A PSLE continuous writing practice
Theme: A Missed Opportunity
Prompt Pictures: A calendar with a deadline/two girls arguing/a trophy (Use at least one of the three pictures)
"Tom and Carissa, you two have been picked to represent our school in the national writing competition!" the teacher announced before the English lesson started. All eyes were riveted to the chosen two with admiration. It was no surprise to Tom, whose compositions were frequently selected as model examples, a gloating smirk glowing on his face. Throwing a look of contempt at Carissa, who was smiling modestly, Tom snorted, "Lucky girl. But you are never in the same league as me." The teacher cleared her throat and continued, "Please note that both of you need to submit your writing pieces by the end of next month."
In the ensuing week, Tom decided to celebrate his nomination. He spent most of his spare time playing video games and watching TV, throwing the writing to the back of his mind. He did not even bother to think of the basic plot of the story. He was so confident that he could produce an excellent work in the next few weeks and an award was in the bag.
On Sunday afternoon, when Tom finally got down to his first draft, his cell phone started to waltz on the desk with a flurry of vibrations. He dropped his pen and picked up the phone immediately. His friend's voice chirped from the speaker, "Hey Tom! It's Jerry. Let's go play football!" Looking at the blank paper sheet, Tom pouted his lips, but his eyes quickly slid to the calendar on the wall. "No worries. There are still 20 days left." Tom reassured himself. Ten minutes later, Tom met Jerry in the playground and began their friendly match. Not a single word was jotted down that day.
A couple days later, Carissa ran across Tom in the class. She asked, "How is your composition going? I found the topic quite challenging. I have just finished my draft but it is far from perfect." Tom was taken aback and could only muster a mumble, "Um...umm...yea...mine is in the final polishing stage." The reality was that he was yet to start writing his draft. The lie left Tom feeling raw and his pulse quickened. However, he was soon carried away by other distractions and put the writing on the back burner again.
Unfortunately, the last week to the deadline coincided with the preparation of Year-end Examinations. Students were all overwhelmed by the worksheets and other assignments. Every day, Tom needed to work into last hours to finish his homework and he could hardly squeeze extra time to write for the competition. As a result, he had to postpone his writing plan day by day until one night when he realised that the next day was the due day of submission.
Seated in front of the desk, Tom tried to rack his brains for ideas, but his head felt empty and all the creative inspirations eluded him. He could hardly grapple with the opening of the composition. As time ticked by, frustration etched on his brows. Amid yawns and bleary eyes, Tom struggled to scribble down whatever he could thick of. It was not until midnight that Tom managed to produce a shoddy piece of work, which was far below his usual standard. But there was not much he could do other than insert the manuscript into an envelope and hand it in to the teacher the next day.
Two weeks later, the last sliver of hope was shattered in Tom's heart when the competition results came out. To everybody's surprise, Tom drew a blank, not even a merit, while Carissa garnered a silver. As Carissa received the trophy from the principal, a wide grin spread across her face, and Tom bowed his head in embarrassment. It was his procrastination that cost him such a valuable opportunity to shine on a national stage.
