My world: Friday 13, unlucky for some...

I’ve never been a big believer of superstition and certainly never take notice of old wives’ tales and supernatural forces playing with my life.

If the unlucky date was Thursday 12, then you may be on to something.

How many people who are reading this have returned home from work one day and found their next door neighbour’s house on fire?

Come on, show of hands...

That’s what happened to me yesterday as I finished my shift for the day.

I was looking forward to a relaxing soak in the bath, a wholesome homemade curry I had been pining for all day and maybe even a few pages of a book before bed.

What I ended up doing couldn’t have been further away from my plan.

I arrived to find my street blocked off by fire engines and police, no abnormal situation for the estate I live on.

After walking through the police tape it soon became apparent that this was quite serious, next door’s house was now virtually a shell.

Bearing in mind me and my partner live in a terraced house that we have only been living in for six months or so, this was a nightmare.

I appreciate the fact it could have been worse, at least we were both out at work when the fire caught hold and at least our house is still standing.

But it is very difficult to tell yourself that in the heat of the moment.

From top to bottom our house is black with soot, and the clothes I sit here writing this column in smell like an 80-a-day smoker’s gums.

But like I said before – it could have been worse.

Unfortunately, fire doesn’t wait for superstitious dates...