The Monster Roars

story by Lily Wu

illustrations by Yi-ju Cheng

As I walked out the exam room of the Basic Competence Test, I felt quite relieved because I had finally gone through the three-year-long ordeal. All I did was take pointless tests while no one told me what they were for or  how I should prepare for them. For times I had thought of running away from it all. And I did. Now I was freed at last…. As I wandered on the street, a strange-looking man handed me a flyer about traveling to a place called “Noexam.” The ad really attracted me. To celebrate the end of the test, I signed up right away. After all, anything was definitely going to be much more fun than my dull junior high school life!

  The first place the tour guide took me to was the off-shore island of Onmaxe―Examisfun Island. There was a popular theme park in the center of the island called Testme. But unfortunately, we arrived there so late―it was already five o’clock in the afternoon; all that we could do was go back to the hotel and come back the next day. In order to make it up to me, the tour guide offered a free cable-car ride. On the way back, I felt quite dizzy and gradually fell asleep….

      When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in the hotel lobby. It was rather quiet, which aroused my curiosity. I asked the receptionists where all the guests had gone, but they replied with an unfathomable smile giving the same answer, “ There is a BIG show tonight. Please make sure you’re in good shape to attend it.” Not knowing what to expect, I went into the hall in excitement and fear. 

  When I opened the door to the hall, I was immediately confronted by a gigantic monster―its spiky head was made up of sharp red pens, its body formed by scrunched test papers and it kept roaring, “You just failed! Do it again!” “Why didn’t you finish the report? You can not go home without finishing the worksheet!” Its hoarse voice reminded me of the strictest teacher in my junior high school, who gave me such a hard time during my teenage years. All she did was make us write all sorts of test papers so that we could score full marks in every test. That “TEST MONSTER” kept lunging forward, trying to make me face my biggest nightmare. I screamed louder and louder, but no one came to my rescue. All I could think of at that moment was to flee as far as I could. 

  Soon I realized one thing―the test monster ran as fast I did, which meant the distance between the frightening creature and me always remained the same. This shocking discovery inspired me to change my strategy. I gathered up the nerve to fight the monster face-to-face. I stopped at the lobby and waited for it. “What do you want?” I shouted at it. “I want you to answer these questions!” That monster howled in its terrifying voice. I looked down at the papers it gave me and found I had done these kinds of questions in junior high. Wanting to make the monster go away, I started to do the exercises without hesitation. As I got down to the task, I found it was no longer cruel torture since I actually knew the answers to the questions. The more happily I did the exercises, the smaller the monster became. 

  All of a sudden, I heard a strange sound from the monster: “Ahaha…!” Then the monster turned into smoke. About two or three seconds later, that scary test monster vanished. The only thing left on the floor was a letter. In that letter were three tips: 

1.Prepare before taking a test. Do as many exercises as you can.

2.Relax when you take the test and put your best foot forward.

3.Don’t run away! 

Love, Exam Monster 

That letter taught me a lesson that our teacher hadn’t before. Although all the teachers told me to study hard in junior high school, nobody told me “how.” After having read the letter the monster gave, I finally understood why. This monster helped me to face my nightmare (actually tests are my nightmare), so I’m no longer afraid of taking any test if I have studied for it. No longer do I view exams a stressful thing.

“Wake up, Miss! This is the final stop of the cable car ride!” After I woke up, I found that all the “Test Monster” stuff was just a dream. I continued my journey. A few days later, when I got back to Taiwan, I almost forgot that dream. As soon as I arrived, I received my Basic Competence Test report card. To my surprise, I did better than I had thought before, which reminded me of that dream. I also found a piece of paper placed next to the flyer, and it looked exactly the same as the monster’s letter. “Is it just a dream?” I wondered….