“Daddy, what is this?” asked the little girl of 2nd grade, holding out the shiny blue, thin book that had the picture of a fairy in pink, with magnificent wings, smiling in an endearing way.

The father smiled affectionately and lifted the girl on his lap as she threw her tiny hands around him.

“This is a story book, baby. You are good in English. I want you to read this,” the father fondled the girl in his arms.

“T-A-L-E-S   F-R-O-M   A-R-O-U-N-D   T-H-E   W-O-R-L-D,” she spelled out and looked expectantly at her father.

“Go on,” the father encouraged.

She glanced through each glossy page of the book and looked in awe at the illustrations. There were pictures of men and women, fairies and demons, kings and queens. She gasped at every page.

“Can I read it now,” the girl pleaded.

“Fine, today you don’t need to study,” her mom came out of the kitchen holding the ladle, beaming at her.

She jumped down from her father’s lap and ran off with the book.

                   3 years later...

“Who likes reading story-books?”

Only one hand rose in the entire class of 40.

The English teacher of 5th grade looked at the girl and said, “Come here and say a few words about your favourite book.”

The girl got up from her seat and quietly came to the front of the class, her ponytails bobbing up and down.

And then she spoke up in her singsong voice, “I have read close to fifty storybooks by now but my favourite book is the ‘Famous Five’ series by Enid Blyton…”

                                      
                    2 years later...

“Congratulations,” said the judge handing over the third prize in spell-bee competition to the 7th grader, “She is the youngest participant. All the other participants were from 8th grade onwards. This is amazing girl, how did you manage it?”

“I read a lot of books to improve my vocabulary,” the girl whispered shyly.

                 1 year later...

“You poem is published in the school magazine,” Tanya came and shook her hand.

“That’s great,” she said without raising her head from the book she was reading.

Tanya peeped in to find it to be Sherlock Homes. She was literally gulping down every word.

“You need to come with me to the Traffic Awareness Week ceremony,” the teacher was in front of her, as she hid the book, “I know you must be busy but we need someone like you to represent the class. Someone who can speak.”

She nodded as usual. Public speeches never fazed her anymore. She had the confidence of being an avid reader.

                  A few weeks later…

“You just can’t read these books anymore,” screamed mother, snatching the ‘Pride and Prejudice’ from her hand, “Your exams are in a week and you sit with storybooks? You dare bring books from the library and read them when you should study. ”

In spite of all the tears and the pleading, all her books were locked away for another two weeks.

                      1 year later...

“Here she is again with 49/50 in literature and grammar,” exclaimed the English teacher looking at the paper of the newcomer to the school, “I seriously rechecked your paper to find a place to deduct marks. Tell the class how you managed it.”

The 14 year old 9th grader casually walked up to the teacher and spoke boldly, “My only secret is books. I read a lot and my most favourite book is the Oxford Dictionary.”

The class burst out in laughter.

                    2 weeks later...

Mother comes in to find her daughter furiously scribbling away on a copy. She peeps in to find the young lady writing paragraphs.

“See mom,” said she, handing the bunch of pages to her, “this is my first novella, a detective story, ‘THE VICTORS OR THE VANQUISHED’.”

The mother turned the pages and gave a nervous smile, “Darling I don’t know how to read English of such high level. Show your daddy when he returns.”

A few days later she completed typing out the whole novella and printed it to show it to her father.

His hands shook as he read it.

“Well, it’s nice,” he forced a smile, “But dear you need to really focus on your subjects now. Spend less time on useless things.”

“But daddy…” She laid out her four essay copies in front of him. It had a collection of a variety of writings on various topics.

“No dear,” he interrupted her, “Remember, your career is important. Writing can never be your career. It is not possible to be a great person these days by writing books. It will always have to remain as your passion. So I would advise you to start focusing on your studies more.”

“Okay Dad,” she said in a small voice.

She turned and left the room abruptly, tears threatening to spill.

“Don’t write anything till you graduate out of high school,” she could hear her father’s words behind her.

That was the end of her writing journey and she had only 180 essays and 12 poems and one novella of her own.

She was fortunate that she could read books and her dad had fixed half an hour for that and not stopped it altogether.

            2 years later...

“Daddy see this,” the 16 year old 11th grader held up the morning newspaper.

There it was written.

A NEW INITIATIVE BY THE TIMES GROUP.
WRITE IN INDIA CONTEST

Brought to you by The Times of India.
Get a chance to write for one of the most influential writers…

“So,” father raised his eyebrows questioningly.

“I want to take part,” she gushed, “Oh, please Daddy.”

“Fine, just one story.”

