Story Contest 2017 #1 - Outstanding Stories » Snow Day

“Snow Day” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Harshini Asokumar, USA.

Snow Day

“Wake up Jess!” shouted her mom, Jessica’s eyes could barely open. Last night she had been planning and writing down 20 different ways to convince her friend Nikki to compete in the snowboarding competition. The last time they saw each other Nikki had told her she didn’t want to compete. She told Jessica that her coach wasn’t impressed with her performance during practice, she was afraid she might fall while jumping off the mountain cliff. Nikki was always in doubt about her awesome skills.

Jessica woke up and had breakfast. She asked her mother if she could go over to Nikki’s house, her mom nodded. Jessica picked up a bag of cookies and rode her bike to Nikki’s house. When she rang the doorbell, Nikki didn’t come to the door. Her mom did, she said “Jessica! I was just asking Nikki to come down from her room. But she isn’t feeling very well”

“I hope she isn’t getting jumpy about joining the snowboard competition”

“Jess, maybe if you went upstairs and convinced her, she might at least open her door”

Jessica ran up to Nikki’s bedroom with the bag of cookies, she knocked on the bedroom door, “Hey Nikki, if you're in there I just want you to know that I believe in you. I don’t think that you would ever fall of that cliff with the kind of skill and talent you have up your sleeve. You shouldn’t care too much about what other people think. Even if you lose you should just go out there and have fun. That’s the most important part, that’s the point of the whole competition. Don’t be afraid Nikki”.

Nikki opened the door and hugged Jessica. She cried “Thanks Jessica! You told me that I should believe in myself. I am going to join that competition. I won’t stand back and be afraid anymore!” Jessica hugged her tighter; she gave her the bag of cookies. “Good Luck Nikki. I’ll be rooting for you.”

On the day of the competition Jessica and her family sat in the front row seats. They sat next to Nikki’s parents. The loudspeaker announced, “Our last contestant is Nikki Blackwood!” Jessica cheered. Nikki stood at the borderline. Nikki closed her eyes and thought to herself, believe in yourself Nikki. She pushed and skied down the mountain. Suddenly the mountain cliff appeared, she jumped off and did a triple flip in the air and landed on the white puffy snow and rode the rest of way the down. Jessica yelled “Go Nikki!!”

Nikki was at the finish line; Jessica ran over and hugged her. When it was times to announce the winners, the Judges handed over the scores.

A lady at the mike point announced the results, “The title of Best National Snowboarder of the year 2017 goes to… Nikki Blackwood!!”

Nikki jumped up and down in excitement; they were tears in her eyes. Jessica said “Woo Hoo! Nikki!!You should thank your courage and skill for this title, my dear. Well done girl!”

Nikki said “No. Thank you Jessica, for pushing me towards my destiny”

Moral - Believe in Yourself