Gavin Liu, G11, BASIS International School Shenzhen In the stillness of the night, I wait for the clock to strike and seal my fate. Like a nuclear scientist poised for the final blast, I wait for that last digit — twelve — to be cast. Five, four, three, two, one. Silence. Like another dormant bomb, I lean back, wrapped in the cold, stinging sea breeze penetrating my skin to join my veins. No balloons, no cakes, no gifts to unwrap. Not even a message, a phone call, a momentary snap. No. Silence still reigns on this dark October night. Life feels not like a crossroad, but an expansive plain, empty of signposts, leaving me to wonder, uncertain, and in vain. Yet, the clock ticks, each second a reminder to no longer remain a dormant shell. I shall stand tall, fueled by dreams that resonate. That bomb, it did explode. Like a clarion call, its sounds and echoes traveling, delayed, until one day, when ambition rises and finally booms. | 