A Simple Story of Mine...

Exposition:
My parents always want me to do the best I can on everything I do, even on the smaller things in school and life. They definitely put that belief into action last year... So, my reading teacher had set a sort-of high AR goal for me (it was high considering it was the last quarter and I hardly had time to read then). I had completely forgot about it until about 2 weeks till the due date. I also had most of my assessments due then, so I considered just not making my goal. But my parents went berserk when I told them that and told me that I'd have to put everything into it. I made a list of books and their point values, then I got to work.

Rising Action:
By the day before the deadline, I had finished 2 books that had gotten me to only 10 more points. I was frantically looking through my bookshelf for a book I could easily read in one night. There was just one book that would do, but it was somewhat thick and had small print. The only thing that made the book better than the others was that I had watched the movie.
My savior was, drum roll pleaseeeee...The Golden Compass.
I took the book and went and sat on the couch. For the first 3 hours I was good. I was really getting into the story, and because I had watched the movie I was familiar with the plot line. But as midnight came and went, I realized I was going too slowly. I would need to skim and just get the important details and remind myself the story. I kept going. But I was so tired my eyes just wouldn't stay open, and by 1 AM I gave up and just lied down on the couch, immediately falling asleep.

Climax:
I just woke up at 4 AM (a gift, some say, to be able to wake up naturally in times like these) and in a panicked state, skimmed like craaazy. I was drifting in between consciousness and sleep but I forced my eyes open, slapped myself, whatever I could to stay awake. By 6 I only had a couple dozen more pages to read. 6:30: my parents woke up and came out into the living room to wake me up. They found me awake and were incredibly shocked. But by then, I was done. I was finished!

Falling Action:
All that was left was for me to take the AR quiz at school by 8:10. Once on campus, I ran to the library and found others running with me there. We waited for the librarian to unlock the doors, then we all impatiently waited for the computers to load. I was confident in taking tests, but I was scared I might've forgotten a significant detail of the book because I was half-asleep. But my worrying was for nothing. I got all the points I needed to make my goal.

Resolution:
I walked back to the middle school covered area, glad to have gotten all the way to the end. I know I might have gone to drastic measures to finish an AR goal, but somehow it felt good to finish something you thought was impossible to complete. But never again do I wanna go through that. :P

Conflict: My tiredness and slowness in reading got in my way as I tried to finish the book, to finish my AR goal.