Outstanding Stories » Never Give Up

“Never Give Up” is one of the outstanding stories (sub-junior) of the second biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Aarav Mukhi, Kothari International School, Noida, India.

Never Give Up

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Dash, who was 8 years old. He loved running, but he could not run very fast. His friends used to mock him on his dreams of racing and leaving everyone behind. One day, he came home very upset, and his mother asked him what the matter was. He told his mom that everyone laughs at him as he cannot run fast. His mother said, “Let’s do more practice for this.” He said “Yes, I will do that.”

While practicing, he tried running fast, but he fell. So, he realised that he has Knock Knees problem. He read in a book that his problem had a solution. He can get rid of it by practicing Horse Riding for a couple of months. Dash and his mom found a Horse Riding Training School nearby. They came to know that the monthly training charge is Rs. 10000. But if student’s performance is excellent in the first month and if he is counted in top three students, the rest of two months’ fee will not be charged. Dash promised to himself that he’ll achieve it. He joined the training school, worked hard and got third position in the batch. He was very happy that he got reward for extra two months’ training.

Dash’s hard work was not less in the next two months. At the end of the course, Dash was very happy as he stood first in the class. He continued practicing without a break, his stamina and confidence were developed to next level. Thereafter, he registered himself for a racing competition in his school. On the day of race, when he entered the stadium, his friends started mocking him again, but this time, it did not upset him, as he knew that he would run better this time. The race started, he ran very fast and finished the race when other participants just reached half way of the track. His teachers and parents were proud of him and friends were surprised. After this event, he participated in Inter-school, zonal, state and then national level, where he got either first or second position. At National level, he had a tough competition with Rush, who has been the winner for last three years, Dash decided that he’ll try his best to win, but if he would not win, he would try harder next time. The race started, Rush was running very fast in the beginning, but at the end he became slower and he got tired. But Dash started running slower in start, but at the end, with his maximum energy, he defeated Rush. Now, Dash has got the habit of putting hard work and winning as he achieved the deserved success.

Moral: One should not be disheartened with temporary defeats, fight your shortcomings and keep trying until your goal is achieved.