Oh No ... Slept In!!

• Mieke Van Der Kooy, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2014

Beep, beep, beep. I cover my head with my warm, musty, duvet. It’s probably still dark outside!! Why, oh, why did Dad have to buy me an alarm clock for my birthday? It’s beyond me! I yawn…
Beep, beep, beep. I almost wet myself. I must have fallen asleep. Why did I have to set the alarm clock five minutes apart? I yawn…
Beep, beep, beep. HOLY FURBALLS!!! I had fallen asleep again. I am starting to understand why I need an alarm clock! Conjuring up enough energy and care to turn around in my slumbering state to check the time and… I’m going to be late for school!!! I jump out of bed and throw on my uniform while sprinting downstairs and grabbing some lunch money on my way. Mum gives me a confused look but I don’t have time to stop and chat about how my hair needs to be neat or how I need to actually iron my uniform. I race down to the bus stop but I’m too late!! I’m going to have to sprint… I have to admit that sport isn’t my best subject, especially when I make up lame excuses to get out of it, like “I have a rash on my butt that gets worse whenever I do physical activity”. I wish sport was as easy and exciting as maths!! That reminds me - my class has a maths test this morning. If I miss this and fail just because I am late it’ll be goodbye social status… and hello popular students! There is no way I am going to miss this test!
During my frantic sprint to school I see Vanessa (someone who I might have to be friends with if I fail my test). But the weird thing is that Vanessa doesn’t seem to be in a hurry at all to get to school, in fact she’s not even wearing her school uniform! Geez, popular kids are so unpredictable… she’s probably wagging school. Oh well, her loss.
I can actually see the school now. Oh gosh there’s no one sitting there for their next target for spit ball practice. No… that can only mean one thing... I’m late; I’m really late, even first time detention late!
Sprinting into the school boundaries, I find the doors are locked. I see a window that is slightly ajar, so I climb through without thinking of the consequences. The school security alarm starts to screech wildly. I hear a running sound coming in my direction and I desperately look for somewhere to hide. The only place is the little men’s room which I dive into just in time before Mr McPherson, our school cleaner, dashes around the corner holding a broom as his weapon, yelling in his broad Scottish accent, “Come out with your hands up”. I cautiously step out of my hiding place with my hands up as directed. He chuckles in a gurgley way and says, “Tommy…. today’s Saturday!”