Darian was eagerly anticipating the results of a writing competition. With a total of 10 winners, Darian thought there was no way he wouldn’t win. All he had to do was write a poem, however, poetry wasn’t his forte. Time was running out for him in regards to his pursuit as an author. He was living with his aunty but now he had to find a job, or he was to leave her house.

That was the ultimatum Darian had, he was a sophomore drop-out at university. The burdens of life were beginning to weigh him down, and his delusional quest in writing and becoming an author would end. All Darian ever yearned for was to-write – that’s all. He knew his purpose was to write, and he put everything on the line with the competition he entered.

The ultimatum was simple: should he lose he must quit writing forever. There was no point in continuing writing if he had no talent for the field. Sitting in his room, Darian as always was writing, when an interruption from outside his room door made him stop writing.

“Hello Aunt Marla,” said Darian to his aunty who was standing outside his room door.

“Darian remember you need a job. Food and rent is getting expensive. Everyone now needs to carry their own weight,” said Marla in her serious tone to Darian.

“Yes aunty I know, and I am looking for a job. It’s just hard finding a job without having a qualification,”

“But if you keep looking for one, God will eventually bless you and open up a way for you,” continued Marla. “Well let me leave you, I’m sure you were busy with your writing.”

Darian only had to wait till tomorrow and his fate would be decided. Win – he continues, lose he quits writing it was that simple for him.

Being the insomniac that he was, Darian never slept till the early hours of the morning. In anticipation he was waiting for the results of the competition. The first thing he did was check the results of the competition, smiling as he was certain to be the winner of the R1000 prize money.

Darian’s smile slowly became a sad scowl as his name was no-where on the list.

His arrogant and self-centred ego never once gave heed that maybe his work just wasn’t good enough. Closing his eyes, Darian thought that maybe if he opened them again, his name would magically appear on the winning list. Nothing. His whole world meant nothing in an instant, he lost everything.

Crying did nothing. Swearing had no result. He even went as far as blaming the judges for his failure. Still, Darian never felt closure, his fate was decided. He began burning all his written work and stories. Looking at the pen in his hand that he used for writing his books, everything felt surreal, yet it was reality. He threw his pen away and his hopes of becoming an author died away.