My eyelids felt heavy and cumbersome which am undoubtedly sure would prove a great deal on prying open which I don't look forward to as it is quite heavily pregnant with hot tears which are pleading for a marathon to cascade down my cheeks much to my dismay but who am I to abhor it when maybe it came as a consolation to me in this state of solitude.

I can't say if it was seconds, minutes or hours that went by but even as the time kept fading by it unfairly didn't carry along with it the howling monstrous laughter, the mocking sniggers and the taunting giggles which were the only sounds reverberating proudly in the large classroom filled with judgemental students customized with pride and superiority complex.

Growing up with a single parent and five younger siblings isn't a piece of cake and further qualified by being extremely poor is way worse than it would ever appear to a mere onlooker who might not necessarily know the vigorous struggle in acquiring one square meal a day with no care whatsoever of it looks and taste on our tongue in as much as it keeps us alive for the day but not once did that and other harsh test of life weighed us down and halted our striving mother in securing us a space in school,staking all her hopes on our education, specifically on me, being the eldest.

It had been long I came to accept the fact that am far from being intelligent and removing all sugar coating I can be qualified as being very dull because I couldn't comprehend anything no matter how easy it may seem in all the subjects without exception, which breaks me every time since I know how disheartening it will be to my mum to know about that and I kept on trying, pouring in all my attentions and determination to improve but all efforts kept proving futile and even though sometimes the thought to just give up comes to me but I never let it prevail when I look back to where I came from and coupled with the fact that the school's atmosphere never let me feel so different since a good number of the student there were more of being on the same or a slightly higher IQ level than I am making me feel comfortable and not casted out.

Unbeknownst to me, my mother figured out my difficulty in learning and traded all her meagre asset in transferring me to another school which is quite known for their level of excellence and immediately I got transferred. I had always being a lover of dawn because I believed it paves way for a new chance and opportunity but not anymore since a new day means another day in my new school which feels as though am threading on needles, out of fear,superiority complex and not a place to easily find someone of my kind. But not once did I ever harbour the thought of giving up because I believe I could also make history one day.

Each day came to me with its challenge with some tougher than the others but I always silently try to blend in the background, in the shadow of others sparing no care to the flaunting, pride and mockery by the student there when I request for their academic help.

My joy knew no bounds when our English teacher gave the answer to a question which couldn't be solved by anyone not even by the egoistic geniuses in the class and to their dismay he refused repeating the answer one more time which went unheard by many and he kept emphasizing on him repeating the exact question in his next class and to my luck my seat mate had quickly scribbled down the answer which I copied in my note unknowingly to him,and happily I kept on rehearsing those two lines repeatedly over the weekends so I could boldly give the answer in the next class.

I couldn't describe the anxiety in me when I quickly raised up my hand to answer a question immediately it was asked for the first time ever and never did I also know that would mark my last time ever.

Never have I allowed myself to be bothered by people rubbing my weaknesses on my face until today because I was humiliated, disgraced, embarrassed, walked upon and called all sort of scarring words only because I tried to stand out, only because I tried to be like everyone else, only because I want to know, only because am tired of hiding in others shadow, only because I also want to be praised and applauded, only because I naively gave that answer which kept me up at night for an entirely different question asked because I didnt even know, because I couldn't even tell the difference, because the poor boy made a fool of himself which is what they were looking forward to.

"You are worthless,

"A total waste of time and resources

"An excuse of a being... Where the words that scarred me the most out of the numerous harsh words uttered by our teacher and it still kept ringing through my hearing surpassing the thunderous laughter from my mates and it took me like forever before I summoned the courage to run out of that class forever and right there I lost the will to learn and called it quit.

Years passed by gradually and even today as I stood sweating profusely under the scorching sun chasing after passing cars to get patronizers of my stacks of recharge card I couldn't help but think what if I wasnt scarred forever on that day? What if I got a little bit of encouragement? What if I was politely corrected of my mistake? What if I wasn't ridiculed, if and only if, then who knows what would have become of me and where I would have being by now.

Words hurt and you never know how just few words you utter nonchalantly can change someone's life forever.

You may forget you ever said something of a sort but then the person you scarred didn't!