by Joan Heng (P4 2022)

       Ring! The shrill ring of the school bell pierced through the air, signalling the end of a long school day. I bolted out of my seat, excitement bubbling within me. I could not wait to show my family the award-winning artwork I had submitted for my school’s annual art competition.

       Kaboom! While I was walking home, thunder rumbled in the distance as dark, angry clouds gathered in the sky. Very soon, raindrops started to fall like bullets onto the ground. Immediately, I unzipped my bag to retrieve my umbrella and continued to walk home, not realising that my bag was left unzipped. The torrential rain was howling and blowing across my face. However, I did not care – all I wanted to do was to get home to show my award-winning artwork to my family.

       Splash! All of a sudden, I stepped onto a puddle of water and slipped while looking at a beautiful plant with pink flowers on it. Although pink flowers are common in Singapore, the shade of pink I saw was a unique one I had not seen on flowers before. My umbrella fell out of my hand as I fell onto the ground with a loud thud. Pain started building up in my knee and it got more and more agonising by the second.

       Splat! What was that? Craning my neck, I noticed that all my belongings in my bag had fallen out! Realisation hit me like a punch to my stomach – I must have forgotten to zip my bag when I took out my umbrella! To make matters worse, my award-winning artwork got exposed to the rain. The watercolours had smudged and the paper had gotten soaked and ripped. My heart sank upon seeing that. Sighing, I gathered myself up from the floor and started picking up my things.

       “Joan, I will help you!” a familiar voice called out from behind me. Turning around, I saw a sight that was unbelievable. My jaw dropped! It was my nemesis and the school bully, Shawn. Was he lending me a helping hand despite making me trip and fall just two days ago? Without a second thought, I nodded in agreement, knowing that he genuinely wanted to help.

       In a blink of an eye, Shawn and I managed to pick up what we could salvage and put the items into my bag. “Shall I accompany you home?” Shawn offered, as he passed me my umbrella. Smiling, I declined, telling him I had tuition later and had to go or I might not be able to make it on time. Waving goodbye to Shawn, I thanked him profusely. I was very grateful for Shawn’s actions.

       That day, I went home with mixed feelings. On one hand, I was really dejected that my award-winning artwork was ruined. However, on the other hand, although it was a really unlucky day, I was touched that Shawn had helped me. Without him, I might have wasted more time being stuck in the rain. I learnt a valuable lesson that day – be careful and remember to zip up my bag. In addition, I realised that if we gave our nemesis a second chance, they might turn over a new leaf and become our friend.

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