Ahh! You submit the last exam paper with a sigh of relief. Then you rush to your friends and discuss the exam paper. Soon you take out your water bottle, and ink pens and pots, and have the friendliest fight of your lives. Later you rush to the canteen and end the last day of school with warm hugs, firm handshakes and plans to meet during summer vacation.

After you reach home, and this one time, you toss your bag away with no worries at all. All sweaty, you step into the shower and freshen up like never before. Your mum asks you about your exam and you just brush it off with a generic response. You were super sleepy in the morning, but all the sleep has now vanished. All you want to do is summersaults around the house.

Slowly the day comes to an end, with thousands of your plans for the break. At the dinner table, while you start narrating them to your family, you hear something that makes all your excitement fade away. You are told that all the plans would be decided upon your result!

Doom! Here comes the disclaimer, flipping every emotion of yours, upside down. Finally, your eyelids become heavy and, in your sleep, you dream about the result day and all the plans that you have made. You wake up the next morning completely fresh, but with a tad bit of fright in your heart. You count the days to your result and all your answer sheets flash in front of you. Day by day, the pressure adds on bit by bit.

In the morning, you plan a picnic at the farm. Later, while watching a movie you are making a list of games you’ll play there. While having supper you are swimming in the pool, but why are you sinking? Uh oh! You are drowning and you yell for help! You fight against the waves, but are unable to pull yourself up. No one’s coming to save you! But you see multiple ropes around you. Each with something written on it.

First, second and third, say three of the ropes, 90%, 95%, 100 out of 100, high achiever says the rest. You stretch your hand out to grab onto a rope. Wooahh! Whooosh! The water twirls like a tornado and you grab onto the air, while your younger sibling laughs at you from across the table, finishing his pack of chips.

Slowly gathering your breath, you gaze at the calendar. Yet there are four days left to your result. These few days feel way longer than your two months of vacation. Tensed, as much as one can be, you seek comfort by sharing your feelings with your friends. They definitely are in the same boat as you. Stuck in the same whirlpool, the only thing you calmly ride in is that the whole group has put in their best efforts. Hence, whatever happens, you know that you’ll be in this together.

A night before the result, your parents pat your back and buck you up. They put their faith in you while you nod quietly with a weak smile. The whole night you toss and turn around the bed.

The morning arises and you barely have breakfast. Desired and undesired results, both you manifest. You never wear this uniform this slowly. And it’s because of the fright in you that you hope the car breaks down and the result collection could be delayed. But all these days you have just hoped, and now it is time to face your fate.

In no time, you reach the school. All these days you have been dying of anticipation, but now your hands and feet turn blue as you see the envelope with your name. Within it rests your holiday decision.

Your father breaks the seal, while butterflies in the stomach are all you feel. Up he slides the result, and then gives you an amazed look….

Ah! Excuse us please, you think, like always, we’ll have an ending to a story. Well, this one is going to end on a cliffhanger, with each of you free to imagine what happens next. We appreciate all your efforts and are applauding for each one of you as you celebrate the end of an academic year and the start of summer vacation.

We wish you all a memorable vacation!

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 1st, 2024