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.
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.
Wow, Sonia that was a twist I was not excepting at all.
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Thank you Zainab.
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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.
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Thank you Deepa. You are always so encouraging and kind.
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Another story with its heart in the right place from you, Sonia. Keep churning them out. Well done.
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Thank you Varad. It is always very motivating to read your feedback.
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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!
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Thank you for the Ashvini. As a fitness blogger, I was sure this will strike the right chord with you.
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You had me hooked once again Sonia. And this time I have goosebumps too. Who could have imagined Myra’s purpose of loosing weight? I was stumped.
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Thank you Anupriya. Your comments are always very encouraging.
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Loved the story Sonia. Beautifully penned.
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Thank you Namratha. It is a coincidence that I was reading and commenting on your post while you were on my page.
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that was a lovely take on the prompt.. finding your purpose in life is what changes everything and makes life worthwhile
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Thank you Akshata.
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What a positive and heartwarming story, Sonia. The key here is finding a purpose to solve a problem and it gets easy to solve it.
https://www.rohankachalia.com/2018/07/one-too-many/
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Thank you Rrohan. You have beautifully summed up the essence of the post
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Aww it was so beautiful . This is what the real purpose of life should be
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Thank you Monika
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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. 🙂
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Thank you Esha. As someone who has been body shamed throughout her life, I have decided to start talking about it through my posts.
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Way to go, Sonia!
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Another heart touching story from your pen. Keep writing.
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Thank you Ruchi. It is always encouraging to read your feedback
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This is a excellent usage of the prompt,Sonia! The story is beautiful and happens to be one of my personal faves from you.
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One needs a spark to ignite a flame. Great head start by Myra !
This ending needs a sequel, Sonia. Hope you are going to …
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Thank you Anagha. You have given me the inspiration to write the second part. I really hope that I can pull it off.
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I’m sure you will. Look forward to it.
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