BILLY’S grandmother lived with him. His parents loved and respected her a lot and Billy’s mother treated her mother-in-law like her real mother and took great care of her.

Billy called his grandmother ‘granny’ though her real name was Betty Peters. She was 65. Billy also loved his granny but due to her old age she had become a little cranky, so Billy used to get annoyed of her. Though his parents always advised him to be more tolerant with his granny, he was rude to her most of the times.

Granny was an intelligent lady. She knew a lot of proverbs and quotations. Her favourite quotation was “If you believe in yourself, nothing is impossible.”

Granny loved Billy a lot and wanted him to become a successful person. Therefore, she often taught him the meanings of proverbs and famous quotations. Though Billy didn’t pay much attention to his grandma’s teachings, he still learnt a lot from her.

One day as Betty was trying to elaborate the meaning of her favourite quotation to Billy, his mother was about to enter his room. She stopped at the door to listen.

Grandma said to Billy, “Nothing is impossible to achieve.”

To this Billy rudely said, “This can’t be true granny. If nothing is impossible, go and fetch the sun!”

Saying this, Billy left grandma alone and went to his friend’s house. Grandma was hurt and felt embarrassed. Billy’s mother tried to comfort her and when Billy’s father came back home in the evening, she told him about Billy’s rude behaviour. He was very angry with his son’s behaviour!

Months later it was time for the Sports Day at Billy’s school. He was taking part in a race and was very excited about it. Granny kept on teaching him the importance of strong determination and hard work, but he hardly paid attention to her.

When the big day arrived, Billy was feeling very optimistic. His father drove him to the school and joined the crowd to encourage his son. After other classes took part in their races, it was the race of Billy’s class. Billy came with his group in the ground and waved to his father.

His sports teacher shouted, “Racers get ready!” Billy took the position and stood at the starting line with other racers.

“All of you have to run for 400 metres,” the sports teacher reminded the participants. “The first one to cover the distance will be the winner,” he finished as the students were about to begin the race. Though Billy was a fast runner, due to overconfidence he didn’t practise well and now at the eleventh hour, he was feeling extremely anxious.

“Go!” announced his sports teacher and Billy was leading as the race began. The crowd was madly cheering. Billy’s father was also very excited. Billy successfully managed to cover half the distance but due to lack of rehearsal, he began to feel tired and he was about to give up. Just then the magical words of his granny echoed in his ears, “If you believe in yourself, nothing is impossible.”

A new zeal filled his mind and body, and he began to run as fast as he could! He ran like a cheetah and won the race! That day he realised the importance of his grandma’s teachings. When he came back home, he handed his trophy to his granny and hugged her. Grandma kissed his forehead and congratulated him.

“Granny! Your words inspired me to win the race. I had given up but then I heard your voice and with new zeal and courage, I managed to win the race!” he said as his mother smiled at him.