It took five hours for the firefighters to put out the fire completely. Later, narrator went to his grandparents' house with his mother to spend the night.

3.0Self Realization

The narrator went to school wearing the same clothes he wore the previous day and borrowed shoes from his aunt because of which he felt embarrassed. He was upset and felt insecure for his illcondition. For a moment, he felt a huge loss and missed his old school, teachers, friends, old house and his pet cat.

That day after school hours, he visited his old house and was shocked to see the havoc done by the fire. He saw that whatever hadn't burned was damaged by the water and chemicals used by the firefighters to put out the fire. He had lost everything except the documents, photo albums and some personal items that were saved by his mother.

Soon, the news of the fire spreaded to his new school and everyone was grief-stricken at his loss. The students of the high school helped him by providing notebooks, clothes, school supplies, etc. The narrator's heart was touched after seeing the concern of the people of his new school and was overcome by emotion. People who had never spoken to him approached him and offered to help him. Meanwhile, he also made new friends. He was happy and relieved that he was no more alone in his new school.

A month later, the narrator visited his old house and was watching it being rebuilt along with his new friends. Suddenly, a woman approached him and brought a cat along with her. The narrator was overjoyed to see his pet and was filled with gratitude for the lady for taking the trouble to find the rightful owner of the cat. He held the woman's arms and cried in happiness. His friends also hugged him and his cat jumped around merrily. The narrator recollected that it was indeed a great day of his life. He was grateful for everything - his life, his friends and the kindness of the lady who brought his cat to him. Thus, he felt that all the overwhelming feelings of loss and tragedy slowly seemed to diminish.

4.0Recall

• The narrator felt isolated in his new school after he had taken admission in the high school.
• His old school teachers and friends were dearer to him. They always encouraged him to participate in school activities and to make new friends.
• Once his house catches fire. He , together with his mother, ran out to the neighbours because they have to inform the fire department.
• His mother rushes to the home to save the metal box; pictures, documents and letters of narrator's his father.
• The firemen saved his mother. The narrator hugs his mother because he loved her.
• As the narrator loses everything in the fire, they have to go to grandparent's house so that they could spend the night.
• Next day, the narrator went to his school wearing weird clothes, borrowed shoes and with no backpack.
• The narrator was surprised by his schoolmates. They gave him school supplies, notebooks and all kind of different clothes.
• The narrator was touched by their concern and made many friends.
• A woman who found the pet cat of the narrator somehow managed to find him and gave his cat back to him.
• The narrator overcame the feeling of loss and pessimism and regained a new life.