After The Exams

During the examinations, I am dizzy with too much studying and taciturn as I am tired and badly in need of fresh air, as my days and nights are spent locked up in my bedroom. So I know how I will spend the first few days after my examinations have finished.

There are many places within fifteen minutes by bus from where I live which make glorious spots for catching spiders. My favourite spot is a little clearing among rubber trees, deep with grass and fragrant with bushes of allamanda and clematis. There are vines of the passion flower with their yellow sour fruits. No human habitation distracts the eye. There are small pools of water. Dragonflies dart and bees swoop to drink. Among the water weeds, minnows and guppies can be seen darting about.

Whenever I go catching spiders with my friend, Farihin in this unknown paradise, I forget the bustle of city life and the cares of school, and see the things that matter sunshine, water and the glorious beauty of mother nature. This is where I will go to get over the numbing effect of the examinations. My friend will dance with a butterfly net while I will creep stealthily so as not to alert the spiders. I will catch a few of these enchanting arachnids and tip into small match boxes. Later, at home, I will watch them communicate with each other on my study table. It is very relaxing to watch spiders.

From our little jaunt we will retire to Farihin's house for one of his mother's famous meals — fish sambal, fried rice and chicken soup. Farihin's eldest brother, who is a zoologist, will teach us how to kill the butterflies in Farihin's killing bottle, and how to mount and paint them in mercuric chloride, so that ants will not eat them. This will be our contribution to the School Science Society so that the butterflies will not have died in vain (or so we like to think). On other days, I will join the family in their outings to the seaside. There will be days when we will play indoor games and watch television. I will laze and laze, until I am thoroughly bored, and become ready to be mentally active again.