17 year old Lucy stared at the wall. She had nothing to do. It was summer vacation, and she didn’t have a single idea how to spend it.

“Lucy, darling. We have an event at the bookstore for little children. Do you want to come help me there? You haven’t made any other plans yet, have you?” Her mother, a blue-eyed blonde-haired woman, asked.

“Hm, no.”

“So you’ll come?”

“…no. I dont feel like it.”

“Why not?”

Lucy looked up at her mom with her big brown eyes. “I just… I don’t know.”

“What’s wrong?” The mother’s tone became worried as she sat beside her daughter on her bed.

“Everyone has some sort of a plan. I’m the only one who has no idea where to go, what to do, and what I want to be. I feel lost.” She covers her face with her hands and looks down.

“Aw, darling.” Her mom said with sweetness pouring out of her voice. “You’ll be just fine, I promise. Everybody runs their own little race. It doesn’t matter how fast others are going. They’re not your competitors, anyway.”

Lucy looked up at her mother through her blonde strands she inherited. “I don’t know, mom. I don’t like how I’m doing nothing.”

“Hmm, alright then. You can accompany me to the bookstore. Just watch, ok? Distract yourself. Maybe you’ll get some ideas, who knows?”

She sighed and corrected her posture with a new resolve. “Okay, I’ll come.” And perhaps that moment changed everything.

The girl swung the door open hesitantly, looking for her mother. An old man, probably in his 40s or 50s noticed her and said, “Ah, you must be Trish’s daughter. Please join us, your mother received a call and said she has to leave and won’t be coming back for a few hours.”

“A-alright.” She walked in and saw rows and rows of children sitting on little plastic chairs in a corner of the library.

“Come, sit here. You can listen too!” The old man invited her to sit on an empty seat close to him.

Lucy, still hesitant, sits on a seat, as far from the man as she can get.

“Hello, kids! You can all call me Barney! And I’m going to read to you…. Little Red Riding Hood! Doesn’t that sound interesting?!”

The children all clapped with excitement and got silent when he started. Lucy wasn’t interested in this. Little Red Riding Hood is for little kids. She’s 17 now. She had the future to worry about, why pay attention to a silly story?

But somehow, she found herself paying attention. Barney had a great, animated voice. He could grab your attention very easily, and keep you engrossed, as well.

Lucy stared at his expressions and how he read the story, the genuine smile that spread across the children’s faces. It felt very nice. Something she wanted more of.

When the story was over, Barney waved goodbye to the children and left. For the next 3 hours, Lucy spent time looking at some children’s fantasy books.

She didn’t understand why she was in that section, though. All her friends like to read more ‘teenager’ books. Those filled with romance and dark emotions. But somehow these ‘simple children’s books’ made her feel happy, content. And after the way Barney, an old man, read a small fairytale, that somehow even made all the workers at the library stop and listen, she felt like she could do anything.

It was then, that moment when she decided- she was going to be a children’s fantasy author.

Summer vacations went by, months went by even after they were over, but Lucy only had one motive- finish writing her book.

Her dedication never seemed to end. Whenever she needed a break, to her mother’s library she went. Doing schoolwork on the side, she was one of the busiest girls in her class now.

After 5 months, it was done- she finished writing and editing the book!

Her mother helped her find a publisher and there- it was done, her book was published.

Lucy was so overwhelmed with happiness that stars seemed to dance in her eyes. Energy started surging through her veins and she was very hopeful that people would love her book.

Unlike her dreams, her book wasn’t a success. It sold copies, yes. But not a lot. No one payed much attention to her book.

Now, she was dejected. All this hard work, and no one even cared. It was all for naught.

“Come on, dear, you didn’t write the book to get instant fame, did you? You wrote a book because you wanted to, and it even got published! Isn’t *that* wonderful?

“I guess so..” Lucy didn’t look sad anymore, although she didn’t speak as much as she used to.

It was soon Lucy’s 18th birthday. The day she turned into an adult. It was filled with joy and excitement, how wonderful!

Her parents held a lovely party for her, and she was enjoying herself very much until her mom came in, eyes wide of surprise. Lucy’s skin started to tingle a bit, for some reason.

“You know Barney? He…”

For a second, you could even hear a pin drop while everyone listened in anticipation.

“H-he… uploaded a video of him reading Lucy’s book on the internet. It went viral. Your book suddenly became a hit!”

Lucy’s eyes almost bulged out of her sockets. “What! On my birthday too! What a huge surprise!”

“The story was somehow absolutely perfect for Barney’s voice, and everyone absolutely adored your story writing now! Isn’t that amazing?”

Lucy couldn’t hear the sounds around her. Her heart was beating too fast in her ears. Her thoughts were too fast. She couldn’t count all the emotions she went through at that time, even if she wanted to!

Soon enough, she got offers from publishing companies, and everyone thought of her as a talented young author.

“It was a miracle, I must say,” recounted a woman with the same blonde hair, except now filled with greys. Those brown eyes still shining brightly, even though her skin is covered with wrinkles.

“I kept thinking how slow I was going in this race. Except I found out just too late that it was actually just a maze. Nobody really cares what time you escaped. All that matters is if u *did* escape. And I know for a fact that everyone is able to find what makes them free.” She looks around at the crowd that had gathered for the 15th anniversary of her 1st book.

“It happened to me at 17, quite young, although at that time, I thought it was far too late. For you, it may happen at 30, or maybe even 7, who knows? What I want you to do is keep looking. That’s all.”

Everyone claps, marveling at her, being inspired, and finding motivation in her words.

In the cornermost seat sat Barney, much older than he was before, but still having that energy and love in his eyes.

The old man who started the fire in 17 year old Lucy’s heart, which enabled her to do the great things she was capable of.