This short story is my entry for @swissclive's short story initiative which involves Steemians to post a short story in under 300 words. Here are the rules:
- The first tag must be "story-300words".
- The story must be within 300 words.
- Only original works. No plagiarism.
- Last day for this initiative is 8th January 2018.
Word count for this story is 300 words.
"You will amount to nothing. I’m very disappointed," the mother of a thirteen-year-old girl said, disappointedly shaking her head. This was the reaction of a mother whose daughter had secured the second position in the swimming competition held at her school. Margaret was a sincere student and a swimmer, but her mother found a way to crush her spirits every chance she got.
Margaret was always compared to her peers and was always put down by her parents. The constant comparison and insulting by her parents made Margaret have a very low self-esteem.
Margaret tried to talk to her parents about this but all her attempts were like stones cast in the ocean — pointless. She resented her parents for their unjustified constant disapproval. Her parents were never satisfied with her results even after she became the best swimmer in the country.
Twenty five years later, Margaret is a successful swimmer and she’s doing well in life. She is earning quite a lot and she recently won the gold medal in the Olympics. She now has a loving husband and a thirteen-year-old son herself. Her son, John, wants to become a musician. He has a promising career ahead of him. His mother, Margaret, is not happy with him choosing music as his career. According to her, music is not a stable option and she would rather him go to university and thereafter get a stable job. One day, he, hugging his mom, tells her that he won the second prize in the talent show hosted by a popular musician. Instead of congratulating him and giving him the validation he deserves, she told him that she was very disappointed in him for not getting the the first prize. John started crying and pushed his mother away.