Therefore, it came as a big shock to all of us when Henry finally spoke up and announced softly on Monday that he was going to give it a try at the coming speaking competition. Even when we found out he had training sessions at home, our confidence in him did not move an inch. After all, this was the way he had been all the time - the reluctance to speak up, the tendency to drift into solitude, and the timid quivering in his voice even when he finally speaks.
We encouraged Henry nonetheless, for it wasn't easy for a man like him to step out of his own world and muster the courage to speak. While we were full of praises for him, Henry produced his second sentence, "I am... no ... I think this... this competition .... is a .... no .... good for .... a ... a ... training... ". We immediately shouted a "Yes!" in unison, and congratulated him for being so courageous, although his second sentence only worked to further waver our confidence in him.
Finally the day came. It was a Saturday, and we all came to support Henry. The topic was "Should abortion be allowed in countries", a topic that can never be found in Henry's textbooks. By the time we reached the auditorium, we have more or less given up our hope on Henry. There he was - with his big spectacles, a long wordy script, and his hunchback, standing amongst 2 other young, bright, energetic and charismatic speakers who had already memorized their scripts. Tom and Hong Ming have always been known for their gift of gab, as proven during weekly debate. No, Henry is definitely not going to stand a chance against his opponents.
Almost everyone laughed at Henry, some said he must have gone crazy, some commented that Henry is too arrogant and he should know his limits. It was during then when my friends and I noticed Hong Ming twitching about. Hong Ming, dressed in navy blue overalls, with his hair combed, started to turn pale. Putting his hand on his stomach, Hong Ming approached the teacher-in-charge and asked if he could be excused to the toilet. From then on, we never saw him again until the next day. Apparently, Hong Ming was down with food poisoning.
Just as Hong Ming rushed off for the washroom, Tom went over to Henry's waiting position and whispered something into his ear. It was inaudible, and it was only after the competition that we learnt that Tom said, "So, its just me and you left. You are going down". Apparently, the saying "Pride comes before a fall" is very accurate. In the process of returning to his waiting position, Tom accidentally tripped and fell on his floor. It turned out that he broke his left leg upon falling on the floor, and had to be sent to the hospital immediately.
And there was Tom, the only participant left, standing safe and sound on the stage. In the end, he clinched the title of "Hwa Chong Institution's Best Speaker 2010" without even opening his mouth on stage! The unbelievable turn of events were all to our pleasant shock. With a uncertain smile of incredibility, we looked at each other, then turned to the timid "nerd" in front of our eyes, and back and forth. It turned out the impossible was possible.
Three years has passed since that incident, but everytime I looked back to that day, I can still never believe my memory. It was indeed a surprise winning none of us ever dared to dream of.
