There was once a family which had two daughters: Maria and Second. Second’s name was predestined – she was always second in her play, at competitions, at school.
As a child, it was her biggest wish to be the first one. Just once.
But no matter how hard she tried, she never succeeded to be the first in anything.
It is very hard to be the second one. Sometimes, she was really very close to be the first – but then she had a tummy problem, or she received a bad news and couldn’t perform as good. Most of the time, she fought harder and worked harder than the person on the first place. But people are many times blind for these situations. They only care who takes home the biggest prize. Who is so deserving to be on the first place. They are unaware that circumstances change, and affect one’s performance. However, Second didn’t consider herself unlucky. She just had to work harder, and maybe.. next time..
Years went on and on, and Second never finished on the first place. But as years went on and on, she grew stronger and stronger, more confident. She started to see more around her. For example, she saw how much attention the first place always received, and how much pressure it endured. She saw that people always had an opinion about the person on the first place, but rarely one about her. And Second liked that – it meant she was free to be whoever she wanted.
Second place brought her autonomy, and independence. She loved her name.
Daniela Borontiș 