That day

Day 14. Describe an event that changed your life forever, or make up and describe an event that would change your life forever (2)

The event that changed my life forever happened in my fourth grade. It was a typical spring day outside - not too hot, not too cold - and I was preparing for school. Textbooks, check, notebooks, check, pens and pencils, check, school report notebook, check. Here, my backpack is ready. Time to leave for school. I fasten my shoe laces, lock the inner and the outer door of our apartment and go out in the block's hallway. Three floors of stairs fly by as I descend downwards greeting the elderly neighbors at our floor. I go out on the street and I feel the shining sun and the breezing blowing slightly. I sense that something wonderful will happen today. I set off for my school which is seven streets away. Most of the streets are small local streets but the one in the middle, the forth street, is a major one and there a lot of hurried people crossing it. Because of the traffic I had to stop and wait for a minute or two so that the cars clear our. While I was waiting, I saw a young man at the other side, walking towards the street. He was staring at a magazine and feverishly reading it, while listening to music. He probably had his headphones blasted at max because he didn't notice the traffic at all. He continued walking and started crossing the street. Cars started blowing their car horns but the guy still would not notice them. One of the cars barely evaded him and its driver was at a hair's breath away from crashing into a pole. About three quarters past the street the young man lifted his head and saw what was happening around him. It was just in time because one car was about to run him over. He dropped the magazine and jumped for the sidewalk. The car grazed him but he was alright. I went and helped him get on his feet but he was too shocked to think at that moment. I made him sit down and gave him my water bottle. My parents always told me that water could calm scared people. A minute later, when the cars cleared out, I got his magazine and handed it back to him but he refused to take it. He thought that it was cursed and went back on his way after thanking me for my help. I was really curious about what exactly was he staring at that he forgot what he was doing. Because I was almost late for school and I put it my backpack and ran for the school. I barely managed to arrive on time. During school I forgot about the magazine but when I went back home, walking through the big street I remembered the incident. A few minutes afterwards I was at home and I was really excited to see open the magazine. I opened my backpack and picked it up. It was in a very bad condition because it was lying down under the cars' tires but it was whole and that was good enough for me. It had a shiny cover with colorful cover of a mummy's sarcophagus. Its title was "The treasure of Tutankhamun". It had a bright yellow border around it and looked really nice. It was called National Geographic. Apparently, I had acquired the first issue of NG ever printed in my home country. I started reading it and looking at its pictures and then I understood why that guy was staring at it with such intensity. It's like entering a new world! The photo images were breathtaking and the articles were way more interesting that any other magazine that I had read. It was so interesting that my mother had to shake me up in order to grab my attention. I could have been under the cars' tires if I opened it before coming back from school. Anyway, when I read it from cover to back a few times and looked it up on the internet and saw that it was a monthly issue. I immediately stopped spending my pocket money and started waiting for the next issue. From reading the different issues, I started dreaming of travelling to different countries, speaking to other people and taking wonderful pictures. I was so fascinated by that magazine that I wanted to live the life of a NG photojournalist. If I hadn't encountered that unlucky guy with the NG magazine I probably would have never seen the wonder of National Geographic and I probably wouldn't be the same person right now.