Triumphant!

"Ah! I just love the smell of a brand new notebook!"

Making a dramatic sniffing sound, Ranya inhaled the scent of her new notebook. It was a small, black, leather bound notebook with an elastic strap. It was the perfect choice for her Black Book Series.

The Black Book Series was her own personal, ten-month long, write-myself-out-of-writer's-block challenge. She kept herself on track with ten rules:

Purchase a new black notebook each month.

Enjoy the fresh smell of the brand new notebook.

Find the RIGHT pen!

The minute the pen hits the page, COMMIT to the voice until the end.

The writing timeline is one month or less.

When it's the last page, it's the last page.

Give the book away. Market nothing. Just give it away.

Repeat until the 10th month.

Don't give up!

Celebrate and give birth to Ranya, the writer.

Ranya was starting Book Ten, and she could feel the story bubbling at her fingertips. All she needed was the pen!

But after two hours at the bookstore trying out multiple pens, none of them felt like the RIGHT pen. "I guess I won't be writing today."

With her earbuds in, Ranya headed out of the store and down the walkway through the park of cherry blossom trees. If nothing else, she could lose herself in the beautiful scents and scenery surrounding her.

She hoped to catch the last twenty minutes of She Speaks. It was her favorite livestreamed podcast, hosted by Effie and Aiya, two really smart and funny Caribbean-born, London-raised women.

Aiya: You've just heard, "Valley," a fantastic tune by Nneka! A really great song, innit, Effie?

Effie: Definitely on my favorites list, Aiya. A really powerful end to a great musical lineup, yeah?

Aiya: Aaabsolutely. So, Effie, let's talk about our guest from earlier this month, Mr. T.G. of Spot On Films. The writing contest he announced has gotten quite the buzz!

"What?!! A writing contest? Let me get my pen!" Ranya started scrambling through her bag with one hand, holding her ear piece closer to her ear. She didn't want to miss a word.

Effie: Yes. Yes. So exciting. All of you talented writers out there, Mr. T.G. and his crew are looking for a creative writer, music-lover type to collaborate with on a new movie and soundtrack project!

Aiya: Yes, and let's not forget about the $20,000 prize! You ladies and gents don't want to miss this amazing opportunity.

Effie: That's right, writers! You can find contest details at SpotOnFilms.studio/contest. That's SpotOnFilms.studio/contest.

Aiya: Don't be a fool! Get your submissions in by April 1st! We're rootin' for you!

Effie: Don't be a fool?

Aiya: April Fool's Day! You know? Don't be a fool? No? Not funny?

Effie: (Laughing) Okay, okay. It's funny.

Aiya: Now, let's give our fans a tiny little sneak peek into some of the music coming out of T.G.'s new movie project!

Effie: Ooh yes! Next up, "A Sky Full of Stars" by Coldplay. Enjoy!

Ranya stood in the middle of the tree-lined walkway, slightly bent over, trying to scribble down the last words of the contest website before she forgot it.

"...forward... slash... contest..."

All of a sudden, something or someone bumped into her, bringing both her and them down into the blossom-filled grass.

Ranya felt the wind get knocked out of her a little, but whatever bumped into her also broke her fall.

She looked over to see a face with glasses and a grimaced, pain-filled look.

"Owwchh," the man whispered. As Ranya got her bearings, she realized that she was on top of the man's casted and apparently broken arm.

Shocked and apologetic, Ranya jumped up, held her hands to her face and stuttered a sincere apology.

"Oh my goodness... I'm so sorry. Are you okay?

With a deep voice and rather sophisticated British Caribbean accent, the man said, "Oh no, no. It's okay. Please, no apologies. It's my fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I'm so embarrassed; I should be helping YOU up!"

Extending her hand to help him up, Ranya smiled, hearing his voice and accent. This American woman really had a liking for all kinds of accents.

"Thank you. My name is Tiger. Apologies, my lady."

As Ranya hoisted Tiger up, she struggled forward and he held her waist to stabilize both of them, bringing them face to face for a sweet but awkward moment.

"Nice to meet you,Tiger. I'm Ranya."

After an even more awkward handshake, Ranya picked up their papers and that had fallen onto the grass with them and together they walked over to a nearby bench under the cherry blossom trees.

"So... Tiger is an interesting name. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone with that name, besides the golfer."

"Well, my parents lived among and worked with endangered animals. On one of their many trips to India, I was conceived, hence the name, Tiger."

Shrugging his shoulders and laughing, Tiger glanced over at Ranya.

"Ranya isn't quite the common name either. What does it mean?"

Shaking her head and smiling, Ranya started, "Well, as the story goes, my dad wanted to name me "Triumphant," right? And my mom was not about to do that, so they battled it out on the chessboard and my mom won, so she named me Ranya. Funny thing is, it means "triumphant" in Arabic. That's how my mom was."

"Clever."

Looking at his watch, Tiger's eyes grew huge and anxious, as if remembering something important.

"Well, Ms. Triumphant. It's been a pleasure bumping into you, literally. I was hurrying to get to the bookstore across the way. Hopefully, I can get some help completing these forms before my deadline. So I'm really sorry, but I have to rush off."

"Well, no need to go all the way there. I can write for you. It's the least I can do for falling on your broken arm."