She jumped as those very words pulled out a rush of emotions which had been hidden for long. Not being able to pen down her thoughts for the past two years had caused her a lot of pain. It was as if someone had been choking her, smothering her pains.

As she held the pen and breathed in the scent of the dictionary. She felt her heart and mind rejuvenating with the essence of books. The books were what defined her.

                   2 weeks later....

She could not get through the competition. She tried two more stories but to no avail.

But it didn’t discourage her from keeping up her dreams. She planned books in her head, letting her imagination run wild.

She never could write down a word for the fear of her father finding out. And she planned her future novels in secret for some day. Could that day ever come again?

               1 year later...

She clicked on the mouse with shaking hands and punched in her roll number. As the screen loaded, her mind went blank for a moment.

She was waiting for the result of the International English Olympiad. It was one of its kind, a test of English between students of all nations in South-East Asia.

As she saw her name and could only register a few words…
International…Rank 11…Zonal…Rank 1…Prize Rupees 5000.

“Momma,” she screamed, tears shining in her eyes, "Momma I got the first place in the east zone. I will get a prize money of 5000 rupees, like, I could buy so many books with it.”

Her mother came rushing from the kitchen and hugged her, “Silly girl, do you ever think of anything but books?”

“Nope,” she grinned.
Her books had finally won something for her. The only reason for her success was her voracious reading.

         A few months later....

Leaving her books behind was the most painful decision of her life. But she had to because they were the most inconvenient to carry to her hostel.

She was finally leaving her home for higher studies, armed with her secret weapon.

She took out her mobile and scrolled through the e-books she had downloaded. The college going girl of 17, smiled a smile of satisfaction. Her books would stay with her in whatever form possible.

                 October, 2017

Hey could you please give a shout-out for my books?

A message beeped on her Instagram page. She was the administrator of a fan page for ‘Vampire Academy’, one of the novels by Richelle Mead, which had stolen her heart forever.

She opened her DM to find a message from someone who had sent a picture of the cover page of their story.

Where is it from?

Wattpad...

What is that?

It’s a platform where you can write stories and read them too.

Wow!

Yeah, I write VA fanfics.

Send me the link please.

You have to sign up.

She clicked on the link which landed her straight on Wattpad. She was stunned at the amazing potential it had. She skimmed the net, asked people and on that day itself, she opened her Wattpad account.

And then she published her first story, one which she had written a long time ago for a failed competition.

'DAYDREAMS'

But this time she was definitely determined to success. Finally she had found the place her heart desires. The life of books was her life.

In a course of a few months she had some close to 16 books. Some for a competition. Others, Vampire Academy fan fictions.

She qualified the first round of the Open Novella Contest hosted by Wattpad community.

                January 2018

She was heartbroken. She wanted to quit writing.

She couldn't imagine that after all the hard work put in, her novella had not made it to the third round.

She was in company of friends and couldn't even cry. Her heart screamed inside.

She typed in a message in her page....

I am leaving Wattpad.

She never imagined the response she would get from her readers. They supported and strengthened her. There was a flood of messages. Every message with the same request...

Please don't quit.

All the love shown made her finally burst into tears. Tears of joy.

It made her realise her worth for her readers. It opened her eyes to what exactly they feel about her. She had as much demand as any author.

"I will not quit. I will fight till I win, " she promised herself, her eyes shining with a new zeal. Nothing could defeat her again. No competition would be a setback if she put her heart into writing. Writing was her passion.

                         Today        
                              

She is sitting before her laptop typing out a story. She occasionally glances at the clock.

11.44 pm.

In front of her is the blank canvas where she is painting the story of her life with her words.

She looks once more at the weekly prompts by ChickLit

                   THE LIFE OF
                BOOKS WAS THE
               ONLY LIFE THAT
                MADE SENSE TO
                           HER.

This was none other than she herself. What could be a better example that her own life?

Books had been her constant companion in life. Joy and sorrow, achievements and failure, books always stood by her when there was no one beside her. She had dreamed to be a writer. Wattpad has fulfilled her dreams.

She is the happiest girl in the universe now.
                …………………………………………………………………………………….

“Shreya,” the voice of my friend breaks my reverie, ‘It’s twelve already. Enough of writing, now go to sleep.”

“I just wrote my autobiography,” I chuckled to myself.

This is my destiny now. I will mould the world with the power of books and do as I desire. Nothing can bind me now. I am free to fly once more. And Wattpad has helped me realise my dreams.

1950 words

A/N  This was so boring a story! I myself got bored reading it. Anyway, thank you to all for reading. This book is for the Chicklit weekly contest prompt. Hope you all like it.

Special thanks to all those who have always encouraged me to go on. 🖋️🖋️🖋️🖋️🖋️🖋️🖋️

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