In search of the right purpose

Myra woke up to the sound of the alarm. The outside world was submerged in darkness but she had a mission to achieve. Changing into a t-shirt and track pants, she took out the newly purchased running shoes. As she left, her father smiled at her mother “Hadn’t I told you that the day Myra gets the right motivation, nothing can stop her?.”

Myra started her warm-up exercises in the society gym. At 5ft 3inches, her 85 kg frame had always invoked ridicule and laughter. It had started as a toddler when any random person would seek an opportunity to pull her chubby cheeks. As she grew up, the remarks changed to fat and ugly with people asking her to lose weight. Sarcastic statements and rude remarks related to her body had become a way of life. Despite an academic record that could put her peers to shame, she lost out on opportunities because of people’s mindset related to her overweight frame.

The cruelty and harshness of the world bothered her initially. Except for her parents, no one really understood how much it affected her. As Myra grew up, she was tired of one too many instances of body shaming. Using the veil of dry humor, she started retorting to those caustic remarks. A high-profile and well-paid job kept her busy. She had a couple of affairs in the past which mostly ended because of her weight. Her mother had tried various routes of an alliance but in vain.

In search of the right purpose - Bar-A-Thon
In search of the right purpose – Bar-A-Thon

Life would have been the same hadn’t Myra decided to utilize her weekend teaching at an NGO for orphaned children. The little souls warmed up to her fast and Myra got more involved in the functioning of the NGO. In six months, she had become a favorite but she felt most attached to a girl Riya. Two years back, Riya had come there through a relative after losing both her parents in an accident.  At seven years, Riya barely spoke but Myra had managed to break the defense through her love.

During a weekend, a yellowish skin toned Riya had to be rushed to the hospital after she kept throwing up incessantly. After the initial check-up and medication, the doctors recommended a liver transplant. Myra ran from pillar to post but couldn’t succeed to arrange for a liver donor. So she decided to check with the doctor about her possibility of being a donor. After the necessary checks, she was instructed to lose 30 kg in-order to be a donor.

Myra thought hard that night. Riya had become an integral part of her existence. She spent the next few days visiting a dietician and hiring a fitness trainer as part of her preparation to give Riya a new life.

Today as Myra started running, she calculated the number of days left to save Riya. She had lost 3 kg in the last 10 days. She was left with another 27 kg to lose in 80 days. Time was running out. She increased her pace.

 

This is the first post on Day 1 of Bar-A-Thon Blogging Challenge (2nd to 15th July 2018) with Blog-A-Rhythm. The prompt for the day is One too many while the theme for this challenge for all the days is run/chase/dash/marathon/sprint. I have chosen to combine both the prompt and theme to come up with this piece of flash fiction. 

 

 

bar-a-thon
Bar -A -Thon 2018

Author: Sonia Chatterjee

Who am I? An erstwhile banker turned blogger/writer/author. Any qualifications? A Post-Graduate degree in Chemistry followed by a second Post-Graduate Diploma in Management. I completed a one-year MFA in creative writing course from the Writer's Village University, U.S. in Dec 2020. Though I must admit that I am still trying to figure out how and when I can connect all these dots. Have I done any real work? If two years in market research, six years in banking as a branch head, three-plus years of blogging, writing, and publishing a book can be considered as real work, then yes! Where do I live? After spending life like a nomad for sixteen years in Delhi, Bangalore & Mysore, I am back to where it all started from - Kolkata. My favorite things - Books, coffee, travel, food, and my five-year-old son. What is this blog about? Through Sonia's musings, I intend to explore writing in various genres, create social awareness, spread laughter, and give words to emotions. Anything for readers? You can check out my book 'Deal of Death' on Amazon Kindle. If you like fast-paced thrillers, this Detective fiction introducing the woman sleuth, Raya Ray could turn out to be your perfect weekend read.

33 thoughts on “In search of the right purpose”

  2. A beautiful heart warming positive story. I have a friend who lost weight to donate her kidney to her daughter few years before. She was really an inspiration. Reading this story i am reminded of her. Beautifully written sonia.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Aw, this is such a wonderful story & it shows that a little jolt can really motivate us into doing what we’ve eternally thought to be undoable.

    Happy Blog-a-Thon, Sonia. I can never get enough of your work!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. What a beautiful story, Sonia. Loved the way you wrote on the prompt but also drove home the message that body shaming is everywhere and even the best of us has had to deal with it. I’m curious to see how the story shapes up over the coming days. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
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