Tanya turned around
just in time to watch the blood curling scream escape from Natalie’s pretty
little mouth. But what caught Tanya’s attention more than the blood curling
scream would be the blood red stain down the front of Natalie’s white school
shirt.
Courage. James Neil Hollingworth once said: “courage is not
the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more
important than fear.”
What do you think of when the word “courage” is said? Maybe
you think of things such as the famous tightrope artist Charles Blondin who has
crossed the Niagara Falls many times. Or perhaps you think of those people who
get shot out of canons at carnivals. Maybe, you think of those who go into the
wild to search wild animals and sometimes even wrestle with them! Like the ever
famous Steve Irwin. But today, I’d like to tell you a story about someone who
displayed a different sort of courage.
There was this girl I once knew, she had dark hair down her
back and a heart shaped face. She had laughter like music and a heart of gold;
loved by everyone around her. One might call her “popular” but then again, she
didn’t have the perfect wavy hair, didn’t have the perfect body, her nose was
too small for her face and she wasn’t as graceful as Natalie, the girl of every
boys dreams. But still, she was lovable. With her fun loving nature and her
caring personality, nobody could hate her. Her name was Tanya.
Though she seemed carefree and appeared to float around
without a single burden on her shoulders, Tanya like all other girls had one
fear. Natalie. She was afraid and of course, constantly overshadowed by the
tall, thin, and beautiful Natalie. Natalie liked Tanya enough just like
everyone, but for many reasons known Tanya always felt the need to stand a
little straighter around her and every now and again check her reflection to
make sure her hair was in place.
Then that day happened. It started off like any other day,
Tanya walking into class with a spring in her step, class as usual, the
frequent groans about homework and studies. But then came recess; the recess
that changed everyone’s view of Tanya.
She was packing her previous class’ books back into her bag when she
heard a loud sound – a loud sound that could only be made by bodies colliding.
And when I say colliding, I mean colliding hard.
Tanya turned around just in time to watch the blood curling
scream escape from Natalie’s pretty little mouth. But what caught Tanya’s
attention more than the blood curling scream would be the blood red stain down
the front of Natalie’s white school shirt.
“YOU FREAK!!!” were the first actual words out of Natalie’s
mouth post her scream.
“YOU USELESS, GOOD FOR NOTHING FREAK!!” Tanya winced at
every word.
Natalie continued on with her rant of low blows towards the
quiet girl with the geeky glasses, Amy. Apparently, the girl was just walking
with her Tupperware containing an omelette and with tomato sauce spread open.
Natalie was walking backwards talking to her best friend when she turned around
just in time to collide smack face on with the victim of the moment. Now, you
may say that Natalie was the victim in this story. But if you could just hear
the lines of insults and accusations coming out of her mouth, you would begin
to feel as if Amy was the victim.
At first Tanya just sat there, unsure of what to do. Every
line of invectives delivered by Natalie was like a blow in her own gut. She
knew no human being should be treated that way. But she also knew that if she
stood up for what was right, she may lose friends, she may create enemies, and
she may never be looked at the same anymore. If she stood up, she would never
be liked and treated nicely by the most popular girl in school anymore.
Tanya stood up.
--------
*waves*
this was my entry for this competition my local newspaper had. the title was "write a story about Courage."
now usually, when people hand me titles to write about, instantly i get these flow of words going on in my head like "oh i could write it like this" or "maybe this will work" or i could just have the vague storyline already etching into my brain. but this time. i was an absolute blank. nada. zero.
this was really hard to write, since i had no inspiration for it. But it is done, and hopefully it is good?
do let me know. there IS a chat box on the left side of the page. just scroll over the mailbox photo (:
really really hope you did enjoy it. and if you think i should have changed it or made it another way, share your thoughts! how would YOU have done it? (:
thank you!
love,
Jess
