Narrative tenses, used to, would

1. When I think about my childhood, I remember the small town where I grew up. It 1 (be) a quiet and peaceful place surrounded by hills and forests. Every summer, my friends and I 2 (spend) hours by the river, swimming and laughing until sunset.

One day, I 3 (walk) home from school when I 4 (notice) smoke rising from the forest. It 5 (rain) earlier, so I was surprised to see smoke at all. When I reached the spot, I realized someone 6 (start) a small fire to cook food and forgotten to put it out.

By the time I 7 (call) the fire department, the fire 8 (spread) to the nearby bushes. Luckily, the firefighters 9 (arrive) quickly and managed to stop it.

After that day, I 10 (realize) how dangerous even a small mistake could be. The town authorities 11 (decide) to run a campaign to teach children about fire safety. Every Friday, the teachers 12 (tell) us stories about how to protect nature.

Before that, no one really 13 (think) about forest fires. But after the incident, things 14 (change) completely. People 15 (start) keeping water barrels near their homes just in case.

Years later, when I 16 (move) to the city, I 17 (miss) that peaceful life. I 18 (wake up) to the sound of birds and wind, but now all I hear is traffic.

Still, I often think about how those experiences 19 (teach) me responsibility. If I 20 (not see) that fire long ago, I might never have cared so much about the environment.