EMMA
A short Story
Prologue
A bright ray of
light touched Emma's fair complexion as she turned sideways to relieve her aching
body from her deep sleep. She had been lying on the hard sofa for 5 hours. It's
already 8am and the birds are already chirping on the radiant breeze of a Sunday
morning.
Last
night's event was a wingding. Her graduation in high school was not really that
tremendous but her college commencement was the most unforgettable moment of
her life. Her parents gave her the grandest celebration for her! She never
thought it would be that superb since their family budget is really low.
Her
mother's 'karenderya' is not going so well and her father's 'talyer' is out of
costumers. Family business is not that productive anymore and she could not
help but worry about how and where they got the money.
Chapter 1: High School Life
Being the eldest
among seven children made her worry a lot. When she was in high school, she was
the pessimistic girl. Every time there's trouble, she would always think that
the world was against her and that no one was there to understand her.
Day
dreaming about being rich and powerful was the only escape she could do to
relax her oppressed mind and soul from devastating realities of life. But there
were also certain times that she thought of ending herself.
One rainy evening, she wrote options on how to do it. It could
be any of the 6 choices she made: First, jumping from a tall building; second, starvation; third, drowning; fourth, wrist cutting; fifth, hanging and lastly, drug overdosing. She was thinking that it would be painfully easy to just leave
everything behind. Living a life like hell was making her insane and it was
pushing through her limits.
True
that teenage life is full of drama, irrationality and adjustments, and hers was
just like everybody else. Every day was like mental torture. Her parents would
scold her when one of her little sisters or brothers would do something wrong,
she had no friends at school because other girls would think that she's a
freak, and teachers simply ignored her.
But on
the later part of her gloomy life in high school, she realized that people must
experience ups and downs to learn something from their mistakes. And
unfortunately, suicide was never an option.
For
Emma, her high school journey was a chaotic whirlpool bursting with emotions,
thriving on hormones climbing and descending the roller coaster of adolescence
and stumbling upon an infinite number of challenges daily.
Yet
despite flaws and all, it was in high school that she realized life isn't
devoid of challenges, emotions, or tolerance. From then on, she knew deep in
her heart that she needed to change for the better and not for the worse. And
so, she did.
Chapter 2: College Life
College years were
different from high school and Emma loved it!
Being
in college made her realize a lot of positive things because it was where she
discovered her real passion in life.
On her
first year, being nervous about college was probably the most normal thing she
could do. Her apprehension was a sign that she was already interested in doing
well. She was resting assured that most of her fears will probably go away
after her first week and that, even if they don't, there's always a way to
change things.
She was
known as the optimistic girl. Some people would envy her for being so
lighthearted. Not everyone could be as cheerful as she was in college.
Notwithstanding the late examinations due to financial problems, she remained
evenly confident and positive.
Life back
then was even more complicated. Her parents could not afford her tuition fees
so she needed to work a part-time job in an internet cafe'. Her salary could
barely cover up the house expenses and her tuition fee. Amazingly, she was able
to balance her time and money for her schooling and family.
On her
second year, another far-fetched problem cropped up. Her parents could no
longer send her four sisters and two brothers to school so they had to stop for
about a year. But she was determined to finish college in order to help her
family; thus, she started working two jobs at the same time. Every day, she
would work for 4 hours in a food chain restaurant and then 6 hours in an
internet cafe'. Life was tough but was able to surpass it all.
Alas!
Her third year in college was bleak. Her father had no job and her mother's
small store ran out of capital. In addition, her brothers and sisters had to
stop again for one year. Everyone was depending on her and her studies are
preventing her from assisting them. But her parents did not want her to stop.
She had no choice but to carry on.
Chapter 3: En Estos Momentos (Present Time)
Her heart soars as
she sees the two pair of smiling faces who are sitting underneath the shade of
a big mango tree. They wave at her and she waves back. It is a lovely day and
everything is so nice and perfect. The weather is good and the birds are
singing melodiously on the air. She lies on the bed of nimbus grass as she
watches the birds fly gracefully up into the sky.
