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Outstanding Story - The Hard Life of a Woman

“The Hard Life of a Woman” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Fatima Hussain, Saudi Arabia.

The Hard Life of a Woman

Once Upon a time, there was a lady whose name was Marta. She was a really big inspiration for poor people, because she was a kind, honest and just woman. Her life had not been easy. She did not even have a roof for her house.

One day Marta decided to work instead of living off other people’s charity and sleeping on the road.

The Next Day, Marta collected the certificates of her educational qualifications and went to The Social Welfare Department and there she submitted her resume to the Manager, he interviewed her and after some time, the Manager decided not to give her the job at his Department. Marta went back home disappointed.

Two days later Marta went to the local orphanage where she submitted her resume, but she got no response from them. Two days passed, and still she hadn't received a reply.

Marta was frustrated by the rejections. Then one day as Marta was passing through a tent a man stopped her and asked her: “What happened my darling, why are you so sad?”

She answered: "Oh my dear uncle, I am too poor and can't find a job. They say I am an inspiration to a lot of people because I am just, honest and kind. I want to create my own world filled with happiness, but I am too poor so I can’t even find a decent job. I applied for two jobs and they rejected me because I am poor, is this humane? I have a degree in teaching, but now I’ve lost hope and don’t want to be a teacher anymore. My life is so sad!"

The old man looked at her with sympathy and said: "Oh my darling don’t cry…. If you become a teacher you are going to be an inspiration to a lot of people and your students will say that Miss Marta is the best teacher and we really love her and then, other parents are going say we want Miss Marta to teach our children. You are going to be a big inspiration for your students...I just know it! When I was a child I too had such inspiring teachers! These teachers have made me who I am today”

And then the old man walked away.

The next day, Marta went to a school for a job interview. Finally, she was hired. Marta began to cry in school and everybody consoled her and told her that being poor was no barrier to be respected and honored.

The following Sunday was her first day as a teacher. She entered the class and the students greeted her and introduced themselves to her. Miss Marta was very happy with her students and she was extremely excited about the next day.

Miss Marta worked hard as a teacher. At the end of the year she had earned well and she could help needy people. It was her dream to build her own house and school.

On February 7 2016, Miss Marta made her dream a reality. She bought her own house and she still had enough money to build her very own school.

On March 8 2016, she started to build a school that would help poor people who couldn’t afford to educate their children.

On December 10 2017, it was the opening ceremony of Marta’s school. She had named her school, Beacon House. Admissions started and people were competing to get their children registered at Beacon House.

In the end, Marta, with a lot of hard work, had inspired everyone around her and her name was known to people around the world for her heroic transformation.

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