a short story; Intro

I was inspired in a sex ed class.

I had never been more affirmed, encouraged and perhaps even inspired beyond my young imagination before then. You see, I was only 12. I had never done this before, not with strangers at least. The last time I had participated in this activity was in familiar territory, and still, I wasn't as good as the others, I was made to believe.

The request came in a fortnight earlier and I immediately dreaded the pressure. I looked around me to size up the competition. I could count at least 5 girls in my class who would be formidable opponents. Submission was mandatory, but I had time, enough time to consider whether my ego could stand losing at a large-scale level.

On the day before submissions, my anxiety was eating me alive, I could not hold it off any longer. I sat down with my freshly sharpened pencil, an A4 page paper, and a conviction that since the writing competition was regional, my paper would drown in the masses and my mess would never live to see the light of day.

When I write, even at that young age, I always seem to drown in the words I am articulating, in the thoughts I am giving life. I become one with my material, and in a few minutes, I was done.

I submitted my work and put it behind me.

On the day, the district had arranged a sports day with trophies for its winners, and the essay results would be the grand finale. I consider myself somewhat athletic but failed to secure a win in the balloon popping competition, I was peeved. My cheeks turned red from blowing balloons, or was it the embarrassment? Thats how competitive I would get. After a full day of dopamine, adrenaline and tears, of joy or despair, it was time to announce the essay results. The lady making the announcements had a lazy soft voice, like she understood my lassitude and also wanted to go home. She explained calmly that only the top students would get their results, that there were so many entries and it made it difficult to announce them all. What a relief, I sighed, as I moved to sit next to my friends and classmates. I had not really sat, I was fussing over my chair, just hovering over my sit when she announced the runners up for the essay competition. I did not hear my name, but I heard my school's name. Everyone around me turned and started screaming, 'She said you won!' 'Who?' 'You Carol, you won!' My first thought was doubt. But the eyes kept staring at me as my friends hugged me aggressively with excitement.

I almost passed out walking to the stage to receive my price, a voucher, for a book, ha-ha. That's how I got inspired, by winning an essay on HIV/AIDS from my sex ed class. I got an English textbook; in case you were wondering.

In retrospect, I should never have doubted my capabilities. I am pretty awesome, and words come easy to me. I am all that, and that's how I found out, at 12 years old, from my sex ed class.