Sentence 1: Ron was boiling water for pasta. 
 Sentence 3: He grasped the pot to move it to a cooler spot 
 Sentence 4:  But then he dropped it, swearing madly 
 Sentence 5:  He had forgotten to grab the handles and burned his hands! 
 Option 1: He feel asleep and the water boiled away. 
 Option 2: He saw the water start to boil.