Istill remember that day, it was very pleasant but a little bad too. There was a talent show in my school and I had decided to take part in it. I was very doubtful of my chance of winning because our school’s most intelligent students were also taking part in it.

But I still decided to take part in it, irrespective of the result. I was very confused and unable to decide what I should do differently to win the hearts of the judges and audience. I thought for days and days until finally I got an idea.

I was known to be witty among my friends, I thought maybe this was my talent, a skill which was not common. So I decided to make people laugh — yes, I decided to make new jokes and share them on the stage.

I prepared for the talent show very hard and although my friends kept asking me about what I was going to do, I kept it as my secret. Finally, when the day arrived, I felt so nervous and my heart thumped so fast that I felt it would burst out any minute. I kept my nerves under control and waited for my turn with a lot of patience.

So when I was called, I took a deep breath and stood up but when I stepped forward, something came in my way and I fell down. It was so embarrassing! Then I saw someone had done it purposefully and it was Amna, the classmate who so jealous of me.

Everybody started laughing at me and I felt really bad. I decided to deal with her later in the day. Infuriated, I kept my calm, focussing my talent, I went on to the stage and started telling the jokes. I told many jokes but nobody laughed, then suddenly everybody started throwing papers and tomatoes on me. I hid myself and cried a lot but then, out of sadness, I started singing a song.

Everybody became silent and seemed so impressed. I was also not expecting that I would sing so well. Realising that my song seemed to have taken everyone’s attention unexpectedly, I came out and sang with confidence. The crowd seemed so pleased too!

I can be a singer — it dawned upon me the very moment. I saw my teacher clapping and smiling at me, urging me to keep singing. So what happened next? The crowd apologised to me. Yes, they did! But what about the result you may ask?

I won, friends! The first prize! It was an embarrassing but something good came out of it.

Published in Dawn, Young World March 4th, 2017