On a Dusty Path

His mind was blank as he lifted his weary shoes towards the setting sun. While his peers had all left him for their comforts of their homes, only he set his sight towards an objective that was only known to himself.

Finally, he reached the end of a short trek--he found himself to be staring at the gates of ACJC. It almost became like a mini-routine for him since it was three days in a row--head to the left, towards the sports complex and climb the stairs towards the badminton hall.

Like a soldier being thrust into a middle of a battle right after he had marched 24km, he was trying to remove whatever questions that were still fresh in his mind from his previous tests and concentrate on the task at hand. Dammit, he thought to himself, as he took out his old dusty study guide and immersed himself in the midst of a crowd.

He did not know what the others were thinking. Not that he cared that much. The other participants were far older and more experienced in this profession than him. He was the odd one out that looked more like a student rather than a working adult. Perhaps he was imagining too much, but he thought he could hear a snicker or two. One hour, he stared at his watch as he was furiously flipping the pages, hoping to remember an extra thing or two.

Hungry and exhausted mentally was his state as he made his way into the hall. He was among the last to enter as he noted the huge number of people gathered, which was not very obvious under the growing darkness of the evening sky. Silently, he made his way across the many rows. "A, B, C....J" as he walked across the rows. "30, 29, 28...12" as he walked to his seat.

Freezing in an unfamiliar place did not make things better, as he found out soon enough. As time ticked by unconsciously, he shivered as he attempted to write as much as possible, his hand shaking as he does so.

"You are not allowed to leave in the last 15 min or so, so as to not disturb the other candidates" He looked at his watch. 9pm. Mustering his strength in writing cohesively with his shivering hand, he managed to complete the last sentence. Blasted air-con, he thought to himself as he packed his bag in the front and left as quietly as he came.

Along the way, he came across "One Rochester". Save for a water fountain in front of the condominium development, there was nothing else that interested him, as the rest of the site was still under construction. What is done is done,no point dwelling on it, he thought to himself. He turned his eyes away and continued walking along a dusty path towards the MRT station.