To be a Straw Hat

By ShutEyeShares

1.3K 99 23

A young woman graduated from college and has no idea what to do with the rest of her life. No one will hire a... More

For the Reader
Prologue
1) After Graduation
2) Grab a Laptop and Gather Round
3) Craigslist: Extras Wanted
4) If Only I was a Straw Hat
5) There's Not Much Else to Say
6) No Response
7) Old Expectations, Make Way For the New
8) An Internship?
9) Interning at a Start-up
10) All They Think About
11) It's Time to Make Some Money
12) A Producer (Miss P)'s Assistant
13) How they Put the "Up and Coming" Down
14) Not Where She's Meant to Be
15) Halloween: There Are Some Things We Can't Explain
16) Start-up: A Sad Goodbye
17) What Spiky Wants
18) The First Step
19) A Cold Critique
20) Please God, Please
21) Going to the Gym
22) I Can Do This
23) Another One for the Records!
24) The Nantucket Festival Schedule
25) Before the Big Day
26) The Most Important Brunch in Spiky's Life
27) One Step at a Time
28) Why did Spiky go to School?
29) I Feel Stuck
30) Glad to Be Moving
31) It's Taking Longer Than Expected
32) Growing up in America
33) What Could This Mean?
34) He Believes in Spiky
35) The Production Package
36) On the Other Side
37) It's Not Always Fun
38) I Need More Space
39) A Letter to Myself
40) Things Really Do Take Time
41) Spiky's Gut Takes Her on a Trip
42) Enjoying The Last of It
43) Are They Actually Adults Yet?
44) Open House
45) The 2019 Marathon
47) Lesson Number Two
48) Together For Christmas
49) It's Not Over
50) She Makes A Kickstarter
51) Waiting For Festivals
52) The Inner Stress Of Success
53) Memories
54) After All this Work Is It Good?
55) It Did Not Sell
56) Stories Coming to Life
57) When Something Ends, Something Else Begins
58) Can She Move Ahead?
59) Meeting Echo
60) Patience with Echo
61) Long Time No $ee
62) On a cold November day
63) An American Road Trip
64) Falling for a Dollar
65) Reaching Land
66) Finding Another Way
67) We need to Interview them Again
68) Posting on Youtube
69) A Possible Business Partner
70) Done With Dating Apps
71) Going Down A Rabbit Hole
72) An October Hike Alone

46) One of Two Lessons

7 1 0
By ShutEyeShares



I've been limping for the past month.

The night before, I kneeled at my bed.

Praying to God, this is what I said.

"Miracles have happened before.

This is the first time I'm asking you,

I don't care how fast I go,

So what if I am slow?

I promise to finish the race!

Just let my foot heal

So tomorrow I can move with grace."


They shoot the gun.

Everyone starts to run.

I take it slow across the bridge.

So far so good.

It's all planned out.


I'll see my friends in Queens,

In Long Island City see Ms. Sheans.

My brother and Dad on 100 something street.

Red and Petals will be near the finish line.

All I need to do is focus on my feet.


I enter Brooklyn, there's a big crowd.

They shout and cheer feeling proud.

I can't wait to see my friends

To show them this big accomplishment.


I text them while running.

The amount of runners is stunning.

I have to zig zag through them.

There's no reply from anyone.


My running coach said

She'd cheer me on at Fulton.

As I run she's nowhere in sight.

I do a full turn.


I'm entering Queens,

Guess she missed me.

"Aw beans!"


There's no response from my friends in Queens

And no sign of Ms. Sheans.

5 minutes later they text they missed me.

A sense of being on my own,

A feeling that's not not known.


My legs start to hurt.

I hit my legs with loud smacks,

"Wake up! We're finishing this race.

That's a fact!"


I hold back tears.

Strangely for happiness.


Most of the time I'm on my own.

If only I had a team, a mentor,

To not always be stuck at home,

More people to believe in me,

And an audience

To see the work I do with glee.


It sounds odd to you,

But today, I feel heard.


"Ask and you shall receive."


My foot is completely fine.

God was listening to me!

"I mean he always has-

But the time between my big wish

And it becoming real

Is usually a long time-span."


I thank him.

I thank him.

I smack my legs,

I thank him.


Today I was reminded

He's always watching.

Experiencing my first miracle,

This is all pretty shocking. 


Note: Updates every Friday!

Continue Reading

You'll Also Like

2.9K 72 34
A book about life and people, about the past and the present, about insights and stories, all seen through the eyes of a 30 year old kid trying to fi...
395K 27.4K 33
What happens when you grow up wearing clothes that are too small or way too big, or wear hand me down clothes passed on from family, get teased by yo...
445K 16.5K 41
Walking into an empty house is normal to me. I guess I got tired of saying 'I'm home' when nobody is home to reply. It wasn't always like this. I re...
200 41 43
"Growing up" is every kid's dream. In their eyes, it is a bar of gold that can give them everything. So did I think that way. I left my country two y...