Istretch as I opened my eyes on my bed. I was enjoying a beautiful dream when the alarm clock started blasting near my head.

I felt annoyed, but I could not go back to sleep. There was so much to be done -- I had to take interviews of students, and this thought made me annoyed, because the process was so boring. I have seen people joining the college clubs for fun and not for some meaningful purpose.

I got out of bed, freshened up and glanced at the clock again. I still had two hours left. I was glad that I did not have any early morning classes, so I turned on my laptop and started having my breakfast at the same time. My eyes suddenly landed on the Netflix tab.

“Two hours, hmm …. What harm would it do to me if I watched an episode of my favourite series?” I thought and opened the third episode of the interesting series I had recently started watching. The third episode turned out to be such a thriller that I ran to grab a bag of chips to eat as I watched. I didn’t even realise how the time ticked, seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours.

When I finished the second bag of chips, I tossed it aside and my eyes landed on my phone, it was 9:18am already! I literally jumped out of the seat.

“Oh my! What have I done!” I yelled at myself and shut the lid of my laptop, put it inside the bag, and ran out of my house as fast as I could. When I came down at the garage, I realised my mistake – I had left my car keys inside. And I also realised that if I don’t have my car keys, I also don’t have my apartment keys, because both were in same keyring.

I shook the thought of going back to the apartment since there was no way I could get inside, and ran towards the closest bus stop to get a bus. I climbed it, grateful that it wasn’t late as usual. But the moment I entered, I realised it was full and that I’d have to stand throughout the journey. So much for being late, I thought to myself.

The bus was going on its usual speed, dropping some passengers and picking up some others. I tried my level best to stay calm. When the bus stopped at my destination, I was standing in the middle of the bus with passengers all around me. Making my way out from there was another tough task.

When I finally made it to the door, I had to jump out in order to get off the bus, and in doing so I hurt my ankle against a metal rode in the door. I didn’t realise the pain immediately, but as I ran towards the college’s main gate, I yelled. “Aaaaargh!”

Several people turned to look at me and a class fellow, seeing I was hurt, ran to help me.

“I’m fine … I am fine, don’t worry. I need to go inside,” I said as I hurried towards the classroom.

I thanked my classmate for his help and got inside the classroom I was meant to be in an hour ago. There set my college principal, taking the interviews I was supposed to be taking. I knew I was going to face some music.

“Where were you?” she asked sternly.

“Sorry ma’am,” I replied, panting. “I … I got late. I mean my car wasn’t working so I had to take a bus.”

“I can see that, weren’t you running for president?” she asked, the disapproval was clear in her voice.

“Yes, ma’am, I am.”

“Well, wouldn’t a person coming in so late for his duties be setting a bad example if he were made president?”

I stared at my shoes, ashamed, unable to think of a reply. The pain I felt in my leg added to the miserable look on my face.

“Come, have a seat,” she said. “And continue with your duty now. And you better do your job well or I might have to reconsider the other options for president.”

I sighed with relief, happy that she wasn’t planning to kick me out of the race already. But then I also felt like smacking myself for being so irresponsible. I almost lost the position I’d always dreamt of getting.

I finished the interviews, took my classes, then set down at a corner in the cafeteria to reflect on my mistakes. Had the principal been in a bad mood or had this been another situation, I could’ve been in a mess that day, nor would I have hurt my foot.

That’s when I promise myself to never be late for anything and never check out any shows in the daytime. I went to the nurse’s office to get my ankle bandaged, then took another bus home after taking a few more classes.

But first, I had to find a locksmith and take him with me to open the apartment door. When I got inside my apartment finally, I sat down on my bed and put my bag beside me. Just then I remembered something, so I opened my bag and rummage through it. I heard a clank, and my fingers touched something metallic. I grabbed it and took it out — those were my car and my room keys, which meant all this time I had had them with me!

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 3rd, 2021