Weekly Writing Challenge Week 11 - Failure
He stared at the words on the exam, feeling the anxiousness and anger begin to well up inside of him. Everyone around him was marking their answers and flipping to the next page with ease, but it always took him at least three times as long to even get through one question. The words jumbled on the page and in his mind, every single question would need to be read multiple times to even understand what it was asking. Then, he had to know the answer which was a whole other issue. It was frustrating and he already knew there was no way he was going to be able to finish this test in time. With only five minutes left and half of the test remaining unfinished, he marked random answers in hopes that maybe some of them were correct.
Rhys had never been very good in school, he barely squeaked by most of the time thanks to a couple of his teachers just not caring and passing him regardless of his marks. The public education system for those in the orphanage wasn’t great, so if anyone fell behind they often stayed there. He was finally on his last year of his primary schooling, many would continue on with their education afterwards in order to find a more specific subject to focus on, but not Rhys. Once he was finished with this he would never have to worry about taking another test again.
So when the results came back and he learned he had failed, he was understandably upset (but not terribly surprised), especially since they had told them if that happened they would have to take the test again. It would be a vicious cycle no matter how much he tried studying. What was the point?
He sat on the front stoop of the orphanage with the ripped up test results sitting next to him and fighting back the tears of frustration.
“Rhys? Can I join you?” It was the matron, she was an elderly woman who had lost her husband years ago. They never had children of their own so she considered all of the orphans her children. “Sweetie I know you’re upset. I’m sorry that we couldn’t do more to help you.” They only had so many resources and so much gold available to them at the orphanage, so some things had to be overlooked.
He knew they did their best. “It’s fine.” He murmured through the lump in his throat. “Do I really gotta take it again?”
The matron stroked her hand through his sandy blond hair, “Well…” Of course she wanted him to graduate, but he was also almost an adult. “No. Not if you don’t want to. You won’t graduate, but you’ll be 18 soon so you can make your own decisions now.” She tucked a piece of hair behind his ear, “Maybe you could try again down the road? I can see if I can find any learning specialists willing to volunteer or work at a smaller rate?” She had already tried before, but very few were willing to work for free and they were often incredibly busy.
“No...maybe.” He shrugged, keeping his gaze locked on the ground in front of him. “I just wish I weren’t so stupid.”
“Hey, no. Look at me.” The matron cupped his cheeks in both of her palms, directing his focus onto her. “You’re not stupid. You are a bright, shining star and you have all the potential in the world. Who needs those stupid tests anyways, they don’t measure your personal strengths. You know if that was a test about outer space and the stars you would have aced it, I guarantee.”
That comment elicited a small smile from the boy, nodding in agreement. “Yeah. Thanks.” He felt a little better, but she had to be nice and say kind things to him. Maybe one day he would believe her.
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