Short story: Muffin and her dream career

By Ajoonee Hazooria

Once upon a time, there lived a girl called Muffin. She was just 10 years old when both her parents died in a car accident. She lived with her grandmother whom she affectionately called, ‘Ma.’

Muffin was a brave girl who wanted to become a software developer one day. Her grandma always encouraged her but she was a bit conservative about women choosing such hard-hitting career paths. 
One day at school, when Muffin’s class teacher announced, “Tomorrow each one of you must dress up according to what you want to become in future.” Muffin was very excited to hear this. When she returned home, she told her grandma, “Ma, tomorrow I will dress like a software developer.” To this, her grandmother replied, “Why?”

“The teacher said so,” Muffin answered simply. 
The next morning when all the girls were dressed like chefs, store managers, Muffin looked different. When she was asked to talk about her future, she answered confidently. At the end of her speech, her classmates laughed at her. “You can’t become that,” remarked Ricky, one of her classmates.
Muffin felt weak. She almost lost her confidence but then she remembered her mother who succeeded in her line of work and was financially independent.

From that day one, Muffin was teased regularly in the school. Miss Lemon, her class teacher, also discouraged her. Rosa, her friend, however, was very supportive. She was glad that Muffin was different from the others. But Rosa’s parents were fearful that one day, Rosa too will begin to think big like Muffin. Their parents stopped them from meeting each other.
Now, Muffin was all alone. After some time, her grandmother also passed away. She was emotionally broken and she could not believe how things had just fallen apart. “I will prove myself,” she thought to herself one day.

She then began selling mangoes like her grandmother. When she had collected enough money, she went to a city to buy books. Every week, she did the same thing. She soon could afford a laptop and she kept at it till she became a software developer one day. 

Moral of the story: Falling down is not defeat. Defeat is when you refuse to get up.