She clicked on the mouse with shaking hands and punched in her roll number. As the screen loaded, her mind went blank for a moment.

She was waiting for the result of the International English Olympiad. It was one of its kind, a test of English between students of all nations in South-East Asia.

As she saw her name and could only register a few words…
International…Rank 11…Zonal…Rank 1…Prize Rupees 5000.

“Momma,” she screamed, tears shining in her eyes, "Momma I got the first place in the east zone. I will get a prize money of 5000 rupees, like, I could buy so many books with it.”

Her mother came rushing from the kitchen and hugged her, “Silly girl, do you ever think of anything but books?”

“Nope,” she grinned.
Her books had finally won something for her. The only reason for her success was her voracious reading.

         A few months later....

Leaving her books behind was the most painful decision of her life. But she had to because they were the most inconvenient to carry to her hostel.

She was finally leaving her home for higher studies, armed with her secret weapon.

She took out her mobile and scrolled through the e-books she had downloaded. The college going girl of 17, smiled a smile of satisfaction. Her books would stay with her in whatever form possible.

                 October, 2017

Hey could you please give a shout-out for my books?

A message beeped on her Instagram page. She was the administrator of a fan page for ‘Vampire Academy’, one of the novels by Richelle Mead, which had stolen her heart forever.

She opened her DM to find a message from someone who had sent a picture of the cover page of their story.

Where is it from?

Wattpad...

What is that?

It’s a platform where you can write stories and read them too.

Wow!

Yeah, I write VA fanfics.

Send me the link please.

You have to sign up.

She clicked on the link which landed her straight on Wattpad. She was stunned at the amazing potential it had. She skimmed the net, asked people and on that day itself, she opened her Wattpad account.

And then she published her first story, one which she had written a long time ago for a failed competition.

'DAYDREAMS'

But this time she was definitely determined to success. Finally she had found the place her heart desires. The life of books was her life.

In a course of a few months she had some close to 16 books. Some for a competition. Others, Vampire Academy fan fictions.

She qualified the first round of the Open Novella Contest hosted by Wattpad community.

                January 2018

She was heartbroken. She wanted to quit writing.

She couldn't imagine that after all the hard work put in, her novella had not made it to the third round.

She was in company of friends and couldn't even cry. Her heart screamed inside.

She typed in a message in her page....

I am leaving Wattpad.

She never imagined the response she would get from her readers. They supported and strengthened her. There was a flood of messages. Every message with the same request...

Please don't quit.

All the love shown made her finally burst into tears. Tears of joy.

It made her realise her worth for her readers. It opened her eyes to what exactly they feel about her. She had as much demand as any author.

"I will not quit. I will fight till I win, " she promised herself, her eyes shining with a new zeal. Nothing could defeat her again. No competition would be a setback if she put her heart into writing. Writing was her passion.

A few months later

'Congratulations, you're the overall poetry winner in Wattpad Star Apogee. To claim your prize please contact...'

Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at the screen for a while. Her hands were numb with shock. Had she really won?

She has won lots of tiny Wattpad contests before but this was on a different level altogether. She had never hoped to be shortlisted, leave alone selected.

She sent a silent prayer to her muses and hugged the phone to herself.

January 2019

Your novella has been LONGLISTED in the #opennovellacontest2019...

A message popped up on her phone screen. She lazily wiped her eyes and got up yawning.

She stopped mid yawn, still unable to process. The previous year she had almost been giving up on Wattpad because of ONC and here she was shortlisted.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

She didn't make it beyond that in the ONC but she won many more contests and all and 1 tiny fanfic turned to 59 story and poetry collections over the span of 2 years and 4 months.

                         Today        
                              

She is sitting before her laptop typing out a story. She occasionally glances at the clock.

11.44 pm.

In front of her is the blank canvas where she is painting the story of her life with her words.

She looks once more at the weekly prompts by ChickLit

                   THE LIFE OF
                BOOKS WAS THE
               ONLY LIFE THAT
                MADE SENSE TO
                           HER.

This was none other than she herself. What could be a better example that her own life?

Books had been her constant companion in life. Joy and sorrow, achievements and failure, books always stood by her when there was no one beside her. She had dreamed to be a writer. Wattpad has fulfilled her dreams.

She is the happiest girl in the universe now.
                …………………………………………………………………………………….

“Shreya,” the voice of my friend breaks my reverie, ‘It’s twelve already. Enough of writing, now go to sleep.”

“I just wrote my autobiography,” I chuckled to myself.

I've tried every genre from happy to sad, from childhood stories to erotica. I've travelled through the realms of fantasy and romance, have slogged over psychological novels and gave quite a fright with my horror stories. I've written detective, I've written mystery, fairytale, chicklit... Stories, poems, fanfic, flashfics, drabbles, duodrabbles and novellas... Novels too... You'll find almost every genre of story or poetry on my account.

I've won almost 15 competitions by various Wattpad profiles and I'm proud to say that I'm not the girl I used to be earlier anymore.

I've never marketed my account except put it on the bio of my blogs on Instagram and Facebook or mentioned it to an occasional friend but I don't really care for popularity. It's quality, not quantity for me...

This is my destiny now. I will mould the world with the power of books and do as I desire. Nothing can bind me now. I am free to fly once more. And Wattpad has helped me realise my dreams.