She literarily banged the desk. Her eyes were darkened by the hue of her failure. 

" This is the fifth time. What about my application sucks so much? Everyone says they're good, that is until it gets to the board,"she cried bitterly.

"Let it go," her mother tried to comfort her.

She kicked her hands away, hurried into her room and banged the door that it broke a hinge.

When Naomi got her first rejection, she was sure she would hit the mark next time. The second rejection got her determined to prove the entire board wrong in their review. She prepared the third application dutifully with all her heart. She wanted to serve them something they couldn't reject. Two weeks later, the same verb popped up on her notification.

The last two she applied were all thanks to her mother's encouragement, but that as well failed.

Sulking inside her room, Naomi ignored her mother's knocking. Moments later, the door creaked and opened.

She turned away from the woman at the door, so depressed she could look at her.

“Do you recall when we watched Wonder Woman 1984, and you told me young Diana deserved to win that contest?”

Naomi wiped her eyes and turned towards her mother. The woman drew closer and sat at the edge of the bed. “ But she did. She gave it her all even when there was a setback.”

“ So did she win it?”

“No...”

Naomi's mother caressed her shoulders and kissed her forehead. " There are rules for everything. If you must win it, you must get it right. Life won't go nice on you. And until the day you finally do, you must not quit.

Cause I don't raise quitters."

Naomi chuckled. She got up and leaned on her mother's shoulder," it hurts a lot."

“ I know, and I understand. Which is why I'm preparing a full chicken to celebrate your future win.”

The day would come when she would break every existing record ever. Naomi received three awards following the publication. 

That evening, when the event came to an end, she didn't go home.

She drove straight to a cemetery and moments later, she was seated before a grave stone with the three awards and a food flask arranged before the gravestone.

" Mom, I prepared a full chicken to celebrate this "future" win...but it's not fair that I should eat alone today."