Narrative Essay Writing Sample II

Write a story starting with: “The widow had to work hard to bring up her little son alone...”

The widow had to work hard to bring up her little son alone. This was after her husband’s early death. She and her son lived in a wooden house. It was a small house with only one bedroom and a kitchen.

Mariam wanted Sam to study hard to get good result. So she would not let Sam help her do any household chores or wash his own clothes. The years flew by. Sam sat for his SPM examination and pass with flying colours.

His mother was very happy. She went round telling her friends, “My Sam will be leaving for the city to study in a college. He will become a Manager one day. I’ll move to live with him in the city. Then, my struggle is worth it.”

So Mariam continued to work hard to send money to Sam who was studying a business degree. For Mariam, it was a tough life. Meanwhile, Sam kept on phoning home to ask for more money. Mariam even had to borrow from her neighbours and friends to send her son the money.

Three years Sam stopped calling home. He did not even let his mother where he was. When she phoned the faculty, they told her that he had graduated and left for job. However, they could not her more. Mariam was baffled. Where was Sam? She was so sure he would come back and fetch her for city. So, she started to pack some of her bags and boxes.

Three months later, there was still no news or call from Sam. One day, Mariam’s niece, Kate, came to talk to her about Sam. She told her aunt, “Auntie, a friend of mine met Sam in a bank. He’s the branch manager. This is his address.”

Early in the morning, Mariam took the first bus to the city. At the bus station, she took a taxi and showed the taxi driver the bank address. On the way there, she told the driver about Sam and what a filial son he was.

The driver stopped his taxi in front of a tall building. She got out of the taxi and smiled at him happily. This was the moment she was going to meet Sam. She imagined him showing surprise and delight at meeting his mother. Inside the building, a security guard asked her who she was looking for. She told the guard Sam’s name.

The bank staff saw an old lady holding a worn-out handbag. They were wondering, “Who is this woman? Why is she asking for our manager?”

Meanwhile, Sam pretended he did not know his mother. Feeling disgusted and ashamed, he asked the security guard to ask her to leave. Mariam was shocked to hear that! She looked Sam in a disappointed feeling ever, and ran out of the bank.

Back in her house, Mariam cried the whole night. She cried and cried till she had no more tears. The next morning, she was sitting by the window with Sam’s photo on her lap. She saw him walking towards their house. Soon she was shouting and crying, “My Sam is back! My Sam is back!”

Sam ran towards her and hugged Mariam as he never let go. He was so sorry and regretted the way he behaved. His colleagues were the one who made him realized his big mistakes neglected his mother.

The neighbours heard her. They too shouted and cheered, feeling happy for her.

Narrative Essay Writing Sample I

Write a story based on the following: “The owner of a local business takes strong action when threatened by outside competition.”

Mr. Johnson, the owner of the only general store in our neighborhood, was a very rude and mean person. He used to charge very high prices because of his monopoly. Despite his goods being very expensive and of very low quality, the residents of our area, including me, bought from his store as we had no other alternatives. Many a times the items I bought from his store were expired but I had to go on buying from his store.

After many years of misery, a handful of the residents opened a consumer co-operative with much effort and investment. They offered discounts along with good quality products. The staff employed in their general store was also nice, polite and soft-spoken.

The immediate impact on Mr. Johnson’s business was that his sales fell rapidly and he started incurring losses. To cope up with the new threat, he started advertising extensively. He also brought in new merchandise and diversified his product range but even then his market share kept on declining at a great pace. Mr. Johnson was much aggrieved at this and started planning other ways to gain back his lost market share and customers likewise.

Another strategy he used was to sell his goods at extremely lower prices, even lower than his rivals, but for no avail and his rivals kept on gaining more ground. The result of this pricing strategy was even more losses to Mr. Johnson who had no other choice than to sell off his assets and close down the business as he was unable to fend off competition due to his bad behavior and indifference to others’ problems.

Mr. Johnson tried another tactic for the last time. He accosted the members of the consumer co-operative and plead to them about his problems. He told them that he had no alternative bread and butter as nobody would employ him due to his selfish behavior. If the consumer co-operative continues, he will have to move away. The members of the co-operative felt piety for him and told him that they would stop if he discards his previous attitude. Mr. Johnson promised that he would do as they said. Seeing this, the members of the co-operative closed down their store.

Mr. Johnson was back in business but he did not continue his acts but started off in a new manner with the main aim of public welfare with a reasonable profit. Ten years have passed by but Mr. Johnson has abided by his promise and his business is currently a very prosperous one. This is how he was able to fend off competition with much effort.