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I sauntered through the corridor.

Clusters of students brushed past me, some wit


h eyes scrutinising me, and a few rudely pointing fingers at me while whispering
things to their friends. I could see they were mouthing words like "deaf" and "
crazy". Hot blood gushed up my cheeks. I tried evading their cold, judging stare
s, gluing my eyes to the ground as adrenaline pumped through my legs and heighte
ned my pace to the music room.
I slowly pushed the door open. There was no one. I proceeded to put my dull blac
k case on a lonely chair. I unlatched the case. My glistening flute laid soundly
inside, like a precious, sleeping baby. Smiling, I carefully took it out. Holdi
ng my shiny flute rightwards and close to my right shoulder, I straightened my b
ody, tightened my lips and blew into the hole. It started to sing softly, but in
a slightly muffled voice. My fingers rested gently against the cool metallic bu
ttons, and then skipped cheerfully along the pristine sleek body. I felt peacefu
l, as if I was teleported to another realm, one with a forest, surrounded by hap
pily gliding birds and hopping squirrels...
"Ring..ring!!" The school bell blared like an impatiently nagging headmaster, jo
lting me from my reverie. I sighed. Reluctantly, I put my flute back into its ca
se. I scampered to the music room's door and made my exit. Outside, waves of stu
dents were still roaming about. Before I could take another step, the sea of stu
dents parted along the corridor, almost like the splitting of the Red Sea when t
he early followers of God made their way through it. Sashaying along the corrido
r was none other than Rainie, with her two minions timidly railing behind her. T
he typical high school queen bee and her servants.
She stopped for a couple of seconds, opening the compact mirror she pulled out o
f her skirt. After checking that her bangs were in place, she shut her mirror an
d suddenly jerked forward and bumped into me forcefully. Next thing I knew, I fo
und myself landing against the grainy, cold ground. I looked up, and saw her fac
e masterfully morphed into a combination of exaggeratedly widened eyes and mouth
. For an extra touch, she lifted her hands innocently and dramatically exclaimed
, "Oh, so sorry!" Then, with a smirk, she continued,"well, well. Isn't this miss
deaf in one ear? I heard you actually entered the school's music competition!"
She gave me a look of incredulity before she began giggling, then laughing hard,
so much so her body quaked and her laughter scaled several octaves high. Her mi
nions began snickering too. I stood there, a river of embarrassment flowed like
acid through my veins, stinging me. Then, Rainie stopped laughing. Her eyes flas
hed with disdain. She grabbed my collars roughly, pulled me up close to her, his
sing fiercely into my good ear, "Deaf girl, don't be a crazy fool! You are joini
ng the competition? You think you can win? What a joke!" She released her grip a
nd my body tumbled to the ground. My face burned as hot tears pixellated my visi
on.
Stares from spectating students, like arrows, shot at me. Some filled with horro
r, some with disbelief, and others with pity. I shielded myself from their gazes
, wiping away my hopelessly cascading tears with the back of my palms. It took a
while before the crowd shrank to nothing. For an hour, I sat on the hard ground.
All left of my pride was a pile of burnt ashes. Still, a persistent voice in my
head sternly nagged, "Don't give up! Practise Hard! Who cares if you are half d
eaf?"
My fingers tightened to form fists: a symbol of my determination. My eyes narrow
ed and I muttered, "I can do this!" I began using the music room everyday. I pra
ctised two hours a day in the first week, two and a half hours a day in the seco
nd week, three hours a day in the third week, and so on. Each week, I pumped mor
e hours into my daily practised. With each practice, my fingers grew a little be
nt, but I still played passionately. With each day, my confidence grew.
The day of the competition arrived. I stood in front of my bedroom mirror. I saw

my fingers covered in faint red marks, the marks of my hardwork. I smoothened o


ut my skirt, adjusted my red tie slightly and smiled.
I strode out of my house, and marched to school. As I approached the entrance ga
te, I saw Rainie approaching me. My heart began stuttering, my breath grew heavy
. In a flash, my flute case was snatched away from me. I stood, stunned as Raini
e flunk the case into the canal nearby. Colours washed off my face. My eyes bulg
ed with disbelief. She proudly entered the school.
Tears gushed uncontrollably down my cheeks. What am I to do? The canal was at le
ast two metres deep. I tried to retrieve the case, stretching my arms as much as
I could. My arms barely reached the halfway mark of the canal. I attempted agai
n, and again, and again. It was futile. Time was ticking away. I glanced at my w
atch. There were thirty minutes before the competition officially ended.
Just when I thought all hope was lost, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was grand
pa. As if he could read my mind, he bravely went down the canal, and with some d
ifficulty, he climbed back up. In his hands were my damp, dirtied flute case.
"And now, we have come to the end of the 2015 music competition. We thank all par
ticipants and..."
"Wait!" I shouted. I ran to the stage with my shimmering silver flute, huffing a
nd puffing, then bowed to the audience, and very sincerely apologised to the hos
t and the audience for the delay.
"Okay, let's give the moment to the last participant!" I shut my eyes and let my
fingers run across the length of my flute in practised moves. As I played the l
ast note, I slowly opened my eyes. I looked at the audience. They sat still, unm
oving. My heart pounded frantically. Lub. Dub. Lub. Dub.
Then, a rain of applause resonated throughout the hall. I stood on the stage, sm
iling brightly as tears of joy trickled down my face.
Fifteen minutes later, they announced the winners. "And the winner is..Rainie!"
Rainie squealed, jumping excitedly. "I won! I won!" She turned to me and smiled
smugly, mouthing, "In your face."
"Oh wait.. There is a mistake.. The winner is Ruth!"
I could see Rainie's face growing redder. Her body trembled with fury, her finge
rnails biting into her palms. Her eyes were like burning coals. I almost felt li
ke taking a picture of her angry, demonic form. It was priceless.
Because I was partially deaf, Rainie said I could not do it. Because I was parti
ally deaf, She said I was a joke. But being partially deaf, I still won.
Never let shortcomings dictate you as a failure.
Never let shortcomings stop you from achieving.
Success, after all, is not something inborn, but rather, a result we make.

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