Epic Fail Go Time

         He sat in a smoke filled daze. The others around him were bent over and were vigorously writing with the fury of an Afghan suicide bomber. To his left, the blonde scribbled with the mental focus of an ADHD Chihuahua. This his right, a brainiac, stroking his mustache in meditative thought, harvested all the knowledge and mentally planned his attack.

         The clueless boy sighed and slumped his slender shoulders, accentuating his already developing hunchback. His dream of surpassing the expectations his parents laid out for him of achieving a passing grade in AP English III, were slowly slipping through his hands like dirt in a toddler’s paw.

         The clock tick-tocked away, counting down the moments until epil fail go-time. His page laid before him – blank and untouched, like a virginal, sacrificial offering. He couldn’t bring his pen to mar its soft face.

         Tears welled in his eyes, as a ball of emotion choked him up. Labored breathing sucked into his lungs and his arms trembled with anticipation of failure.

         “Two minutes,” the seductive yet holy instructor remarked with the saucy voice of red Chablis.

         The wire of success snapped and his heart sank like the Titanic…hard. His head dropped forward and thumped into his desk.  “Will someone tell me when the New Year begins!” he chortled with all the pathetic prowess he could muster.