“Our business in life is not to succeed but to continue to fail in good spirits” Robert Louis Stevenson

“Runners, on your marks…” a phrase of excitement turned out to be a great despair for me. No hope, no nothing, just blank. Negativity led me to believe I wasn’t good enough for this.

Comparing and contrasting myself to my opponents didn’t seem like what a "true winner" would do. Well, that’s what Mr. Collins said. Collins is my coach. He’s the funniest and the one that won’t fail to put a smile on my face during our training. He’s also one of the few people I look up to. 

“Look Mel, I don’t want you to focus on the finish line, think like a champion and quit comparing yourself to others. That’s what a loser would do, so don’t be one. A true winner is someone who finishes the race with joy, doesn’t matter what place they’ve got. Finish the race, that’s all you gotta do!” These were Mr Collins' final words before I left our school’s tent.

“Get set…” as the number of words decreased, the faster my heart was beating. Words of encouragement from Mum and others vanished, and not a single phrase was left. I tried to remember what Dad said about doing my best and God will do the rest. 

"Maybe that will help," I thought to myself. Well, it didn’t. I was still nervous and of course that’s the feeling anyone getting ready to run would feel. 

“3,2,1…” “Pa-doom!” goes the sound of the starting pistol. I wasn’t sure that’s what the pistol really sounded like, but it was close enough.

I dashed with my eyes focused on the lane I was put in. I refused to look up because I was scared I might trip. I was always clumsy, even as a young pre-schooler. I remember tripping while running on the field during sports day. It was one of the worst days ever.

I heard a bunch of teens laughing and booing at me as I lay there with my head on the ground. I didn’t want that to happen again! A stadium filled with people clapping, shouting and cheering for me, competing with different athletes from different schools and getting to the finish line first has always been my dream. Well, these were just dreams waiting to be fulfilled.

“Come on Mel, you can do this!” shouted Mr. Collins. It’s a relief knowing I’ve got one more lap to go, meaning I’m gonna have to run my last 400 metres. My legs were refusing to cooperate with one of the methods Mr. Collins taught me. 

“Your legs need to be raised 90 degrees and land with the upper part of your foot.” 

“Ninety degrees? That’s too much work.” I thought. 

In fact, the higher I raise my legs, the more painful it gets. As I caught up with the other two girls in front of me, now comes the complicated turn, ‘the curves’. I was running in the last lane and I swear lane 8 was the worst of them all, especially when it comes to ‘the curves’. It feels as if another 50 metres has been added to my last 400-metre run.

That didn’t stop me from trying to catch up with the blonde girl in front of me. Seradine was her name. Beautiful name isn’t it? She was known as the “Queen of Long Distance”. She won all her races in 2021 and no one was close enough to beat her. I wondered what it would be like to be in Seradine’s shoes, always winning and never failing to have gold medals hanging down from her neck. I thought it was time to change history. “Melissa Davidson as the “Queen of the Track” or maybe, “Melissa the Undefeatable.” These were childish thoughts that struck my mind. It did sound a bit prideful but I was only wishing it would actually come true. 

“You did it!” said Mr. Collins with a smile as bright as the stars in the sky. I fell to the ground with tears in my eyes.

“I did it,” I said. My squad approached me with words of congratulations as well as other coaches. 

“I’m so proud of you, Mel,” said Mum. I smiled and hugged her. Even though I wasn’t able to reach the finish line first and change history, I was happy and satisfied with the effort I put in. I’m glad I finished the race with joy and not despair. And for Seradine, well it's the usual. She got her gold medals and got MVP. I congratulated her after that. She deserved it anyway.

A pastor from the Big Island said, “The journey doesn’t end here” and it’s true. Win or lose, there are always other days ahead to make your dreams come true. Melissa Davidson failed to make her dream come true which was getting to the finish line first, but that didn’t stop her from being happy. 

As a matter of fact, she was proud of the achievements she’s made. So, therefore, “Never give up! Strive for the moon so if you miss, you’ll land on the stars."

• Heather Amosa Va’a is a Year 10 student at Tuasivi College. This literary piece won her 2nd place in the Year 10 English category of the Samoa Observer Short Story competition.