Tag: short story

Voices

“Gosh, look at the height of that thing. Looks like the twelve years of practice was for nothing. You’ll never make it.”

“I don’t think I’ll mess up.”

“Are you crazy? You’ll embarrass the whole country if you break down at the last minute. Oh, imagine the horror. Tell them you’re feeling sick. They can’t blame you—the fish was horrible last night.”

When her name rang through the loud speaker, Vanessa approached the pool with jelly legs. Before she knew it, she was poised for her Olympics qualifier.

At the whistle, she dove.

Astonished, her inner voice never surfaced.

Unworthy of note

In the fifteen years since her first job, she had achieved not a thing worth of note.

With failed starts queuing up to summarise her career, her grey hair lengthened regardless of a resumé refusing to impress. Promising big breaks all shattered into nothingness.

Day by day, expending labour and expecting nothing, from home to work and back, she walked a routine so plain and black.

Despite income in a steady flow, her dreams towered over unsteady floor. Enough for a living but not so for a life.

She’d failed a thousand times before.

Always willing to try once more.

 

Start afresh

She had only one reason to move. A vague sense of safety had shrouded the overcrowded city.

She could no longer stay in a locality where she had to look over her shoulder every two minutes while walking down the street. She couldn’t bear the thought of predatory creatures looming around corners, ever ready to snatch her by the neck. Even driving had become risky as pile ups filled the news every few days. Her life crumbled and she lost control. The city she once loved was no longer as she wanted to remember it.

Rebooting SimCity, she tried again.

The heart wants

The authentic French accent had impressed Melissa once. Even before she realised it, she’d fallen in love——with those slender locks bouncing off  her shoulders and coming to a rest by the hips, manicured finger nails reflecting the soft sunlight, and pruned eyelashes batting against lined, blue eyes.

Mellissa’s young heart yearned. ‘Out of your league,’ her mind piped.

She looked up at her father, who seemed to be searching someone. Mellissa, however, had eyes for none but the speaking French doll.

She sighed. It was too easy to guess her father’s response: “We can’t afford it now, my love.”

Every little counts

“Let’s crank it up a notch, shall we?”

Julie stared with silent horror and disgust. His eyebrows, build, and attitude left a sour aftertaste at the foot of her tongue which she swallowed with contempt. She couldn’t believe what she had got herself into.

“Go on, 20 more.”

Heaving off the floor where she’d sprawled after the first 30 pushups, Julie continued without complaint. Unable to see the results of her efforts, she wondered, huffing and puffing, if she should reconsider priorities.

Twelve months later, the gold meddle grazed against her heart.

At the gym, her coach prepared for the next round.