It's Time to Fly

She had just sat down after cleaning up the third spill that day, when her phone pinged. Her mother had sent her a link for a writing contest. Kimmy’s eyes brightened as she opened the link and began to read. Writing was her passion, but she had lost her motivation when she started having kids. When she was not wiping someone’s butt or breaking up fights over toys, she was cleaning something. This contest was exactly the push she needed to get her creative juices flowing again. Her body shook with excitement.

The next morning after dropping her gremlins off at school, Kimmy stopped by the stationary store to pick up supplies to write her story. She preferred writing by hand versus using a computer. Kimmy found the perfect little black book and some nice pens. She paid for her things and headed home. As soon as she walked in the door, she made a cup of tea, and sat down to begin writing. She had so many ideas, she wrote for what seemed like an eternity, smiling the entire time. She had not felt this invigorated and happy since the birth of her last child. Kimmy checked the time and realized she had spent two hours on her writing and had not gotten anything else done yet. She finished her piece and set to work cleaning the house.

Later that evening, Kimmy called her mom and two close friends to ask if they would each edit her story before she submitted it. They happily agreed. Everyone told Kimmy she needed to start writing again, that she had a natural talent. Kimmy had a hard time believing that, but she sure loved it. She got nothing but good feedback and after making some minor edits. she was ready to submit her story. Kimmy went to the contest link and typed in her story and with a huge, excited smile and butterflies in her chest, she hit SEND. That was it, she was done, all she could do now was wait. 10 agonizing days had to go by before they would announce the winner of the grand prize of $20,000. Kimmy could only dream about what she could do with that money. She and her husband were not rich by any means, he worked a good job, and the bills were paid, but money was tight. Often Kimmy was left with no money, she was the home maker and did not make an income and her husband never let her forget. Having an extra $20,000 would open some doors that were currently closed.

Kimmy spent the next 10 days agonizing over what the judges would say about her writing, did they hate it? Did they love it? She thought about it while cooking supper, while mopping floors and even while chauffeuring her children to their various activities. It was all she could think about. The day had arrived. Kimmy woke up with the biggest smile on her face but felt queasy from the anxiousness. Her morning started like every other one except she could not stop checking her phone. As Kimmy was prepping lunch for her kids, her phone pinged. “this is it!” she shrieked in excitement. Kimmy sat down at the table, shaking profusely, and opened the notification. It was a live video of the announcement.

“Good afternoon, my name is Jeff Coles, and this is my co host Susan Anderson”. Jeff had short brown hair, kind eyes and looked way too excited, Susan had the most beautiful blonde wavy hair and looked at Jeff with such admiration. “the time has come to announce our winner, there were many great submissions, this was no easy decision, however we had to choose someone. so, without further ado, the grand prize winner is…Kimmy Harmon! Congratulations Kimmy!! We will be contacting you.” Kimmy. won! She had just won $20,000! Holy moly! What was she going to do with it? Pay bills? Go on a vacation? Save it? She sat and pondered for way longer than she intended to. Once she was finally able to collect her thoughts, she called her mother to share the news. “Yahoo!” She replied, beaming in pride and excitement. “I told you, you could do it darlin, I just knew you could!” she continued. “Thanks mom, this is my chance to be free, to actually be happy, to start over with the kids” Kimmy was exhilarated by the thought of being without her husband, being in control of herself for the first time in 15 years. Yes, this was exactly what she intended to do with the money. This was her chance, and she was not about to blow it. How could she do it though? How could she get the money and not have to share it with her husband? The thought bewildered her. ‘That’s it!” It hit her like a ton of bricks, she would put the money in her mother name. This was the only way she could ensure she and her kids would have the money to live off while she got on her feet as a single mom. Kimmy was the happiest she had ever been, just planning her future with her kids. A life without being yelled at and mistreated everyday sounded like heaven.

A couple days later, Kimmy and her mother Deborah went to collect the winnings. “I really need the money to be put in my mothers name please, its really the only way I can ensure it goes towards my children and I, and our future. My husband can not know anything about it, please?”. Kimmy begged the sweet older woman behind the counter. “We don’t normally do this kind of thing, however it sounds really important, so I think we can make that happen for you.”Oh thank you, thank you so much!” Kimmy replied trying to hold back tears.

Kimmy left the place beaming with excitement, her future had suddenly gone from looking bleak, to looking amazing, thanks to an incredible writing contest. Kimmy knew it was not going to be all sunshine and rainbows, but she also knew that it was going to be worth the hard stuff. Kimmy and her mother walked arm in arm, to the car, happily discussing the next steps Kimmy would need to take to freedom. The mere thought was breathtaking.