The calendar in Sara’s living room looked monstrously larger and mockingly vibrant. It lit her as if it was Hermione Granger and she was Snape’s robe. Except for the fact that it was not a game of Quidditch, it was her life.

The calendar showed the digits ‘May 9’. She remembered it clearly as it was the day she had lost an important thing. The day she lost her happiness and confidence, exactly a year ago. It took her lots of energy to drag her feet through the school entrance to her classroom. The day passed in a blur, gloomed by her emotions. Nobody remembered, but she did. For what seemed like a decade she finally made up to the last class, the library class. While fighting her mourning earworms, she got the glimpse of the daily motivational quote hung on the library wall. It said:

“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”— Suzanne Collins

Sarah felt a stomach knot unravelled. She blinked. Some dots inside her head joined. As if God was talking to her. The quotation never left the back of her mind. She came back home with a greeting-less stance and went directly up to her room. She retrieved the shoebox from the bottom drawer of her vanity.

They were all still there, covered in dust just like her spirits. ‘Star Pupil: Sarah Hassan’, the letter said on the crystal trophies crammed with little stars. Tears rolled down her cheeks and amassed on the trophy. She could not help, but break down. It was the first time in the two years she had seen the trophies again. They were all ten of them.

What caught Sarah’s eye was the top star on the trophy, still glittering. The bling was consistent. She ran her finger through it, it was invincible. Right there for the second time in one day, she felt something nudge her. Something urging her. Something breaking the ice around her heart, piece by piece to set it free. Right at that moment she stood up and ran downstairs to her study.

“Hey, what is the rush about?” her mother Hajra, asked intrigued.

“Preparing for the Star Pupil contest,” Sara announced.

“But you said you will …,” she trailed off.

“Got to go! Lots of work to do!” Sara excused herself.

Her mother froze in her tracks, her head in a trance of memories. Memories of two years ago….

Two years ago, on the morning of May 9, Hajra sat in the front row of the auditorium at Sara’s school, the one reserved for special guests and parents of high achievers. It had been a habit to sit there, every year. She was proud of her brilliant daughter. She sat there waiting for the result announcement. Her hands held mid-air for the clap. But her hands never got to clap together as the Star Pupil was not Sara.

Hajra felt something break in her. She searched the stage for her daughter to console her through her nod. But Sara had already fainted. The results were unbelievable after all the hard work they had put in. She knew this would break her. Sara was her only companion after her husband died years ago. Sara was her world and she could not see her world breaking.

She took Sara to the hospital. The doctors told that she had gotten a serious setback and was on the verge of depression. From that very day Hajra’s little girl never really laughed. She would be locked up in her room for days. It took Hajra the whole of the summer vacation to make Sara ready to go back to school.

Sara lost weight drastically. Sara was so hopeless that her grades went down. She became a below average girl. She never participated in any activities at school. Her mother would try to talk her out of her depression every now and then, but she wouldn’t budge.

Now, thankfully, it all changed. After working tirelessly during the day and burning the midnight oil, Sara was finally able to take part in the Star Pupil contest again. Every limb of her body billowed red flags. The only rhythm in her head was ‘Now or never’.

People would let her down by saying ‘she could not make it’ or ‘she had lost her ability’. Her spirits never went down. Every night she would pray to God to provide her with strength.

Hajra sat in the last lane, waiting for the results, especially that of the Star Pupil. She could make out the principal going to the stage for the announcements. Every moment the principal took towards the rostrum made Hajra and Sara’s hearts pound faster and faster. The mic screeched while the principal handed it. She began with the ritual of thanking the jury and the school, appreciating the participants and calling on stage the chief guest to announce the winner. Sara’s heart hammered in her chest.

Then the announcement started, “And... the winner is … Sara Hassan!”

The hall boomed with applause and cheers. Tears streamed down Hajra’s eyes. She scanned the crowd for Sara till she saw her going up the stage. Sara received her award with a flushed face and excited heart.

From that day Sara had become an example for every student at her school. An example of strength, hard work and belief.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 8th, 2018