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     A month later, I was at my house watching them rebuild it. But this time it was different — I wasn’t alone. I was with two of my new friends from school. It took a fire for me to stop focusing on my feelings of insecurity and open up to all the wonderful people around me. Now I was sitting there watching my house being rebuilt when I realised my life was doing the same thing.
 
     While we sat there on the curb, planning my new bedroom, I heard someone walk up to me from behind and say, “Does this belong to you?” When I turned around to see who it was, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A woman was standing there holding my cat! I leapt up and grabbed her out of the woman’s arms. I held her close to me and cried into that beautiful orange fur. She purred happily. My friends were hugging me, hugging the cat and jumping around.
Explanation:
 
The narrator quickly made a considerable number of friends. One day, the narrator was standing in front of his house as it was being rebuilt. Since he had friends, he had two with him at that time. It wasn't like this before a month. He lacked a friend and hence found it difficult to adjust to his surroundings. However, things changed significantly after the narrator's house caught fire. The fire was a "blessing in disguise." The narrator's negative feelings of insecurity were completely gone, and there was a shift in his character as well, as he began to open up to everyone around him. He no longer saw his new high school as a hostile environment but instead accepted the change and socialised with everyone. He recognised that, just as his home was being renovated, his life was being rebuilt as well.
 
Someone approached the narrator from behind and inquired if the cat she was holding belonged to him while he and his friends were sitting on the pavement planning a new bedroom. When he turned around, the narrator was taken aback. Yes. It was his beloved cat. His beloved, adoring, and long-awaited cat had returned. The narrator had hoped that his cat would return one day, and he was right. After a month, it was a day unlike any other. He grabbed the cat from the woman and cried while holding it close to him. After a month, the cat was also overjoyed to see and join the narrator. It purred happily. The narrator's friends were happy as well, hugging and jumping about with the cat and the narrator.
 
Meaning of difficult words:
 
S.No
Words
Meaning
1.
CurbJoined stones or concrete
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2006). Beehive. A House Is Not a Home - Zan Gaudioso (pp.49-54). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.