[2238 words]
This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Technoblade. Kings never die.
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There once was a girl named Mary Drusilla who was the best at everything she did and thought she would be the best at everything she tried. She was wrong.
Awoken by the soft chirping of birds Mary opened her eyes. She stretched her small body lazily like a feline and yawned.
Kicking the covers off her body, she got up off the large bed escaping it's comfortable embrace.
Soft light streamed through the crimson curtains, dyeing the white walls of the tidy room a dim red tint.
Pushing the curtains and pulling the window open, Mary's warm body shivered as the cold wind blew past her making her warm white pyjamas flutter. Taking a deep breath, all leftover traces of sleepiness disappeared as she filled her lungs with the refreshing and cold morning air.
Mary stood at the window for a few minutes enjoying the quiet early morning view of the city. Only the chirping of the birds and hooting of the owls could be heard at this time of day. Once the people are out and about these sounds are drowned out by the masses.
Mary felt a slight clenching in her chest but she pushed the feeling down. Taking a final glance at the city the young girl went to prepare for the day. First she took a shower, brushed each and every single lock of her hair until it was perfectly straight without a single hair out of order.
Next she needed to decide on an outfit, walking into her closet that was large enough to be someone's bedroom and looking around her extensive wardrobe she finally decided on wearing a dark blue knit sweater, a knee length black skirt, Knee high black socks and flat black shoes.
Walking out of her room and stepping into the corridor, Mary inhaled the appetizing scent of eggs and heard the faint sound of boiling oil that accompanied it.
The scent and sound of breakfast intensified with each crisp step she took on the hard wood floor until she walked into the white marble kitchen where she was welcomed by the familiar sight of her tall father's back as he prepared breakfast.
Hearing her footsteps, the black haired man turned his head around and looked back at her with his half lidded green eyes.
"Morning dad!" Mary greeted her father with a goofy smile on her face.
"You're up early. Go sit down, breakfast's not ready yet," the girls father said before going back to cooking.
Mary sat at the already set dinning table, thrumming her fingers on the table and the cutlery.
Soon after her dad came to the table with two plates of steaming scrambled eggs in hand. Placing one plate Infront of her, the delicious aroma wafted into her nose, wetting her appetite.
Her father set his own plate on the table before sitting next to her. They both took a few bites enjoying the first meal of the day before her father spoke.
"You're up earlier than usual, I thought you said school was boring when did it suddenly become something to be excited about?" he asked before taking another bite into his mouth.
"Today's the rewards ceremony for the art competition and I can't wait to get that medal! you promised you wouldn't forget daddy!" the girl said while jittering in her seat.
Her father didn't answer right away, he slowly finished savoring the flavor of the food in his mouth fully before swallowing. Only then did he answer.
"How are you so sure that your entry will win?" he inquired while staring at his daughter who leaned in closer.
"I'm the best! I always win!" Mary stated with a grin.
Sammy just sighed. Saying no more as he slowly ate his breakfast while Mary near inhaled her own somehow miraculously managing not to stain her clothing.
Arriving at the school they both entered hand in hand. In the school yard a large stage had been set up.
Infront of the stage rows upon rows of seats were placed. The vast majority were empty as the parents that had arrived so early were all talking between themselves in an area behind the chairs while their kids were running around or talking to each other.
The father daughter pair sperated as the father walked to a group of parents and teachers and started conversing and exchanging pleasantries with them.
The daughter meanwhile joined a group of her female classmates who were talking about an unknown subject.
"Good morning Mary!" a blonde haired girl greeted her friend with a sunny smile.
"Morning Tonya" Mary returned the greeting.
"Oh! Mary who do you think is gonna win? I think it'll be Leah but Tonya says Louis will win," the auburn haired girl said.
Having heard Tonya's opinion Mary glanced towards a round glasses wearing boy who fidgeted as a woman next to him held his hand tight while she talked jovially with another woman.
"My mom and his mom are friends and his mom told my mom that he's really good at drawing." Tonya said.
"I don't like him he's weird. One time while we were in class he kept playing with my hair even though I told him to stop, he's so annoying. He's also really bad, he never does the homework the teachers give us and he always has bad grades. My mom told me not to talk to stupid boys like him or I'll become stupid too." Jamie said.
"You don't have to be smart to be good at drawing! I think he'll win. Who do you think will win Mary?", Tonya turned Mary for her opinion.
"I hope I can win. I worked really hard on my painting." Mary said with a smile.
"I didn't know you could paint." Tonya said as she scratched her chin.
"I can, I just don't like bragging." Mary replied as she lifted her chin.
"Mhm very humble." Jamie said and all the girls burst into little giggles.
Time flew by as the girls continued their mindless chatter, soon enough the seats were gradually filled as the time to announce the winners from each grade in this year's arts competition gradually approached.
Mary sat next to her father in one of the front row seats. The principal walked onto the stage. tapping the microphone a few times he began speaking.
