Tell a story that ends with the words: It was a bitter experience, but I learnt my lesson.

Answer Details

A story that ends with a given sentence must move naturally toward it, and the closing words must appear exactly as given in the very last line.

The Shortcut

Everyone in my class knew that the mathematics examination would be tough, and I, who had spent the term chasing football rather than figures, was more anxious than most. Instead of turning to my books in the weeks before the paper, I turned to a foolish plan. A boy named Kola, who sat behind me, boasted that he could obtain the questions beforehand from a certain source, for a price. Against the quiet voice of my conscience, I agreed and paid him the little money I had saved.

The night before the examination, Kola brought me a crumpled sheet, swearing it contained the very questions we would sit. I abandoned all real study and crammed only the answers to those few problems, congratulating myself on my cleverness. I went to bed proud, certain that I had outwitted both the teachers and my hard-working classmates.

The morning came, and with it my downfall. When the question papers were handed out and I turned the first page, my heart froze. Not a single question matched the sheet I had memorised. The paper was completely different. While others bent to their work, I sat staring at problems I had made no effort to understand, my mind as empty as my prepared notes were useless. I scribbled a few desperate lines, but it was hopeless.

Worse still, the invigilator noticed my restlessness and, on searching my desk, found the crumpled sheet of leaked questions. I was marched out of the hall before the whole class, my name recorded, and my paper cancelled. The shame of that walk, past the pitying eyes of the very classmates I had thought myself cleverer than, was almost unbearable.

My parents were called, and I was suspended for a week. Yet, painful as it was, that punishment taught me what no lecture ever had: that there is no honest shortcut to success, and that hard work and integrity are the only true paths. I returned to school a changed student, and I never again sought to cheat my way through anything. It was a bitter experience, but I learnt my lesson.