Orbit.

The Saturn rings never fail to appeal to me whenever I open an astronomical magazine. Being a fast-spinning planet, Mercury has its attraction as the star nearest to the Sun with a name reminiscent of something soothing. Venus, on the other hand, could also strike in me certain mysterious feelings of grandeur with its correlation with the ancient goddess in Greek myths, in an era when Trojans ployed their enemy with wooden horses and when Venus reveled in the same world with Zeus, Poseidon and Apollo, who collectively dominated the revving of the universe machine.

However, I find the rings of the Saturn the most fascinating. Not only do they strike me with its garguantuan number, they also show a revealing orbit that seems to run nonstop till the death of the universe. This serves as a strong encouraging power to me, who now teeters on the cusp of changes as the importance of perseverance begins to emanate.

Two weeks have passed with the time shown on my phone jumping forward like mad. Spinning like a blurry star on my predestined orbit every day, I am struggling to keep pace with my life. The recent release of O level results bore both joy and bitterness. I rejoiced with my seniors who have achieved well through their hardwork but also felt great pity for some of them who let fortune slip off their hands without a second glance. Though the majority of our school subject MSGs are high above National Average, there is still space to improve, given that our batch is the so-called most promising one with a precedentedly high cut-off point of 249 in PSLE.

The high target has been set to spur us on, which again reminds me of the unfathomable power in the universe that makes every star rotate on its orbit without going astray. One cannot stop pondering what magical power it is that pushes them to go on and what mystique force there exists that spurs them to revolve unrelentingly till their cataclysmic death as a supernova, an astronomical phenomenon yet fully grasped even by the most eminent astronomers. One thing is for sure, that is, no matter what force makes the star revolve, we have to draw power from our own determination, an energy source that never goes depleted.

As the Chinese New Year is looming, our last happy moment begins to emerge no sooner than it passes and the ordeal starts. As our teacher put it, once we enjoyed our Last Supper, it would be the time for "slaughter". She made a slashing gesture to reinforce the effect that made me half amused and half shuddering. It is hard to imagine after coaxing ang-pow from your parents, we will be the ones to be coerced to strive hard for the "great mission". Yet I am not whining at the impending plight, because somewhere in my heart I find this little pressure "endearing". It gives your life a direction, and thus gives your life a promise, like the invisible force pushing the star to spin on its orbit.

I am a star.

And we are the stars. We will shine our best glamour.

It is a promise, a direction, and it sets our orbit.

(P.S. Tomorrow will be the first day of Sec 1 Orientation Camp, here we go!)