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A Race Against Time

Get up, youre running late! No response. I check my phone for time. 7.15 am. Too early to

function. 10 more minutes Mum, I think to myself. My mouth is too dry to speak up. Or maybe Im

just too lazy. Cant be bothered. Too lazy to talk.

Get up! Now!says Mum as she passes by the hallway, yet again to my dismay. Ugh. I cant bebothered. She repeats the whole process again and for the nth time, I finally give in to her constant

nagging. I take out my trusty phone hiding under my pillow. 7.30 am. Shoot. I AM LATE!. But I do this

every single morning and I dont give a damn now. Walking on what little space I have left in my

room is such a struggle. I stumble through the mass of books and bags and my best work of art to

date my very own pyramid. Huh. Ill deal with it later.I snatch my robe thats sitting on top of it and

very reluctantly head for the door.

I turn the doorknob. Its locked. He beat me to it again. And I have the desperate need for a pee. Just

my luck. Im feeling sleep deprived and here I am waiting for The Guy to finish. I shoot a quick glance

towards the hallway clock. 7.35 am. I hope hes fast today or else Ill be late. As I always am these

days. The next few minutes consists of a lot of door banging, yelling and more door banging.

Annoyancethats what he wants out of me. I ponder this for a moment. 7.40 am. You better get

your arse out here right now! , I say as I angrily pound on the defeated bathroom door. He mimics

me. Argh, such a pain! I give up the yelling and door banging before I wake up the entire

neighbourhood.

The aroma of bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen attracts me like a magnet. When I get there,

Mum has already finished cooking. Thats convenient! But the sight of the pile of dishes sitting on the

grubby sink brings me into a state of devastation. The horrendous remains of last nights dinner arestill on it. Nasty. Just nasty. I knew I shouldve washed it but I got caught up with other work. After

school I will. Yeah right. I dodge the clutter and manage to start making myself a cup of Milo. I walk

up to the fridge to get the milk. I mindlessly pour it in but instead of fresh milk, white lumps came

out, followed by the absolutely revolting smell. I dunk it in the rubbish bin hoping to never see it

again. Forget the Milo.Im beginning to lose my temper already. I sit on my designated seat and am

forced to endure our typical chaotic breakfast. The pests -my siblings- are complaining about the

food. Why cant I enjoy my meal in peace?I growl at them to shut up. They whine so Mum rants at

me. I slowly eat my crisp bacon, not minding my opponent ticking away, savouring every bite. I try

and make myself as comfortable as possible while I watch my daily Breakfast fix surly.

7.55 am.

Dammit!

I gulp down the rest of my tasteless water (because of the milk incident which Id rather forget) and

swiftly walked towards the previously pre-occupied toilet. I can tell from the amount of steam that

The Guy just got out. A 20-minute shower. What the heck? I guess a 2-minute one will do for me. I

step into the shower only to find out that he used all the hot water. How rude! Now I have to wait

for the cold water to heat up. No, no time for that. And I simply cant be bothered anymore. Stuff

this! I get out of the shower feeling somehow refreshed. The freezing cold irrigation electrocuted me

so Im wide awake. I slip into my fluffy and warm robe again and battle my way into my room.

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I put in another set of clothes to my pyramid, making it tumble down. No! Ive spent way too much

time building and rebuilding it and now its gone just like that. This cant be happening. Ive put more

thought into it than my own homework for gods sake. I carefully reconstruct what was my

masterpiece. Unfortunately, it fails greatly so Im going to have to work on it later. Oh well. Quick

phone-check: 8.00am. Decision-making time. But theres so much to choose from, and so little time.

Who knew wearing mufti to school would be this difficult?Honestly though, other people care about

my outfits more than I do. The tiny pest interrupts my thoughts. Can you pack my lunch please?, hebuzzes with a big grin on his face. No, go away! m trying to get ready for school. He howls over to

Mum. Grrr! I shut the door loudly and firmly after him while I still decide on what to wear. Mum is

shrieking at me for making that pest cry.

8.05am. Oh how I love the rapid ticking of the clock. I finally settle on a pair of denim jeans, a black

and white striped t-shirt and my new pink Nike kicks. I think I did a pretty good job. Who cares,

seriously?A quick hair sweep (silently thankful that my mane is easier to tame than me) and a few

spritz of perfume and Im good to go. I walk out the door and hear my Mum bawling at us to hurry

up or well be catching the bus. The tiny pest stops crying and without hesitation, begins his morning

siren:

Eight minutes and were off!Eight minutes and were off!Eight minutes and were off!

I know that, shut up!

I need to have endurance if Im going to win this race. I notice their quick change of pace. They are

madly running around preparing their lunch. LUNCH!

Living-room clock: 8.10am. Lunch. Is it necessary? I will only end up collapsing in the middle of a class

discussion. A nice and easy excuse to not do schoolwork too. Ha. I snatch a packet of noodles, a

muesli bar and nick a ham sandwich from the dining table. I toss everything into my already full bag

and rundown a checklist through my mind: books, folders, pencil case, lunch, knee pads, a spareshirt, drink bottle. Oh god. I never thought Id be this forgetful! I heaved a petulant sigh and dash to

the kitchen to fill it up.

8.14am. Kitchen-clock time.

The engine roars to life from outside. Thats my cue. I collect myself together while the pests zoom

past me to the car one by one and Im left here to lock the house. Okay, final lap. I can do this!

Switch all the lights off. 30,29,28,27,26,25, draw all the curtains...24,23,22,21,20, turn off the mains

for the stove...19,18, my opponents gaining on me! Get out of the house as quickly as possible and

lock the front door securely...17,16, sprint the last few meters! 15,14,13,12,11,close the car door.

I made it! I made it to the finish line with an amazing 10 seconds ahead of my opponent. A new

record ! I gasp for air and breathe a sigh of relief. Then I think to myself, Until tomorrow morning!

Hmmph.