A Real Winner

 It is one o’clock in the afternoon. The students rush out of the classroom to leave for home. There seem Metta and Christy walking downstairs. ‘Congratulations! You are selected to represent in the contest’ says Ica . The girls just smile, thank, and let her go first. Today Mr.Bram , the English teacher, passes an announcement that the school is invited to take part in a contest and he thinks Metta and Christy are the right persons. Both of the girls are talented enough. Metta is good at writing and grammar and Christy at and vocabulary. As the contest to take is speech, it is quiet obvious that Christy will perform better than Metta. This makes Metta wonder if she wins the contest. That is why she keeps thinking if it is still possible to deny the appointment. She is really not confident, but she will not let her teacher down. So, no matter how hard it is, competing with Christy is unavoidable.  ‘That’s the one that takes you home’ Christy remarks waking Metta’s day dream.   ‘Sure..sure’ answers Metta  spontaneously. The girls part right at the front of the school building.   It is Sunday. Christy’s parents plan for a picnic to a mountain. They often do this for refreshing after a week’s working day. Christy decides not to come with them.   ‘Don’t go anywhere until we’re back home’ says Mr. Harman.  ‘Make sure the gate’s kept locked’ adds Mrs. Anisa.  ‘Don’t worry, Mom’ she answers convincingly. The car soon leaves the girl standing with eyes staring at it which finally gets out of the sight. She, then, closes the gate, comes in to the house heading for her study. ‘ I think it is the right time to write the draft’ she says to herself. Christy takes a piece of paper, a dictionary, a pen and begins to write lines by lines. She does all with great enthusiasm that undoubtedly in a few minutes the draft is completed. She, then, practices before the mirror and things prove to run well, particularly that she pronounces each word perfectly and with good accent. She believes she will win the contest. It is three days before the contest to due. Mr. Bram calls out Metta and Christy to know how well they have made progress with the preparation.  First Metta, Mr. Bram is by no means impressed with her performance. He orders she should speak more loudly and with confidence ‘I think you write a nice topic and in correct grammar, but you must learn to feel free before the audience’ he says. Metta agrees and can do no other thing than learn to build up her self confidence. When it is Christy’s turn she performs impressively. All lines are uttered fluently and accompanied with her facial and gestural expressions. Her pronunciation sounds very much like a native, too. Mr. Bram is by all means deeply amazed.  ‘That’s it! Metta , Could you perform in the same way  as Christy does?’ says Mr. Bram.   ‘I’ll try, Sir’ she answers.   The day for contest has come. The hall is awfully crowded with students. They are representatives from different schools. The partakers wear their own uniform. It is the greatest contest ever since. Pelita Hati Junior High School, the arranger, is the most outstanding one to arrange such annually prestigious contest. There will predictably be a bitter fight for the best place among the contestants. At exactly 8 a.m. the head of committee delivers the speech to open. Then an announcer reads a notification on where and what time a contest is held. The main hall is for speech. There have been many participants gathered. Metta, Christy, and Mr. Bram sit at the back row. Christy gets the first number to perform and Metta the seventeenth.   ‘Christy, Do your best’ whispers Mr. Bram. ‘Yes, Sir’ she speaks in a weak voice.The first contestant is called out. Christy comes up to the stage and begins to deliver her speech. First she manages to greet the audience and say the openings fluently. But at the middle she looks trembling and awkward. She is wet through with sweat. She can not remember some words and she misses some phrases. She goes on her speech with missing parts. Mr. Bram is socked to know it. When it is finished and the turn comes to the following contestants he asks Christy.  ‘What’s the problem with you? It’s too disappointed. You’re our only hope’  ‘Sorry, Sir, I’m really scared with their eyes. I think I get stage fright’ she answers.  ‘I bet we get no trophy. Metta will lose, too’ he complains.Christy is sad. She still does not know what happen to her. She never thinks her speech will end that way.  Metta tries to encourage her. Now Christy gets encouraged. Afterwards, the girls ask Mr. Bram for permission to go out of the hall for a few minutes.  ‘Okay, but be back soon’ says Mr. Bram to them.Outside the hall they talk about how not to let her teacher down. Christy gives Metta short training on  how to use gestural expressions and pronounce the difficult words. Metta manages to do as Christy instructs  In the hall Mr. Bram wonders where the girls go. He gets even more anxious when it is nearly Metta’s turn to perform. But his anxiety is gone seeing them come in.  ‘Where have you been?’ he remarks ‘Out for looking around this school environment’ answers Metta.‘This is number sixteen. You’re next’ reminds the teacher. The seventeenth is called up. Metta walks up to the stage. Christy applauds to support her. Metta greets all audience with nice expressions and begins to deliver her speech. She performs pretty amazingly that Mr. Bram can not believe it. Her topic, grammar, vocabulary, and gestural and facial expressions attract the jury. She uses unique media, too. Upon finishing, she gets the most applause from the audience. They think this is the best of all. ‘You’re so great.  Metta’ says Mr. Bram shaking her hand   ‘Thank you, Sir’ she answers looking at Christy.It is 1 p.m. The contest is finished and the participants remain to see the final result. The announcement is read at the main hall. For the speech the first winner comes to Metta. And when she is summoned to go up to the stage to get the trophy, she is interviewed. ‘You’ve made your performance so amazing. Who taught you?’ asks the man.‘Yes, I have a special teacher that makes me a winner, but I think she, who has taught me, is the real winner today’ answers Metta .‘Who is she?’ asks the man.‘I need Christy to come up the stage. There she is, my teacher’ calls Metta.Every one in the hall stares at the girl. They find it unbelievable. The girl that has made the worst performance turns to be a teacher of the best. They may wonder, but they can not deny the reality. Mr. Bram himself feels guilty of putting Christy the first contestant to blame. He finally comes to the conclusion that none of his pupils is the loser. Both of them are winners. ‘Congratulations Metta, Congratulations Christy’ Those are the words that might’ve come out from his deep heart.

Note : 
 “Daripada menghapus air matamu..... Lebih baik kau menghapus orang yang 
  telah membuatmu meneteskan air mata”

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