Oh no! I was late! My alarm clock had gone off 30 minutes ago, although I did not remember hitting the snooze button. I brushed my teeth, got dressed quickly and rushed downstairs, only to discover that everyone had finished breakfast and left the table. I quickly wolfed down my breakfast and hurried on to pack my bag. By the time I rushed out of the house, my school van had already left.

I had to ask my father to drop me off at my school; he was a little upset because of my laziness but eventually gave in to drop me off.

Thankfully I reached the class seconds before my teacher entered and sank down on my chair. But my evil prefects told the teacher that I had come late. Things continued to go wrong as our teacher gave us a surprise science test. I could barely solve the questions.

The next lesson was of Urdu, but I had forgotten the Urdu book and notebook at home so I had to stand outside the class for the rest of the lesson.

Later that day, we came to know that our geography teacher was absent so I became relaxed thinking that the last period would be free and that I would have a little time to snooze and relax. But, unfortunately, our science teacher appeared with our test papers in her hands and I had failed the test, getting only four marks!

What can one expect from a cross teacher … a good scolding for the whole period, of course! I was sad and ashamed and felt like crying, but I couldn’t do anything as the day was going really bad for me.

When the school day ended, I found myself again in a fix as I had taken out almost everything from my bag and kept them on the desk in search of my Urdu books and now I had to put them all in again. It took some time to pack the bag and when I ran outside, most of the students had already gone and there were only those girls left whose cars were late to pick them up. That meant I had missed my van again!

Thus I had to call my father to come and pick me from school. He was angry again and told me to wait for 30 minutes. When I finally reached home, after being scolded all the way by my father, I ran to my room, locked the door and started crying. My mother realised something was really wrong so she knocked at the door. I unlocked it and let her in. She sat beside me and asked what the matter was, so I poured my heart out and told her the whole day’s incidents.

Then she said, “Hafsa, my dear, you must not cry, you are a very sensible girl and you should act sensible. My dear, today’s happenings teach you a very valuable lesson. That is when you get ready before time and you will notice that things will always be right. Don’t take time for granted, it is precious, use it wisely and do all your work accordingly. I hope you understand and will be more practical and punctual from now on!” She then hugged me.

That day I learnt a very valuable lesson — that time is very important and getting ready before time can save us from many problems.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 12th, 2015