Bad day

I stuffed my english workbook into my bag. It was already 10.30 PM and I had been packing my school bag. As I was rummaging through my books, checking that all that I have to bring is there, I caught a glimpse of a piece of what looks suspiciously like a worksheet of some kind. Grabbing it and pulling it out, I realized that it was the question which I have to write a five thousand words composition on! I read it, my heart thumping madly : "You are an orphan, waiting to be adopted. Write a 5000 word composition about your life." I groaned. This piece of work was given by the teacher a week ago, and I still have not finished it! What's more, the dateline was tomorrow! I had had a very busy day today and was very worn out. I have been waiting to lay my head onto my comfortable pillow! But on the other hand, I had never forgotten to do my homework before, and if my teacher,Mdm Tan, the fiercest teacher in the whole school, finds out, I would really be dead meat! So, seeing no other way out, I turned on the computer,opened a typing program, and started pressing the keys on my keyboard furiously.

My eyes were heavy and I could not keep them open. It has been two hours since I started my composition,and I was nearing the end of my composition. "I really can't believe I was adopted!" I said the words out loud just as I typed it in. I pushed away from the computer, gave a huge sigh of relief, and looked over my work with satisfaction. Finally! As I rolled my cursor over to the 'Save' icon, the whole screen went black. "What?!" I practically shouted when the computer automatically turned off. I banged my fist onto the computer table and cursed under my breath furiously. I pushed the 'on' button on my CPU hard. Nothing happened. I pressed the button again repeatedly. Still nothing. "No!" I shouted. I slapped my hands over my mouth and looked over at my parents' room.

They seemed to still be sleeping. I turned my focus back to my composition situation. I kicked the CPU furiously. and picked the keyboard up and slammed it on the table. Why must this happen to me? Tears welled up in my eyes as I repeatedly cursed the computer. Madam Tan is surely going to get me for sure! What am I going to do? What am I going to do? The same six words kept running all over my mind as cold sweat dripped down my cheeks. Panic alone has drained my energy and I was even more tired than ever! My hands trembled as I pulled out my writing pad and tried to recall what I had typed for my composition. My neat, precise handwriting detiotorated to an untidy scrawl as I became even more worn out. Putting down my pen and laying my head on the table, I decided to close my eyes for a bit. But the minute I closed my eyes, I immediately drifted off into dreamland.

"Wake up Pam! Wake up! You're very late for school!" Voices echoed in my mind. "Wake up wake up!" My mum shouted as she shook my awake. Lifting my heavy eyelids, I realized that the sun has already risen. I got up hurriedly and took a peek at the clock, even though I did not dare to - 7.45 AM. Oh no! I thought. I am forty-five minutes late! Then, a plan came into my mind, which must be natural to whoever is very late for school. "Mum, I think I'm coming down with flu. I checked my temperature yesterday and it was thirty-eight degrees. I seem to be having runny nose and a dreadful sore throat too, hehe," I said nervously, giving a loud sniff and a cough as if to prove my point. "Come on Pam! You're already late and you still have time to lie!" My mum shouted at me. I was taken aback by her accusement. "What? Me, lying?" I said, trying to defend myself. "Yes! Whenever you lie, you laugh like this - hehe. You can never fool your mother you know! Now, hurry!" My mum again shouted at me. I quickly grabbed my bag and ran to the door, my hair flying behind me. I grabbed a rubber band nearby and tied it on my wrist. Yelling good-bye over my shoulders, I ran to the elevator, tying my hair at the same time.

By the time I reached school, it was already eight o' clock. I headed straight towards my classroom. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on my classroom door.

The door swung open. At the entrance towered the ferocious Madam Tan. Her hair was tied to a bun and her eyes were glowing with fury. Her hands were clenched into tight fists and they trembled with anger as Madam Tan glared at me. "Sor..." I stuttered, when Madam Tan interrupted with a furious shout, "I don't want your explaination! You will stand outside here for the rest of the period and will stay back with me during recess! Make sure you keep your mouth shut!" My eyes were stung with tears but I was not going to cry in front of the class. So I stood there obediently until Madam Tan shouted again, "What are you waiting for? Hand in your composition!" My heart almost stopped beating. My voice trembled as I whispered, "Madam Tan, I err..." Madam Tan cut me off again, "No composition, am I right?" Then, she launched into a tirade and I stood outside the class, listening the whole time. My legs were aching and I could not bear the embarrasment of getting scolded by Madam Tan in front of the whole class anymore. When she finished, she shouted at me a few more times again and tears rolled down my cheeks. I could not hold my tears anymore. The tears kept on coming, drop after drop. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and the tears streaked across my face. Then, Madam Tan went back to her lesson. I took my Mathematics textbook out and listened to Madam Tan from the door. Then, the bell rang, signalling recess. Madam Tan shouted, "Everyone, except for Pamela, line up outside! Pamela, come here!" I groaned as I dragged my feet towards Madam Tan's desk. She dropped a pile of worksheets onto the desk and said, "Finish these worksheets by next week, Friday! This is to replace your undone composition!" My eyes almost popped out and fell onto the floor when I saw the huge pile. "Start now!" She shouted. I grabbed the first worksheet on the pile, a science worksheet, and started doing it.

Ring... The bell rang again, signalling the end of recess. The class poured into the classroom, filling up the seats. I returned to my seat with my pile of worksheets. "Can this day go anymore worse?" I said to mostly myself, but my seat partner, Ruth, must have heard it because she said, "I think it just had..." She pointed to the whiteboard, and I looked to where she was pointing. On the white board in huge letters wrote : 'People staying back after school until 5.30 PM today : Shad, Ashlee, Chelsea, Pamela, Johnnie' I let out a huge gasp. "I can't stay back! I have Karen's birthday party to attend to!" I told Ruth. Karen is my best friend, we have been friends since we were born. Ruth shrugged. I waved frantically at Karen to catch her attention. She saw me and stared at me, her mouth wide-open. I shrugged, a worried look on my face. She shook her head, and mouthed 'never mind'. I smiled and gave a thumbs-up sign, mouthing a 'thank you'.

At the end of the day, I followed Madam Tan, together with the other four pupils, into her staffroom. She gave the other four pupils the same pile of worksheets that she gave me. "Do them now! No rests!" Madam Tan ordered. We stared at Madam Tan with wide-opened eyes. What?! "What are you waiting for? Start!" Madam Tan shouted again. We pulled out a worksheet and started doing it. We dug our heads into the pile of work and seemed to be immersed in it until 4.30 PM. We stretched our arms and was standing up to stretch our legs when Madam Tan shouted, "I said no rests!" We groaned and got back to work.

After 5.30 PM, I had finished the total of eighteen worksheets and was really satisfied since I have a total of twenty-four worksheets to do. I skipped home happily, even though I should not be feeling this way.

When I got home, my parents were there sitting on the sofa. Immediately gladness was pushed out of my mind, fear taking over. What are my parents going to do to me? "How's your day?" They asked. "Fine," I replied, hoping they did not know anything. "Had extra classes?" my mum asked. "Yes, me only," I replied again, careful of what I said since I know that they know that Karen is having her party now. They nodded their heads and continued chatting. I told my parents I had a lot of homework to do and rushed to my room. I slammed the door behind me and gave a sigh of relief.

After a few days, Madam Tan had not called my parents for any reason. What a relief! From that fateful day onwards, I always make sure I finish all my homework on the day it was assigned and not do everything at the eleventh hour. This incident will be a lesson to me I will never forget!

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