SHORT STORY
Anime girl in rain image generated in Leonardo.AI
As a child, she had tried learning ballet but quit after falling too many times during practice. In her teenage years, she attempted to start a blog, only to abandon it after receiving little engagement. She once spent weeks studying photography, investing in a camera, and clicking countless pictures, but soon, the lack of instant mastery made her feel inadequate, and she put the camera away, gathering dust on a forgotten shelf.
Her parents watched her with worry. "Summaya, you have such a spark, but you never let yourself shine," her mother often told her. "You cannot excel at anything if you don’t give it time."
Summaya would nod absentmindedly but deep inside, she felt lost. Every time she faced failure, it was as if the universe was telling her she wasn’t meant for that path. And so, she wandered from dream to dream, never staying long enough to make one her reality.
One autumn evening, after yet another failed attempt at learning the violin, she sat on her bedroom floor, frustration bubbling inside her. "Why can’t I be good at anything?" she whispered to herself. She felt like a traveler with no map, endlessly wandering through a valley of lost aspirations.
That night, she decided to take a walk. The air was crisp, and the sky was painted with a thousand stars. She walked until she reached an old bookstore at the corner of the street. It was one of those places that seemed forgotten by time, its wooden sign creaking in the wind.
She stepped inside, the scent of old pages wrapping around her like a warm embrace. The bookstore owner, an elderly man with wise eyes, greeted her. "Looking for something in particular?" he asked.
Summaya sighed. "I don’t know… maybe a book about finding your true passion."
The man chuckled. "Ah, the eternal search. Come with me."
He led her to a shelf in the far corner, picking up an old, leather-bound book. He handed it to her. "This book is special. It doesn’t tell you what to do; it teaches you how to keep going."
She opened it to a random page and read aloud: ‘A river does not carve through rock overnight. It takes time, persistence, and a willingness to keep flowing, even when the journey is uncertain.’
The words struck something deep within her. She looked up at the old man. "But what if I never find what I’m meant to do? What if I keep failing?"
He smiled. "Failure is not the opposite of success, child. It’s a part of it. Every great artist, writer, musician, or entrepreneur you admire has failed more times than they can count. But they chose to continue. The only true failure is giving up."
Summaya felt something shift inside her. Maybe she had been looking at things the wrong way. Maybe it wasn’t about finding the perfect passion instantly but about allowing herself to grow into something she loved.
That night, she went home and dusted off her camera. Instead of expecting immediate perfection, she decided to take one photo a day—just one. She also reopened her blog, writing not for approval but for herself. When she made mistakes, she reminded herself that mistakes were part of the process. When she felt discouraged, she read the book from the old bookstore.
Months passed, and something incredible happened. She didn’t give up. She continued taking pictures, writing, and even picked up painting again. With each small effort, she improved. Her blog started gaining readers, and her photography began to capture emotions she never noticed before.
One day, she received an email from a publishing house interested in compiling her blog posts into a book. Another day, a local art gallery invited her to showcase her photography. Summaya was stunned. For the first time in her life, she saw the results of persistence.
She had not changed who she was—she still loved doing different things. But she had learned to embrace the journey rather than fear failure.
Standing in the gallery, looking at her framed photographs, she realized something important—she was never a wanderer in a lost valley. She was a river, flowing through rocky paths, carving her own way, and finally, finally finding her course.
And this time, she wasn’t giving up.