Contrasts

Question: Write two contrasting descriptive pieces {300-450} words each which portray the same character at the beginning and the end of the same story or novel. You should bring out differences such as: the character’s appearance, personality and thoughts.


Tring…ting! The shrieking alarm sounded irritating. Nafi pressed it off, wrapping himself with the blanket. He was in the middle of a wonderful dream, rowing a boat in a soft, cool lake. Many other students accompanied him…
“Students! School! Ooops! You silly!” He said to himself. “How could you forget about the excursion?”


Nafi jumped off the bed immediately, as if someone had poured cold water on him. Breaking his record of punctuality was the last thing he ever wished to do. He never got off the merit-list. Moreover, the twelve-year-old had won special prizes for 100% attendance for four consecutive years. Besides, he was the class monitor as well.

“Nafi, time for breakfast, son.” A calm, feminine voice waved into his ears.
“Yes Mom, down in a minute.” He replied sweetly.

As he climbed down the stairs into the dining room, Rumana smiled affectionately at her youngest son.
“So, what will my little man have?” She asked.
“Yum…everything smells so good! I don’t know.” He picked up two pieces of French toast.

Thick, black hair properly combed with slight cream, shiny white shoes with a neatly pressed uniform. Bright, brown eyes reflected intelligence. He was a son every mother would be proud to have.
As his rickshaw reached the school gate, Nafi noticed a colorful bus with a shiny banner on it. The bearded driver moved the steering-wheel as soon as Nafi jumped in.

He began whistling softly, taking a seat near the window, enjoying the picturesque natural views. To keep a friend’s request, he leaded while all the sixty students sang “Hundred miles away from home” in chorus.

The little boy cherished his friends, adored his family. Despite being an excellent scholar, he never acted like a snob. He always liked to take part in group discussions before starting major assignments. “Exchange of ideas will help me to learn more.” He would tell his teachers.

“Children, do you want to ride a boat? The supervising teachers asked the students as they reached a lake, just like the one in Nafi’s dream.
Nafi could not believe his eyes. He took up the row enthusiastically. As the heavy row touched one of the girls slightly, he moved it immediately:
“I’m sorry, hope you are not hurt.” Nafi apologized.

“Just what happened to you?” Rumana poured anger in her voice. She had just pulled out Nafi’s report card which he hid in one of his books. Nafi, her son, who never knew what failure is, had a whole buch of E’s on his progress report. He seemed as if a storm had gone over him.

His hair almost came down to his shoulders. It looked like a mass of cotton-thread. His eyes had bags under them, obviously created by lack of sleep. Anybody would throw up, thanks to the ‘sweet’ body odor. His sandal-shoes had holes in them.
“Just get lost, you Neanderthal!” Rumana shouted at the top of her voice.

This would not have happened if Nafi’s father did not force him to study Science. These changes were the signs of the silent revenge he planned to take on his father. All his life he dreamed to study Economics, but his father did not let him. Nafi’s father wanted him to follow the hereditary path of medicine.
As a result, Nafi joined the group of students he had always avoided. Those students never even thought about books. Instead, they would prefer to bunk classes, and roam around like a vagabond.
One day, they took Nafi to a house, a structure that rather seemed like an ancient relic, in Old Dhaka. He saw syringes lying around. They brought him a glass filled to the rim with a reddish-brown drink.
“Take this; you’ll forget all the sorrows.” They told him.
When Nafi drank that bitter liquid, the world began swinging around him. Then he had the urge to drink more. Within a few days, the brilliant teenager turned into an alcoholic.

Nafi could not sleep without taking a few pegs. Sometimes he would even finish the whole bottle within minutes. “That old man…I’d show that old man…” He would murmur.
Total: 692 words