Warrior Princess

Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and war. There was a girl by the same name and she was very similar to her namesake. She did not know that very well. Athena was an average girl who thought that the world is cruel because she was bullied by a girl called Mara when she was nine. She also encountered gossip at an early age. This was probably the reason why she cared so much about what people thought about her. Athena was scared of being hated and ignored. The fear came from a nightmare on an early morning when she was ten.

Let's start with the nightmare.
Athena was walking alone in a dark forest. She was wearing a white gown and a silver crown. She looked scared. All she could see were the dark trees all around. Suddenly, she saw her family and friends. She ran to her mother to hug her but her mother pushed her away. Athena heard her best friend screaming "You're just horrible, ugly and selfish! We all hate you. Go away!" Then everyone left Athena alone to cry in the dark forest. Athena woke up and realised that it was a nightmare. However, she was scared because she thought it will soon turn into reality.

Athena decided to be the person whom people love. That morning was a new start. She became nicer, quieter and increasingly shy than she was. The new Athena was the total opposite of the old. The old Athena was confident, bold and loud. The new Athena was shy, timid and quiet. Everyone liked her but many people used her kindness by pretending to be her friend. It really hurt her. Throughout the last four years, she was being someone she was not. She was being nice to people who were always mean to her. She was fed up with that. She knew that she had to face her fears. She thought that she was not courageous enough to face her fears. She was wrong. She realised that when she had a dream.

Let's see the dream.
Athena was walking in the same dark forest where she had her nightmare. She was wearing a black top and ripped jeans. She saw her six-year-old self in the dark. "You're just ruining yourself," she said. 

"How?"

"By being someone you're not. You know what? Life is really short and the world is really big. So enjoy your life without caring about people. The world is not cruel. It's beautiful. It's just some people are cruel. But we should not care about them," her six-year-old self replied.

Suddenly, Athena woke up from the dream. Thanks to her brother who was annoying her. She decided to listen to her six-year-old self. She got up from her bed. She got ready to go to her friend Mia's house and finish their physics project. She had to face her fears and Bella. Bella was a mean and disrespectful girl. Everyone hated her but no one ever went against her or replied back to her comments. Athena had to do her project with Bella and Mia.

"Oh you're looking very weird today, Athena. The jeans don't get along with the shirt," said Bella. 

"Well, I can wear whatever I want and by the way, no one asked your opinion," Athena replied to Bella's embarrassment and Mia's secret laughing. 

Athena began to stand up for herself and for the people she loved. She always did what is morally right. Athena continued to be the one who she wanted to be, not the one people wanted her to be.

You might be thinking how she got the courage? Why did I say that Athena was very similar to her namesake from the beginning of the story?  It's because we all have courage inside us. We just think that we're not courageous. That's the answer to the first question. The answer to the second question is that she is a warrior. She was fighting against the world and herself for a long time. Now, the end is here and I, the narrator of the story, have to say goodbye to you.

The writer is a grade 7 student of Singapore School Kinderland.