Anxious to meet his deadline, Tiger pulled a pen out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Ranya.

"On this line, print my name. But don't laugh..." Tiger said, pointing at Ranya with one eyebrow raised, Tiger... George... Wentworth."

Ranya raised one of her own eyebrows, cleared her throat, and swallowed slowly. She felt as if she had a torturous itch in her inner funny bone and she was commanding it to retreat!

She thought to herself, "He did say NOT to laugh, right?"

"Ahem, um... Wentworth...?"

"Ranyaaaa… You're going to laugh, aren't you? Aren't you? Fine. Go ahead... Just go ahead and laugh."

Ranya burst out laughing so hard that tears rolled from her eyes.

"I'm so sorry! You shouldn't have told me not to laugh!"

Joining her laughing, Tiger stared at Ranya, finding her quite beautiful.

Tiger again pointed to the highlighted line, and Ranya wrote "Tiger George Wentworth."

Now, the MOMENT the pen touched the paper, Ranya gasped, bit her bottom lip, and whispered with excitement, "Ohh my goodness... this pen... Where did you get it?"

"Oh, wow. You have a thing for pens, too? That pen is from a special collection I inherited from my mother."

"Nice! What else do you want me to write?"

Like a kid just discovering the cold sweetness of ice cream, Ranya filled out all of the paperwork Tiger had with him.

"Hey, Tiger, I have a proposition. Why don't I help you with all of your paperwork until you get your cast off, and in exchange, you let me use your pen! There's something really important I need to write and this is the RIGHT pen to do it! What do ya say?"

"You got yourself a deal, Ms. Triumphant!"

"Awesome."

Ranya and Tiger worked together to get Tiger's paperwork done. They never really talked about their personal lives, but they discovered their shared appreciation for music, which inspired Ranya even more. She effortlessly filled the pages of her little notebook all the way to the last page. Finishing Book Ten, she signed the last page "Ranya E.A. Delaney" and now it was time to give it away.

Grabbing her bag, phone, and earbuds, Ranya headed to the park to meet Tiger at their usual bench under the trees.

This time, Tiger greeted her with a huge smile, waving his cast-free hand.

"Well, don't you look happy with two free arms?"

"Yes! I can give hugs again, write for myself, and give high fives! It's great!"

With a shy smile, Ranya took a deep breath and started, "So, Tiger, I wanted to give you something... "

Handing him the notebook, she continued, "I won't bore you with what it's all about right now, but if you would accept this storybook, it would make me super happy."

Taking the book from her hands, he thanked her and thought to himself, "Whatever it's about, I'd accept anything to see that smile."

Ranya stood up to leave and Tiger stood up to see her off.

"Ranya, would you like to meet for lunch sometime?"

"That would be nice!"

After parting ways, Ranya thought to herself, "Yes! Now, time to work on Ranya, the writer!" And that's exactly what she did.

~~~

Two weeks later, Ranya decided to come up for air, take a nice stroll in the park, and tune in to Effie and Aiya.

Aiya: Alright, Effie, are we gonna get a drum roll going, or what? It's time to announce our big winner! We've got T.G. with Spot On Films here with us LIVE to announce and congratulate the winner of the writing contest!

Realizing that she'd forgotten all about the contest and had missed the deadline, Ranya sucked her teeth and scrunched her face in disappointment. "Aww, man... flipping flapjacks.... I missed it! How could I forget? That really stinks."

Effie: Aiya, you know I don't do drum rolls! Studio man, can you help us out here with some rolling drums? But first, T.G.! What's the story about our lucky winner?! We heard through the grapevine that the winning piece was accidentally submitted.

T.G.: Well, first let me say that our team really enjoyed all of the entries. There is some really great talent out there. We encourage all of you to never give up and never stop sharing your creativity with the world!

Effie: Love that, T.G. So, what's the scoop with this accidental winner?

T.G.: Yes, right. So, I was given a gift of a little notebook and um, before I got the pleasure of reading it, it was snagged up at the studio by one of my crew. She thought it was one of the entries and sent it right over to our contest judges. So, yeah, we're quite lucky.

Aiya: Brilliant. Now, come on, T.G.! Out with it! The fans are waiting! Who is our lucky winner?

T.G.: Without further ado, the winner of the Spot On Films writing contest is...

(Drum roll)

T.G.: Ranya E.A. Delaney!

(Studio applause)

Effie: Ooooh!! If you're listening out there, Ms. Delaney, you've just won $20,000 and an amazing start to a writing career! Congratulations!

Aiya: Wow. So excited for you, Ranya! T.G., thank you, sooo much for being with us. Congratulations to our winner! We can't wait to see what you all create together! Keep us updated, yeah?

T.G.: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

"Did I just hear Effie and Aiya say MY name on She Speaks? Ahhhhh!!! Oh my God! But... Wait what…? Who, me? I won?? But...but... how?"

Ranya took a seat at the stone table and benches. Flower petals rained all around her. The world seemed to move in slow motion as she tried to process what – and who – she had just heard.

Just then, her phone rang. The caller ID read, "Tiger George Wentworth."

"Hello there, Ms. Triumphant."

"T.G. Wentworth."

"I'll meet you at our spot in ten."