The Playground : Collection of Short Stories

Free - Prompt Winner

Written for 'writing prompt' #26 by ChickLit

Word count: 1006

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"Your problem is that you are too lazy to work hard. I know you are smarter than this, I have seen you excel in school. So, why is it that you are struggling now? Your scores are below average. How do you think you'll graduate? You have just stopped caring about everything in your life!"

She disagreed. She wasn't lazy or afraid to work hard, if the 'work' was within her domain of interest. She was a creative soul. Her father, who always thrived on academic excellence, asked her to pursue business studies, since he himself was a very successful businessman and wanted his daughter to follow his footsteps. She did, just to make him happy. However, no one ever asked if she was happy. She didn't do well in college because she knew she wasn't meant to study that. She hated anything to do with numbers, but she had always excelled at English. It was in ninth grade when she realised she had a flair for story-telling. However, her father was a strict man didn't want his daughter to live in a dream land. 

She wanted to be writer. It wasn't practical, he said.

"You are already twenty four, how much longer do you want to wait? You will not get any younger, and it is the right time for you to get married. I know you don't have a boy in your mind; you barely ever dated. At least let me search one for you. I have many friends who have sons who are of marriageable age."

She disagreed. She wasn't a packet of chips with an expiry date, but a woman. She never dated because she never felt the need to. She was in no hurry to find love as she knew when the time was right, she would find him. She had other priorities in life, like writing her own novel. No one knew, but she had been working on it for past two years. She knew nobody would support her if she were to tell them, especially her mother who's only agenda in life was to see her daughter get married to a nice man as soon as possible.     

She just wanted to be contented in life. It wasn't enough, she said.

"You're such a boring person. When was the last time you partied? You need to get out and get a life! Seriously, I sometimes feel that you are sixty year old person hidden in the body of a twenty-something!" 

She disagreed. Not all young people were interested in partying or getting drunk. Some, like her, preferred staying at home by themselves and relax. She wasn't boring, it was just that her idea of having fun didn't necessarily mean having go out every weekend. She didn't hate partying. In fact, she loved socializing, but not on a regular basis. She would get exhausted quite easily and would need time to recharge herself. She couldn't be as 'lively' as others.

She wished her friends would understand her. It was for her own good, they said.

"You don't  talk much, do you? Such behaviour will not take you far in life. How will you succeed in life? Look at your cousin. See how lively she is. She even mingles well with everyone. There is no one in this family who doesn't love her. No wonder she managed to get such a rich husband. Oh, look how beautiful she is! Why don't you take care of yourself too? Your nose is always buried in books. These things won't get you anywhere in life!"

She disagreed. Those books taught her more about life than people around her could. Her relatives had always been too harsh with her. She couldn't fathom why they always spoke ill about her, she never did anything bad to gain such animosity from them. Was it because she wouldn't talk much with them? She never felt too comfortable around them, especially with their habit of gossiping. She hated that the most. 

She was shy person by nature. It was an attitude, they said. 

As she remembered them, a smile came on her face. People would've expected her to hold certain resentments against all those who judged her, held her down from pursuing her dreams, and doubted her abilities. But she didn't. She could never hate them since those were the people who made her the woman she was today - stronger and better.

She closed her eyes. The wind played with her wet hair as the waves continued to splash against her beautiful tanned skin. The coolness of water felt like heaven to her as it released all the burden she carried with herself from her past life. She raised her hand, trying to capture the rays of the setting sun in her palms. A giggle escaped her mouth at her antic behaviour, then somberness appeared on her face. Tomorrow would be her last day on this island, a place that had been a home to her for past one week. She would miss the serenity of the palm trees, the smell of salt in the air, the humid yet pleasant breeze, and the feeling of sand underneath her feet. But most of all, she would miss the anonymity she enjoyed for so long, as her very first novel was honoured by the some of the best known names in the literary world. Her phone hadn't stopped ringing since then - calls from the press, messages from her friends and relatives, and a video from her parents, telling her how proud they were of her. 

None of this mattered to her though. The fame, the fortune - these were just secondary pleasures for her. The award gifted her something far more precious. No one would judge her or doubt her now, no one would tell her how she should live her life, no one would tell her to give up on her dreams, and no one would abstain her from doing what she loved the most.

She was finally free.