In the Face of Fears

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The night was heavier than usual, filled in silence that pressed against Ada’s chest like a weight. She stood at the wall of her small apartment, staring at the envelope in her hands. It had been lying in her mailbox for two days, and though she knew it contained the results of her scholarship application, she had been too afraid to open it.

Fear had always followed Ada closely. It was there when she first stood before her classmates to give a presentation, her voice trembling until laughter made her looked like a fool. It was there when she watched her mother struggle to pay rent, her heart pounding with the thought that she might never escape the same. Now, it was here again, whispering that she wasn’t good enough, that rejection was already written inside the folded paper.

Her phone buzzed. It was her best friend, Chike.
“Have you opened it yet?” his text read.
She swallowed hard. Her thumb moved over the keyboard, but instead of replying, she went down to the floor, pressed her back against the door.

What if it was a rejection? What if her dreams of studying abroad ended before they even began? Fear painted pictures of failure, of her peers moving ahead while she remained backward. But then, another voice, soft but steady rose inside her. What if it was an acceptance? What if this was the beginning of something new?

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Ada closed her eyes and remembered her mother’s words; Courage is not the absence of fear, my child, it is moving forward even when fear is loud. She let the words settle in her chest, grounding her trembling hands.

With a deep breath, she tore the envelope open. The paper inside crackled as if it too held its breath. Her eyes scanned the words, and when they saw “Congratulations,” the tears came, not of fear, but of relief and of joy.

The shadows that had grown so tall moments ago shrank instantly. Ada realized that fear had always been part of the journey, not the end of it. She could not erase fear, but she could face it, and in doing so, she found strength.

Later that night, she texted Chike a picture of the letter. His reply came almost immediately; “I told you! Fear never wins if you don’t let it.”

Ada smiled through her tears. For the first time in a long while, she felt lighter. She folded the letter neatly and placed it on her table, a reminder that in the face of fears, courage had the final word.