Outstanding Story - The day I was late for my examination

“The day I was late for my examination” is one of the outstanding stories of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2016 written by Pachipala Aishwarya, Singapore.

The day I was late for my examination

It was a breezy Monday morning. It was a comfortable morning for a sleep.

“Ring!” My alarm clock rang but I ignored it. After a while, unknowingly, I drifted into Dreamland.

When I woke up, I stared at the alarm clock and could not believe my eyes. “I’m late for my examination!” I wailed frantically. I jumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, changed into uniform and tore out of the house.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. On the way to school, I realised that yesterday I was revising for my examination till late night. I reached school as soon as possible and raced up the stairs to my classroom ‘Primary 3 Confidence’. I stopped outside of the classroom. It was so quiet that I could hear a pin drop. I was contemplating whether to go in or not. My heart started thumping fiercely against my chest and my legs started wobbling like jelly.

I wanted to see who the invigilator was so I took a peek. It was my Science teacher, Mr Tan. From the corner of his eye, he spotted me. My skin felt cold and clammy when he walked towards me. There was no way to escape. Beads of perspiration trickled down my forehead.

With his arms crossed, he glared at me angrily and pulled me aside so as not to disturb the other pupils. “Please give me another chance,” I pleaded nervously. As I talked, I felt very guilty and embarrassed as everyone’s eyes fell on me.

He muttered furiously under his breath, “I can allow you to sit for the examination but you won’t have sufficient time to complete the paper.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. Mr Tan passed me the paper and I started doing it. Luckily, I had revised for the examination so all the questions were easy for me to complete and I handed-in on time. I was much relieved because I could finish the paper on time.

When I got home after school, I told my mother about the incident. After this unforgettable lesson, I would never forget to revise early for my examinations again. My mother reprimanded me harshly that day. I tried to be early or on time from that day onwards.