The Student and the Serpent

I quickly got up and jumped in the air, barely dodging the snake's attempt to bite me. I began sprinting toward my sword which had been knocked from my hand moments earlier. The serpent followed close behind gaining on me, but miraculously, I somehow was able to get hold of its metallic handle and swing it around slicing the head off of the monster.

“Great answer Laura. Did everybody hear that?” My teacher turned around to face me, snapping me out of my daydream. The rest of the class groaned. “I guess not. Laura, could you please repeat what you said?”

I looked around at my classmates apologetically and repeated what I had said a moment earlier, “Spurting blood comes from arteries, dripping blood comes from veins, and oozing blood comes from capillaries.” My face turned red as I looked to meet the gaze of the serpent, who was glaring a hole right through my head and quickly averted my eyes.

You didn’t even go here last year; how would you know any of this. I know that I’m right, so don’t bother contradicting me. Her words echoed in my ears making my head hurt. So, what if I hadn’t gone here last year. What did it matter? I had still taken the same classes she had, I just did them over the summer. Technically, I did know this information, and apparently better than her.

I tried to let her comment go, but it kept coming back. I told myself that she was wrong, but even if she was, her remark still hurt. When I had chopped off the snake’s head, two more had grown back named Self-Doubt and Isolation. I ran from the snake, but it caught up to me around lunchtime.

“Why would you say that? Do you realize what you did? You made me look bad.” The words slid off of her tongue with such a maliciousness that the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I was ju—”

“Had you not heard me when I said, ‘don’t contradict me’? Clearly not.” She hissed back, not letting me finish. “I get that you think you're smart, but you don’t belong here. Why do you think the new sophomores leave half-way through? It’s because they don’t belong, and neither do you.” With that, she turned on her heel and slithered off leaving me speechless.

I had been bitten. The poison spreading through my body and mind clouded my thoughts. Maybe she was right, I shouldn’t be here. It had always been my dream to attend this school. Ever since I first heard about it in 6^th grade, I knew I wanted to go here. When the time came to fill out the application for the medical school, I had done so with immense care and precision. It didn’t really matter though, because it was a lottery. The administration would randomly draw names, and those drawn, got in. My name hadn’t been drawn for freshman year, but it had been drawn sophomore year, this year. I remember being so excited. I would finally get to go to the school I had always wanted to.

But clearly, I didn’t belong. I dropped my sword and began my walk home. I had lost the battle. When I got home that day, I went straight to my bedroom and didn’t come out for a long time.

Suddenly though, as I was making my way through the dark and dusty forest, a bright light appeared. A sparkling cloud began to form, and I could soon make out feet, then hands and arms, and before I knew it, there in front of me stood my old friend. I lowered myself to the forest floor, bowing in the presence of a magical being.

“Get off the ground weirdo.” Magnolia the Majestic bellowed. “You look like an absolute hot mess. Tell me what happened.”

Magnolia and I had been best friends for as long as I could remember. I had left her to go to the new school, and I missed her so much. As I cried to her over the phone, blubbering about what had happened she listened silently.

“You know what you have to do right?” She asked once I had finished.

“Yes, I must flee the country and start a new life as a merchant in the Philippines selling homemade bracelets,” I replied, still crying.

“What?! No, you have to get a better test score than her. You have to show her that you do belong there with all of the weird doctor kids, because Laura, you are one of the weird doctor kids.”

I smiled at her words because she was right. I was a weird doctor kid and I did belong there.

I looked up at the wizard who was now holding my sword which I had left on the battlefield. She held the sword out to me, and I took it with a newfound confidence. I looked down at the shining blade, seeing my reflection in it, “Thank you Magnolia.” But when I looked up, she was gone and I was on my own.

That night I studied as hard as I could. I made hundreds of note cards and diagrams and study guides as preparation for the fight that lie ahead. When I walked into the classroom, I knew I was ready. I took my mark on the battleground, my eyes focused on the target. With each answer I filled in on the test, I could feel myself get one step closer to the prize. I was getting closer and closer every second, but when I was about halfway through the test, I saw something in the corner of my eye.

The head of Self-Doubt was slowly moving toward me. I readied my sword and when it was close enough, I swung at it. I had come across a question I wasn’t sure of. I took another swing at the snake, this time making contact with its slimy skin. Blood was drawn and I filled in another bubble. I kept going and pushing until I only had 10 questions left. True or False questions. My ultimate enemy. I took a deep breath and looked up. Big mistake.

Her bright green, evil eyes stared right back at me. I looked back down quickly, but then remembered what Magnolia had said. I looked back up at her, meeting her gaze challengingly. She narrowed her eyes, daring me to look away. After a few deadly seconds, she scoffed and looked back down at her test. A smile spread over my face, I had beat her. If only at a staring contest, I had still, beat her. I couldn’t revel in the glory for long though because I had to focus on the task at hand. Soon I had filled in every bubble. I got up from my seat and turned in the test.

I wouldn’t be able to see the final test score until tomorrow, but I knew I had done well. I had collected the ultimate prize. I had defeated the evil snake. As I returned to my kingdom, there stood Magnolia, arms open wide. I ran to her and told her everything.

The next day everyone received their scores, and just as I had suspected, a big red “100%” was scribbled at the top of my paper. I tried to stay cool about it, but I couldn’t. I walked out of the classroom and smiled. Finally, victory was mine.