It's funny, isn't it? How one of the most arduous days of your life could start out with a beautiful morning. Fluffy clouds lazily floating across a clear blue sky ... The sun had just banished the night. The air was still fresh and exhilarating. Each breath sent tingles that filled every cell of my body. By all accounts this was a beautiful day; a day in which I thought nothing could go awry. Boy, was I wrong!

The road from home to the main was littered with patches of asphalt. It was like a mini version of the lunar surface and made the drive much longer than it had to be. If you should forget something at home and had to turn back for it (which had happened on numerous occasions), you had to suffer twice the ache because, indeed, this was a painful trek. That was not my experience today, however. Today had all the trappings of a perfect day.

Once you got on to the main road it was smooth sailing all the way. The traffic was the usual easy flow at that time of the morning. Being late, however, was not an option - not an option if one wanted to avoid the real meaning of gridlock.

The lights at the intersection quickly turned from green to amber to red. It occurred a couple seconds quicker than anticipated. I was traveling close to 80 kph. The speed limit was 50 kph. I had to make a split decision. Break up hard or run the red light. No sign of the police and there were no cars on the side that had the green light. Besides, the car behind me was on my tail and might smash in the back of my vehicle if I stopped without warning.

A sudden flashing of blue lights and the wail of a siren alerted me that I had made the wrong decision. It was the car behind me (much to my surprise). I knew the drill so I pulled over. Three police officers came out of the white 2007 Toyota Corolla. Two were dressed in the familiar striped shirt, black pants with a blue stripe down the side from their pockets to match the blue stripe that ran along the sides of their patrol car. The other one was dressed in a navy blue overall, much like a mechanic would wear. He was armed with a gun that was as long as his arm.

They approached cautiously from both sides of my 1998 Nissan Serena.

Twenty minutes later, the incident was just a slightly unpleasant memory and I was well on my way to school. The officers had been very courteous and professional. They had let me off with a stern warning, but not before the embarrassment of seeing several motorists slowing down to observe my predicament.

The event had only mildly soiled my perfect morning. I was thankful, nevertheless. It could have turned out infinitely worse. I got to school without any other incidents. It was 7:50 a.m. when I got out of the vehicle. Toni was already there. She was busy typing away at her laptop.

"Morning Toni," I said.

She just raised her left hand and waved while she continued punching away at the keyboard with her other hand. Toni, my classmate, was very petite. She was just a fraction over five feet tall. Her dark brown eyes were large and slightly slanted. She had long black hair which curled up at the sides toward her cheekbones; it framed her slender oval face.

I cannot recall ever really having a conversation with her. If I tried she was usually pleasant but an awkward silence would always come up sooner rather than later, so I had all but given up trying to drum up conversation with her.

Perhaps she was working on an assignment for a class which we did not share. At least, that was what I hoped. We shared two classes together; one today and one on Friday. Then it occurred to me. I might have an assignment due this week, or did I? My heart rate started to do double time. Was it today or Friday? I was now fully in panic mode.

"Toni, what you up to?"

I tried sounding as calm as I could.

"I'm working on the assignment due at the end of the day for Mr Gray's class."

That was not what I wanted to hear. We had Mr Gray's class at five this evening. What was I going to do? I reached for my flash drive which was usually hanging from my neck, but grabbed a handful of air. My flash drive with the assignment was at home still lodged in my PC where I'd left it the night before.

"Really?"

I pretended to have perfect control and not show the dire state of panic that had now overtaken me. (I should be at the drama school and not the art school because my acting was near flawless). My perfect day was beginning to fall apart from the inside out. I fought hard not to let it show. At the end of this I should get a best actor award.

The idea of retrieving my flash drive from home was a daunting one. Piece by piece a perfect day started to look more like a perfect disaster.

I came close to Toni so I could see the screen of her laptop. I was expecting to see 'Adobe Photoshop', but instead all I saw was 'Yahoo Instant Messenger'. She just grinned and said "Just kidding."

- Rohan Goldsmith