Write a story to illustrate the saying: The ealry birds catches the worm.

Answer Details

Story: The early bird catches the worm

Emeka and I were both offered the chance to sit for the national scholarship examination. Only one candidate from our school could win the single award, and the two of us were the strongest students in the science class. From the day the notice was pinned on the board, I decided that I would not wait for anyone to push me.

That very evening I drew up a timetable. While the rest of the town still slept, I was already awake, my lantern glowing against the darkness, my books spread before me on the small table. Cockcrow met me at my desk. My mother often woke to find me murmuring formulae before the first light had touched the sky. Emeka, on the other hand, laughed at my haste. "There is plenty of time," he said, stretching lazily. "The examination is three months away. Why kill yourself so early?"

Three months are not as long as the idle imagine. I finished the whole syllabus twice over and began to solve past questions while Emeka was only just dusting his notes. When the registration forms were released, I was the first pupil at the office. I collected my form, filled it neatly and submitted it before the queue had even formed. Emeka arrived two days later, only to be told that the quota for our school had been filled and that latecomers would be placed on a waiting list.

On the day of the examination I walked into the hall calm and rested, for I had prepared long and slept well. The questions seemed almost familiar, like old friends I had met in my morning studies. Emeka sat two rows behind me, biting his pen, his forehead damp with panic.

Two weeks later the results were pasted on the board. My name stood at the very top of the list, crowned with the single scholarship. Emeka's name was nowhere to be found. As we walked home together, he placed his hand on my shoulder and sighed. "You warned me," he said quietly, "and I would not listen."

I smiled and remembered the old saying my grandfather loved so well: the early bird catches the worm. That day I learned, and Emeka learned too, that opportunity favours those who rise before the rest of the world is awake.