"Hello and welcome everyone to our annual arts competition. This competition is a tradition dedicated to Tigmund Grued, the great scholar whom out school is named after. Tigmund not only was a scholar but also loved art and so this annual event is dedicated to him. Now without further ado let us start the award ceremony with the wonderful paintings submitted by our youngest students as is tradition." While he spoke into the microphone many canvases were brought onto the stage by several handymen.
Most of the paintings were all what you would expect from young children. Poorly drawn stick figures and rainbows.
Of course not all were mediocre garbage, some, particularly three seemed to stand above the rest.
The first painting was that of a white unicorn, it certainly was no master piece but at least it didn't look as if someone vomited on a canvas.
The second painting seemed to be a depiction of the black silhouette of a city scape that contrasted nicely with the warm orange background.
The third was a painting of an eye. Only shades of grey were used. They were used masterfully, the lines and curves exquisite and the shading done just right. Many doubted wether the painting had been truly done by a young student.
"Starting with the first graders, this year's contestants all submitted wonderful entries and although there can only be three winners I want you all to know that you are all winners for making your paintings and I hope you will all continue to work hard." The principal said with a smile as applause resounded.
After the clapping receded the principal continued.
"Now without further ado I present to you the top winners, Louis Archen, Leah Gemi and Amuel Ackson please come up to the stage!" The principal announced the winners and almost the whole crowd exploded into loud applause, some parents also taking pictures on their mobile phones.
Mary stared up at the stage with widened eyes and dilated pupils as the two boys and girl stood Infront of their paintings.
The principal gestured to the crowd to quiet down and applause slowly receded.
"This year's bronze medal winner is Leah Gemi for her cute painting of the mythical unicorn." The principal bent down and put the medal around the young blond girl's neck as the crowd of parents gave a round of applause.
"Our silver medal goes to Amuel Ackson for his wonderful painting of a city scape." The crowd gave another round of applause to the dark skinned black haired boy.
"And finally our gold medal goes to Louis Archen for his exquisite painting." An intense round of applause resounded from the crowd as the principal put the metal around the neck of the boy who had a goofy grin plastered on his face. He hopped off the stage and skipped to his mother with a spring in his step.
Mary dug her nails into her thigh as she glared at the gold medal with enough intensity to melt the cheap metal.
Pursing her lips together Mary took hold of her father's sleeve to grab his attention.
"Dad I wanna go home." Mary said to her father with an icy voice.
"The award ceremony just started, be patient." Her father replied in his usual flat tone, his thoughts unknown.
"Please dad." Mary said as she stared at her fathers calm green eyes with her moist black ones.
Sammy silently got up and walked away as his daughter held onto his sleeve. His upright confident posture drawing a contrast to his daughter's slouched over one.
"Mary, back straight, chin up, eyes upfront." Sammy commented without looking back.
Mary corrected her posture and looked up at her fathers visage.
"Mary life is war after war, wars are made up of battles. As the general when you lose a battle you must never show weakness like you did just now by crying and running away, all that will do is lower the morale of your allies and bolster the morale of your enemies. When you lose you have to lose with grace and dignity. Learn the best way to lose a battle to win a war." Sammy said as he continued his stride, his pace uninterrupted by any bumps in the road.
"You feel awful because you failed to reach the expectations you think you placed on yourself. Your teachers always tell me about how smart and hard working you are, about how much of a gifted child you are. They tell you about how high you can fly in the future if you just keep working hard." Hearing her fathers words Mary lowered her head before it was swiftly lifted back up by her father's hand.
"But they don't live with us. They don't know that you've never worked hard, not even a single day in your life." He continued as they walked out of the school gate.
"Most people think that being smart means you're not stupid. Most people are wrong. Gifted children think they can build a mansion in the same time and with the same amount of materials as a person who wants to build a shed. So when their peer that they look down on finishes their shed while they haven't even finished their foundation they feel like they failed."
"I can't even build a shed." Mary replied with a low voice as she lowered her eyes.
"Keep your eyes upfront." She heard her father's voice. From the beginning of the conversation he had never even looked at her.
"Your posture, tone of voice, facial expressions, body language and choice of words should only show what you intend others to see not what you actually feel." Sammy stated as they walked across the parking lot.
"If you want to reach the top of the world then work your hardest for the rest of your life, or just give up right now and save yourself the trouble. Life is suffering because we are focused on our expectations."
"Your only true ally is yourself. A relationship where you give more than you get is poison. Don't compare yourself to others in order to look down on them, do it to know where it is you stand. Always aim to surpass yourself even if you reach the apex. What's good or evil is decided by the group. The only meaning you'll find in life is the one you give to yourself. Rules and laws are dead only we are alive." Sammy concluded as they reached his car
Sammy and his daughter got in the car.
"As your parent my job is to teach you how to walk not tell you where to walk, only you decide that." After that final comment both drove home in silence.
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New writing style. Took me two weeks to write this (Mostly cuz of procrastination). Did you like it? did you love it? tell me in the comments, I read all of them.