Blacklisted

No matter how much I tried, they never gave me even a single chance. I know they liked my paintings, I won many contests, many awards, and trophies, but they never made me their finalist. To win the competition was my dream. If I had won the competition, I would’ve changed my life forever. It was the most prestigious painting contest which was held on the national level. I tried, tried, and tried again, but I would never be the finalist. The event was held every year, and every year, I was sent home.

One night, I was walking down the narrow street, wiping my tears after being rejected. “ I’ve seen you on T.V.”, a voice came from behind. “You were the contestant of the painting contest, am I right?” the voice asked. I turned back, it was an odd-looking person, maybe 36-37 years of age. He stood quiet, no expressions on the face, tapping his foot and waiting for the answer.

I answered in the affirmative. Within a blink of an eye, he took out his laptop and said, “Give me your participation details.” They were of no use now, so I gave him the details. But now I was curious to know who he was and what was he doing with my participation details. He told me that he was a hacker and could hack the database in the management to make me the finalist, and no doubt it was a crazy idea. I knew it was unjust but that time I could anything to become a finalist. “Yes, if you can do that, I’ll be very grateful to you, Sir,” I said.

Suddenly, he became angry and yelled, “Go home! You’ll not get even a bit!”. Soon I learned that he was one of the teams at the contest. He just wanted to check if I am honest or a cheat. With this horrible decision of mine, I ended up BLACKLISTED.

Here I learned that no matter what, keep trying, but never choose the wrong track!