Kristin Alayna

When I was in eighth grade, my teacher gave out a creative writing assignment. Somehow, I ended up being one of the only students who did the assignment; and I did it to perfection. I had written an amazing thirty-something page fictional story, in just a few weeks. It was so good, the teacher gave it to her nieces to read. This was a major compliment; at first. After giving her nieces my story, without my knowledge or consent, something very unfortunate happened. Her nieces lost my story (or so her story goes). I knew I would never see my story again. I was so young, and did not think of it as anything more than an assignment, so I did not scan it or make a copy. It was hand written. It broke my heart. Having to see my teacher’s face every day afterward caused feelings of hurt, shame, and disbelief to wash over me. I never truly addressed these feelings. These feelings then surrounded the wounds I had because of previous life experiences. So I was, by my own emotions, inspired to write and later publish my poetry. I had started writing a year before this incident and just could not stop. I really wanted to be a songwriter, but many obstacles were in my way. I later moved forward and had other dreams. Publishing my first book meant one of my many dreams came true. The timing of this dream becoming reality was not the timing that I imagined. Even throughout the period of publishing my first book, there were many trials. Nonetheless, one of my dreams became a reality.