The start of something new

30 minutes to 5 o'clock....that's when I first felt the excitement, that the two most toughest school years was coming to an end. 

Before this minute my head was buried in my textbooks. I didn't know this feeling before I felt it. Maybe in smaller amounts....but never the way I felt right now. 

9th standard and 10th standard were both tough. The only way to the other side was prayer and hard work. And that was exactly what I had done. Sacrificing all my fun for my studies. I had forgotten what true happiness felt like probably. 

There I was....in the old desks of my exam center.....staring at my completed french paper, my last SSC board paper. 

A smile and an uncontrollable energy came to me. I felt like screaming out of the happiness. That moment was truly beautiful...the moment I realized that I had reached the other side that I had been working hard for. My summer had finally come, My summer of summers.

I looked at the other students in the exam hall. All their faces were cheerful and bright. I noticed the relief on their faces. Our SSC boards were finally over! The exams that lasted for nearly four whole weeks were finally done! 

The 10-minute warning bell rang. I nearly couldn't believe it. I quickly checked my answers one last time and then stared at my watch hoping the last five minutes would go by soon. It was the longest five minutes of my life. While revising before my exam, the time seemed to go so quickly, like sand through my fingers....but now? I had to just wait. 

The hot wind was blowing. A swaying window frame at the hall hit its wooden casing. We all got startled. That's when someone's watch beeped for 5 o'clock. I knew now that it was just the matter of a couple of seconds for my last SSC exam to end. 

The bell rang. It sounded like soft harps to my ears. The supervisor started to collect the papers. A wide smile came on my face as I gave her my paper. The friction of a second when I gave my paper, I felt as if a boulder was taken off of my shoulders. I giggled. 

Later while I was walking out of the premises I realised something.....this is the start of my summer.....The start of a new chapter of my life.....The start of something new!