Exam Nightmare -Tanzila Hosna Alam

It was 3:00 a.m. Anika’s vision became blurry, and her head felt as heavy as lead. Miserably, she flipped through the pages of her “Electronics” book; she had a very important exam the next day. She tried hard to concentrate, but the words and numbers no longer made any sense to her. It was not until Anika had started seeing bright, colored spots appear before her eyes that she finally kept her book aside and switched off her table lamp. A beautiful silver moonlight crept into her bedroom, and a cool, gentle breeze swept across her face as she put her head down on her table. Anika would take rest only for some time, and then she would wake up and study. But, unknowingly and unintentionally, she drifted off to a deep sleep.

When Anika woke up the next morning, she could not believe her eyes! Horrorstruck, she stared at her clock and realized that she had only fifteen minutes to reach her exam venue. She left home in a hurry, without having breakfast or combing her hair. Nevertheless, the traffic jam on the road made the delay inevitable, and by the time Anika reached her destination, some precious thirty minutes of her exam were already lost. After making some quick apologies to her invigilator, she rushed to the nearest available seat. To save time, she skipped the “instructions” part and directly went to the questions. As she skimmed through the questions, she breathed a sigh of relief. She knew the answers to all the questions! Thanking God, she began to write at the speed of light.

Despite starting thirty minutes late, Anika finished her exam with ten minutes in hand. Being the careless student that she was, she revised all her answers thoroughly and repeatedly. When she was satisfied with her answers, she decided to make a sketch of the girl sitting in front of her in order to pass away the last few minutes of her exam. But, as she turned her question paper to use its blank side, she got the biggest shock of her life! Staring back at her was yet another question, which had gone completely unnoticed on the other side of the question paper. With trembling hands, she flipped the page and read the instructions for the first time. There, in bold letters, was written: “Answer all six questions.” Instantly, Anika’s heart dropped to her feet. For the last three years, Anika has invariably faced exactly five questions in every exam. Never in her wildest dream could she have imagined that this exam would be an exception.

Tears welled up in Anika’s eyes as she looked at her watch. Only two minutes were left. The last question carried 10 marks. What could she possibly accomplish in just two minutes? A part of her wanted to give up without trying, while the other part urged her to write. Torn between her two selves, she made a vain attempt to write. Her mind went blank, and her hands started trembling. Within seconds, beads of perspiration appeared on her forehead, and her throat felt like dry rubber. She felt utterly helpless as the moments ticked away. Finally, with a loud, shrill noise, the alarm went off. The exam was over.

The sound of the alarm was getting louder and louder, and Anika wondered for how long it would go on ringing. Then, she heard a familiar voice and felt someone gently shaking her. She woke up with a start, and it took her some time to understand what had really happened. At once, she jumped to her feet in glee and kissed her mom, as she realized that whatever she had seen and done for the last few hours was nothing but a mere nightmare! She wholeheartedly thanked God for giving her a second chance and vowed never to skip the “instructions” in her question papers, no matter how repetitive and boring they seemed to be!