What If?

Here’s a bit more writing, simply for practice. I started with one word – a name, Polly. I had no idea where it would take me.

            Polly was sixteen, a beautiful, young girl with ebony eyes, dark, curly hair, and a spontaneous, annoying giggle. People noticed her, although not always. That was the problem.

            “What if I don’t come in first?” she asked her mother.

            “You will.”

Her mother’s response had never changed for she knew it to be true. From the moment she was able to stand on her on, Polly had concentrated on what she wanted: the first freshly baked cookie, a playmate’s teddy bear, her brother’s baseball, Mom’s bracelet, or Dad’s cell phone. On and on . . . Polly snatched what she wanted from tables and laps, from open drawers and closed ones too. She rummaged through her mother’s purse, her brother’s backpack, the glove compartment of Dad’s Ford truck, and her friend Becky’s notebook. No boundaries existed for Polly, and no one was able to control or prevent her from taking, taking, even though she had no need for the items she discovered. It was not unusual to hear her laughing, alone in her room, as she gloated over the loot she surreptitiously had acquired.

As Polly grew older her desire to obtain what she wanted morphed into an obsessive, competitive spirit that appeared unstoppable. She ran the fastest, played soccer the hardest, and maintained the highest grades of any girl in her class. She was pretty too, lauding her looks over others in the county beauty contest. Yes, she won.

In time, however, her proclivity for craving success at the expense of others became a burden, and she broke down. “I’m done,” she cried to her mother. “I’m quitting everything.”

Her mother questioned, “Are you sure?”

“I’ve burned out,” she admitted.

Polly gazed at her mother’s face as if for the first time. “I have medals and ribbons and straight A’s, but I don’t have a friend in the world. I’ve been playing the game all wrong.” The truth burned. “Do you think I can start over?”

“Why not try.“

“What if I can’t do it?”

“You will."