Emily stood in the latecomers’ line during assembly for the second time this week and she was not happy. The assembly dragged on forever and it gave her a lot of time to think. All she could think of was how slowly her brother got ready today despite her warning.
“Aaron, get ready fast! We’re getting late.”
“Aaron, eat fast! We’re getting late.”
“Aaron, why didn’t you pack your bag yesterday? We’re late now.”
“It’s alright, Emily! Doesn’t matter”, he told nonchalantly.
She was furious and wanted to punch his face. It was his fault. Emily was excused for being late after getting reprimanded for 2 minutes. “Another boring day”, she sighed. Little did she know, the adventure waiting for her.
Physical training has always been a pain in the back for Emily. She loathed exercising and was terrible at it. She wasn’t ready to play throw ball again, so she devised a plan with two of her friends, Lisa and Riya, to bunk class. They told the instructor that they weren’t feeling well and wanted to meet the nurse. They thought of going to the canteen but the gate was locked. They went around the main building to reach the canteen. They spoke about teachers, friends and boys. Emily saw the time and freaked out.
“We have to rush to class. This hour will get over in 10 minutes.”
“We’ll have to go through the shortcut”, Lisa exclaimed.
“Isn’t the gate locked?” Riya asked.
“We don’t have time to argue. Let’s just climb the gate”, Lisa declared.
“Uhm, girls? We can’t climb the gate. It’s too dangerous. What if we get caught?” Emily cried.
It was decided that they’ll jump over the gate to reach class on time. Lisa climbed the gate with ease and cheered for the other two to come. Riya followed the same path as Lisa. But, she got down to remove her shoes. Emily copied the actions of Riya and threw her shoes to the other side of the gate. Riya joined Lisa on the other side and only Emily was left. She started climbing with enthusiasm but her leg started aching after two steps. She was discouraged and started complaining.
“I think I’ll skip class today. You both leave! I’ll come through the main building.”
“We’re not leaving without you, Emily. You can do it”, Riya encouraged.
Lisa was not ready to let Emily quit, she helped her by giving her tips on where to place her foot. Emily finally reached the top of the gate. She was scared of heights and it made her dizzy. She had to turn around to make the climb down easier. This was the most difficult part and she didn’t like the thought of falling down and breaking her bones.
“I’m just going to get down on this side itself. This is too much for me!”
“Quit the drama and just climb down bro”, Lisa exclaimed.
“Ughh! Why did we even bunk class today? I want to go to class”, Emily cried.
“Do you want me to come and get you down?” Lisa asked concerned.
“No! I can do this on my own. Just tell me where to place my leg next”, Emily said.
Her hand and legs trembled as she slowly and carefully turned around. She did as she was instructed and successfully climbed down. She was ecstatic when her feet touched the ground. She rushed to put her shoes on and then the three of them dashed to the classroom.
They reached class ten minutes after the school bell rang. They entered their classroom and was thrilled to find that a substitute teacher had come. The class was asked to do whatever they wanted in silence. Emily passed a note to Lisa and Riya. They opened the note and it read ‘Thanks’.
World of Jeana 
For all the physical effort she did go through, she might as well as played ball.
And is the locked gate a metaphor for her fear?
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Yes, it is a metaphor. 🙂
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