16. Summary of "A House Is Not a Home"

Zan Gaudioso's narrative "A House Is Not a Home" is based on the narrator's teenage experiences in the initial days of his new high school. The narrator is the story's protagonist. After graduating from a junior high school, the narrator joined a new high school that was bigger than the previous one.

 

The author disliked the new high school because he didn't have any of his old friends or teachers there, and he didn't make any new friends. Despite his hatred, he continued his studies at the new school. Days passed. On a Sunday afternoon, the narrator's mother lit a fire in the fireplace as he was doing his schoolwork. After a while, the narrator sensed a weird smell. Then he spotted smoke coming in through the ceiling seams. Smoke from the fire soon filled the area, and the entire room was engulfed in flames.

 

The narrator and his mother were able to escape the house and seek assistance from neighbours in calling the fire department. Suddenly, the narrator's mother rushed into the blazing house to save some documents, photographs, and letters from her husband. She was later rescued by the firefighters, who subsequently provided first aid to her. The narrator couldn't help but watch his house burn as a small kid, and the fire took almost five hours to put out.

 

People from the narrator's school seemed to be aware of the narrator's house disaster a few days after the fire mishap. Shortly after then,  the narrator's classmates had surprised him by giving him everything he needed, including school materials, notebooks, all kinds of different clothes — jeans, tops, sweatsuits. More students came forward to introduce themselves, and some even invited the narrator to their homes. On that day, the narrator made friends for the first time in his new school. Despite this, the narrator felt there was something missing in his life.

 

The narrator's house was reconstructed after a month. A kind-hearted woman returned the narrator's cat to him one day. She really does seem to have tracked down the narrator's address using the phone number written on the cat's collar. The narrator's pleasant old life is restored thanks to the kind-hearted woman's assistance. The narrator sobbed joyfully while cuddling his wonderful cat, and the narrator's friends joined in and jumped around with him.