Before Exam

            I lay down in bed. Pulling up the black sheet of night. Couldn’t sleep. The clock read, ’12 am’. The stress from the following day’s exam took over my mental and physical state. Over the past month, I had turned my brain to mush with textbooks and notes. The flipping of pages, the scratching of my pen against paper, lasting all day long.

            The next day would be the time to prove my hard work. My mind was spinning. What if I hadn’t revised something? What if I had lost a note? What if I hadn’t started early enough? What if… I couldn’t bear to think. All I could do was to sleep. I gazed upon the midnight moon.

            5 am. Time to wake up. I sleepwalked to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of iced coffee and had a sip. I was squeamish at the bitter taste of the black mixture. Now that I was awake, I had to continue my struggle. “Chinese history,” I moaned, “why today? Why did anyone make this subject up? Come on…” Under the faint light from a small desk lamp, I studied.

            7:30. I crawled from the study to my bedroom. I slipped myself into my shirt, fastened my belt and finished everything unwillingly. Mom’s voice boomed across the hallway, “Breakfast!” It was like a knife cutting through the darkness and I finally came to. I rushed into the living room and sat down. ‘Eat, eat, eat…” my mind read. But my hands wouldn’t budge. I was too nervous to eat. I did nothing but stared at the plate of ham and eggs. Mom shook her head, “Exams nowadays. They take too much toll. Come on, son, just take a bite.” I nodded and ate.

            I opened the classroom door. Everyone was silent, nothing but the flipping of paper. I sighed, “Why did exams even exist?” Everyone seemed to be against them, but they somehow managed to survive under all that pressure. Nevertheless, it was not the time to talk about the issue. It was the time to prepare ourselves for the firing squad.

            The teacher’s footsteps entered the room. No one gave the teacher even a glance. The dreadful exam regulations started ringing into our ears, “Please put all your notes, pieces of paper, diaries…” Soon, we were all set and ready to face the trigger. The papers upside down, like a monster at bay, ready to attack at any second. The second-hand on the clock stopped, as if time had stopped itself. I looked around. On my left, Alan was so scared that he wetted his pants. I turned to my right, Bun was trembling with fright. Drops of sweat rained down his curly hair, splashing onto his sweater. The bell rang.