Manjit's alarm rings at 7:00AM.By 7:15, he was still staring at the ceiling, the weight of yesterday's failures lingering like a shadow in his mind. "Why am I always so behind?" he muttered, pulling the blanket over his head. Somewhere, in the hum of his half-awake thoughts, a spark of hope flickered. Maybe Today will be different.
As he lay there, the early morning sunlight filtering through the blinds cast a warm glow over his cluttered room. The university campus outside was already coming to life, students hurrying to their morning lectures. Manjit knew he should get up, but the comfort of his bed was not allowing to do so. He tossed the blanket aside and swung his leg over the side of the bed, his feet dangling in the air. "Time to face the day", he muttered to himself, though a part of him still lingered in doubt. With a deep breath, he stood up and began getting ready for the class. His mind racing with the day's schedule, he couldn't shake the feeling of being behind. "Let's just get through the day without any more mishaps", he thought, grabbing his bag and rushing out the door.
As he sprinted out of the dorm, coffee in hand, his feet pounding the pavement, he turned a corner and collided with someone.
"Oh no—my coffee!" Manjit groaned.
A soft voice apologized, and he looks up to see a girl with a gentle smile bending down to offer him napkins. "Don't worry. We all have morning like this". There was something in her tone—calm, unshaken— that both annoyed and intrigued him.
"Thanks, "Manjit said. Taking the napkins from her. "I'm just really late for the class."
The girl smiled warmly. "I'm Anariya. Nice to meet you, despite the circumstances."
"Manjit," he replied, feeling a strange sense of calm wash over him as he took in her composed demeanor.
After exchanging introduction, smiled and nodded, then countinued on her way. Manjit watched her go, feeling a sense of calm that lingered long after she was out of sight. As he rushed to his lecture, the memory of her smile stayed with him, and he found himself wondering what had brought her to campus that morning.
Later, in class, he found himself staring out the window, replaying their brief encounter.
The professor's words about ambition and change drifted over him, but one phrase stuck: "Growth begins in the most unexpected moments." Manjit scribbled a single word in his notebook: Bloom. Maybe today was the day. Maybe.