TTWORBYTES PRESENTS
This Is My Big Emergency
“This is not a drill.” That was the moment the fire alarm stopped being ordinary.
My name is Jake Morrow. I'm twelve years old.
THE STORY
One Fire Alarm. One Missing Brother. One Family Emergency.
A funny, tense and emotional story in which an ordinary school day becomes a real emergency—and then Jake discovers that the crisis at school is not the only thing he has to be frightened about.
It begins during a science lesson. When the fire alarm sounds, Jake expects another ordinary evacuation—until Mr Harrington makes it clear that this time the danger is real.
Outside, the register reveals something terrifying: Jack is missing. With his twin still inside the school, Jake can do nothing except wait while the emergency unfolds around him.
But even after the danger at school is over, Jake's day is not. Mum is taken to hospital, turning a frightening school emergency into something much more personal for Jake, Jack and the whole family.
AT THE HEART OF THIS STORY
When the Emergency Comes Home
The fire at school is frightening. What happens to Mum frightens Jake even more.
“The fire was supposed to be the emergency. Then Mum was taken to hospital.”
Before Mum becomes ill, the story quietly shows her drinking much more water than usual. Jake does not recognise it as a warning; to him, it is simply something Mum keeps doing.
When Mum is taken to hospital, the second emergency is different from the first. Jake cannot follow an evacuation procedure or wait for a register. All he and Jack can do is stay together and hope.
Meet the PeopleWHY THIS STORY MATTERS
Two Emergencies. Two Different Kinds of Fear.
Jake knows what a fire alarm sounds like. He knows the rules: leave the building, assemble outside and wait for the register.
But when Jack is missing from the register, the rules stop feeling routine. For Jake, the emergency becomes terrifyingly personal.
Later, Mum's illness brings a different kind of fear—one without alarms, assembly points or an obvious way for Jake to help.
Through both emergencies, Jake learns how frightening it is to be powerless when somebody you love is in danger—and how important family becomes when there is nothing else you can control.