Exam Jitters

            Tanya finished studying and pushed her chair away from the table in exhaustion. She felt stiff as she stood up to stretch out her body. Three straight hours of studying while sitting hunched over her books and notes hadn’t felt very good. But Tanya smiled nervously as she thought about the exam tomorrow.

            Finally, after four years of working and studying in the Royal Library, she was ready to take the test to become a Sorcerer’s Apprentice. She thought of all the classes she had sat through, and all the hours she had put into practicing her magic. It was hard work, but it had been worth it. At least, it will be worth it if she passes the exam tomorrow.

            Tanya thought about her family at home. She knew her parents were proud of her for getting this far in the program. Her older sister, Alice, had passed her own exam two years ago and was now studying under a great sorceress. Tanya tried to imagine what would happen after she passed the test. Would she be able to work with a great sorcerer? Not everyone who graduated from the Royal Library found positions afterwards.

            Tanya shook her head, trying to banish the worry she felt creeping in. All she needed to do was get a good night’s sleep. She was confident that she would do well tomorrow. She’d done everything she could to prepare.

            Tanya let out a yawn as she headed to bed. It took her a while to finally fall asleep, but when she did, it was a deep sleep.

            The alarm clock went off, and Tanya tried to shake the sleep out of her eyes. When she saw what time it was, she jumped out of bed. It was 10:30 AM. Her exam started at 11 AM! How could she let this happen? Did she really hit snooze that many times?

            Tanya got dressed as fast as she could, but she felt like she was moving so slowly. She started to panic more when she realized that someone must have put a slow-motion charm on her. Would one of her roommates do that? Trying to put the thought out of her mind, she performed a speeding-up spell and was able to move normally.

            Skipping breakfast, she started toward the door, but found that it wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, Tanya checked to make sure that it wasn’t locked, and then used all her strength to try and open the door. She finally ended up summoning her magic to get the door unstuck. Someone was really messing with her today.

            As soon as she was outside of the dormitories, she started running across the campus to get where she needed to be. Tanya thought she might just make it to the exam, when she ran headfirst into an invisible wall.

            Momentarily stunned, she lay on the ground where she had fallen until she could summon the energy to move again. Gingerly, she felt the air around her until she found the invisible wall. Trying to find the edge, she ran her hand along it. She walked several feet off the path before she gave up and used her magic again to blast a hole through it.

            Really frustrated now, she finally reached the Exam Building. She took a minute to slow her breathing, and then she walked inside.

            The building was completely empty. Tanya felt her jaw drop as she realized that she was standing inside an empty shell of what the building used to be. It was just one big open room with no furnishings or decorations of any kind except for a large clock hanging on the wall. The clock showed that it was now 2 PM.

            Tanya screamed when she realized that she would not get a chance to take her final exam. She had missed it. Her scream turned to rage as she thought of everything that had happened to her that morning.

            Tanya was still screaming when she woke up. Her two roommates were fearfully gathered around her, looking deeply concerned. Betsy and Lillian both asked, “Are you all right?”

            Tanya nodded slowly and turned to look out the window. It was still dark outside. Her alarm clock said it was 2:45 AM. She sighed in relief to know that it had all been just a dream.

            Her roommates continued to look worried, however. Betsy asked, “What were you dreaming about? It must have been a doozy.”

            Tanya started to explain when she noticed that her room was a mess. Her stuff was scattered everywhere. “What happened here?” she asked, horrified.

            “Umm, you did,” Lillian said, her eyes still wide. “We’ve been trying to wake you up for a while, but you were sleeping so deeply, and you must have been soooo mad.”

            “Yeah, you were trying to run somewhere, but you kept running into the wall,” Betsy said excitedly. “You used your magic and everything went everywhere.”

            Tanya surveyed the damage and said, “I think I’m just worried about my exam that’s happening later today. I really thought that I had missed it.”

            Tanya told her roommates her crazy dream. Just thinking about it made her feel anxious and worried. Betsy and Lillian helped her calm down and set her room to rights. Of course, magic helped a lot with that. Before she went back to bed, she triple-checked that her alarm clock was set to go off at 7 AM. She did not want her dream to become a reality. For the second time that night, Tanya fell asleep, but this time she didn’t have any crazy dreams. She woke up with her alarm and made it to her exam just fine. She wouldn’t let exam jitters bother her any more.