Suddenly,
a lovely 10-year old girl approaches and calls her name. She is wearing a pink
dress and she is carrying with her a tray full of sweets. Mrs. Rodriguez rises
up and takes the tray. She smiles at the cute girl who is now sitting beside
her.
"I thought you're going with your aunt Meril
today." Mrs.
Rodriguez asked curiously.
"I decided to stay. I want to hear the rest of
the story," replied
the girl. Mrs. Rodriguez smiles at the girl.
"So, what happened next? Did Emma become
successful in the end? I bet she did. She was hard working." Jessie said blissfully to Mrs. Rodriguez.
"Yes, she was. And she did become
successful." Mrs.
Rodriguez said proudly.
The
girl takes a cookie on the large tray and eats it.
"It must be really hard for her. She's so unlucky
to be born in a poor family. Unlike us, Emma needed to work double-time for a
bright future. I'm glad that I wasn't born poor. I would not experience
scarcity in my life. How about you, Mrs. Rodriguez? What do you think?" asked Jessie.
"You're wrong, Jessie. Emma was so lucky to be
born poor because she was able to learn from the ups and downs of life.
Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become
successful," replied
Mrs. Rodriguez.
"So, how can I become successful? I'm already
rich!" the
girl said sarcastically.
The
woman replied, "If you want to be successful, it's this simple. Know what
you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing. It
doesn't matter if you're wealthy or poor. Remember that, success is a journey,
not a destination. You must find a meaningful need and fill it better than
anyone else."
"I don't understand, Mrs. Rodriguez. I am
successful, am I not? My parents are business tycoons and we've got loads of
money. Why do you say that success doesn't matter if you're rich or poor? I
believe it does matter," argued
Jessie.
"I remember this monologue from a movie.
According to this girl named Jenny, there are some things that success is not;
it's not fame, it's not money or power. However, success is waking up in the
morning and being so excited about what you have to do that you literally fly
out the door. It's getting to work with the people you love. Success is
connecting with the world and making people feel. It's finding a way to bind
together with people who have nothing in common but a dream. It's falling
asleep at night knowing you did the best job you could. Success is joy, freedom
and friendship...and success is love," said Mrs. Rodriguez.
A phone
call from Jessie's mother stopped the girl from asking more questions. After
answering the phone, she stands up and bids the woman goodbye.
"Sorry, but I need to leave Mrs. Rodriquez.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful story and for giving me such good
advice," the
girl said delightfully.
The
woman smiled and said, "No problem, Jessie. Take
care and God bless!"
The
girl starts running away but suddenly she stops. She stares at Mrs. Rodriguez.
She forgot to ask one more thing. Who was Emma? She thought. However, she has
the feeling that Mrs. Rodriguez was sharing her life story and she is Emma, the
protagonist in her story.
Epilogue
"Are you all right, Jessie? You look stunned," asked the woman worriedly. She moves closer to the girl. They are
now staring eye to eye. Mrs. Rodriguez beams.
"I was thinking." The girl said.
"Thinking about what?" she asked.
"Nah! Never mind! Thanks for sharing your life
story, Mrs. Rodriguez! Goodbye!" Jessie said and then she starts running away.
"Jessie, wait!" she yelled. Unfortunately, the girl did not hear her.
She
smiles. It's already three o'clock in the afternoon. She begins walking toward
the two people who were sitting underneath the shade of a big mango tree. It's
time to go home. They have been at the park for two hours and her parents need
to rest. She calls to their nurse maids to assist them.
"I saw you talking to a girl. Did you share
Emma's story?" asked
Dolores, her mother.
"Yes, I did mom," replied Mrs. Rodriguez.
"Good," the old lady said. Her parents smiles and walks away. Catherine
decided to stay at the park for a while. She is now sitting underneath the
shade of the big old tree where her parents sat.
She
closes her eyes and calms herself.
"Funny, I wish I knew Emma. I wish I knew
everything about you, great grandmother," she thought.
***END***
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