STORY/FICTION/POEM

The Genius Within

By – Anam Hashmi

I sort of ignored her, because I knew it wasn’t me. Nationals? Hah! Sounded like something Amelia could do. Eventually, I painted. A rising sun, a flowing river, birds migrating with every detail.

I wish I could fly away with my birds, swim and forget my worries in the flowing river, and clear my head in the sunny painted sky. Ms. Tripod came to look at my painting. "Sophia, do you like painting?” She asked. I shook my head. “Well, you sure can make a masterpiece.”

And then was the most important day of my life. She raised up my canvas, so everyone in the class could see the painting, my painting. And it wouldn't hurt to win the nationals, right? And for the first time in ages, I smiled a wide toothy grin. The results will come out tonight. And everyone at the Academy would be watching. Later on in the day, I snuggled in my blankets to watch the results. Ben Brooks was announcing them. “And the winner is… Sophia Jackson!” I stood up in my blankets. This couldn’t have happened. I couldn’t have won. But I did.

The next day was cheerful for me. I was congratulated wherever I went. Unfortunately, my first class was math. I stared at the empty paper, but it was like art connected my brain. If Mary had 6 apples, and John had 4 times more, how much would John have?

I drew 6 apples, and 6 more, and 6 more, and 6 more, then counted. 24. I wrote the answer down, then smiled, for the second time this week.

When I got my test back, my smile was bigger than ever. A 75! My dad was surely going to faint. And boy, was he happy. He whooped with joy, and I grinned. Maybe I never was bad at math. Maybe I just needed a push, to keep going. And in my opinion, that push was art. I may not be a math genius, but I definitely have some sort of genius within, a genius waiting to be discovered.