By: Samuel Lin

Bob sulked home, head hanging down. His beaming smile turned into a frown, dragging his feet slowly to his chicken coop. His heart sank to his stomach in utter dismay, and his eyes were filled with a sorrow that weighed him down.

Bob dreaded the moment when he had to return his chicken coop. He vividly envisioned his parents, who would surely think of him as a failure, looking upon him with utter disappointment

The door creaked as Bob stepped into the chicken coop as if it was warning Bob of the shame and humiliation that would be upon him.

Once Bob’s parents saw his dejected look, both their faces turned from hopeful to dismay in an instant. Instead of being the supportive parents they should have been, his mother muttered, “Such a failure, he will never be successful in life after he failed the math exam.”

His father added, “A true disgrace to the family.”

Bob continued to trudge upstairs and heaved himself onto the bed and looked at the blank white ceiling. The thoughts of “I’m a failure,” echoed repeatedly in his head, and Bob got more and more disheartened. He buried himself under his bedding and closed his eyes as tight as he could.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, which startled Bob out of his sadness. Bob took a deep breath and opened the chicken coop door.

“Hello?” Bob said. He opened the door to see his math teacher waiting, his eyes hopeful, awaiting the exam result.

“I didn’t pass the test,” Bob said quietly. His math teacher suddenly frowned and heaved a huge sigh.

‘“It’s okay,” his math teacher said. He awkwardly patted him on the back, and said, “Maybe you just weren’t smart enough, no matter how much you studied.” His teacher strolled away.

Bob was appalled by his teacher’s message. Maybe he wasn’t smart enough, maybe his teacher was right.

Then there was another knock at the door. Bob didn’t get up. After a pause, there was another, more persistent knock at the door.

“Hello?” Bob asked as he finally got up to open the door. Bob saw his best chicken friend, Joe, at the door.

“Hello, I’m sorry that you didn’t pass your math exam,” Joe said. Bob’s heart was a bit revived after this sympathetic message.

“But I have good news. I have a friend who is a farmer, and his name is John. John is looking for a hard-working, honest worker to help him grow crops, and I think you would be perfect for this job. I know this isn’t your dream, but would you like to become a farmer?”

Bob smiled a bittersweet smile. His dream of being a mathematician was lost, and it seemed all his hard work was in vain. However, Bob realized he did gain something from his hard work. Others had seen and appreciated his hard work and had been given a job as a farmer. Despite losing the math test, he was proud of what he had done because he had done his best.

“Yes, I would love to be a farmer,” Bob said.