THE UNSEEN FLAME

Chapter six

By twenty-four,the novel-Girl In The Ashes had sold a thousand copies,a modest hit for a small press.Reviews trickled in,some praised her,"raw genius,"others trifled at her,"amateur edges." Tania didn't care at all,the book was hers,a shard of her soul in print.She quit the restaurant leaning on a regular royalty check.She rented a slightly larger apartment with a window that didn't leak.She also worked on saving a larger amount of money than she she spent.

She wrote her second book,Cinders Rising in a frenzy eighteen-hour days fueled by a black coffee and spite.It was bigger and messier and about a woman who burnt her past to ashes and walks way.The small press still bought it but Greene,a rival from her high school art club days emerged as a thorn.Greene had published a polished debut and she smirked at Tania at a local writer's event."Still scribbling your little tantrums,"she'd said her voice dripping honey over venom.Tania's jaw tightened but she smiled filing the insult away as she walked to her seat. Cinders Rising outsold Greene's book in six months,a quiet victory she savoured alone with a cheap beer.

That year she won her second award with a small plaque and $200."I am not here for your approval,"she said her voice steady,"but I'll take your ears."The crowd laughed,and she sat uneasy,with the plaque cold in her lap.

At twenty-six, Tania's name had started to stick. Cinders Rising hit a bestsellers list-local then national, it's jagged edges striking a chord with readers tired of polish. Magazines called,their reporters hungry for the "struggle story."She hated their questions."How did it feel to be invisible?",they asked.Really!?,she gave crippled answers and let her books growl for her.She wrote full time,her desk full of notebooks,pens and empty mugs.Money came, enough for a decent coat,a good bed and good meals.She kept the pinned rejections,a reminder of the climb.Her family reached out,their voices tiny over the phone.Her mother's,"we are proud of you baby girl," sounded hollow.Her half brother, Ethan's loan requests bolder.Clara took a selfie with Cinders Rising,captioned,"My Sis!" for likes.

Tania visited her mother's again,their dining room unchanged.Ethan's trophies,Clara's crowns,her corner empty.She still left early,the wind cold on her neck,their praises and approval too late to matter.Greene reappeared at a literary festival,her second book,a glossy hit."You're a fluke,"she hissed,her smile tight.Tania fired back,"I'd rather be a fluke than a fraud,"and the crowd buzzed,siding with her grit.She framed Greene's old rejection letter,"Too messy." beside her awards,a middle finger in glass.By twenty-seven,her third book,Embers Unbound , cemented her.It was raw, sprawling,a tapestry of every rejection she'd swallowed.Critics flipped,"it's a revelation." and her bank account grew steadily but the girl who'd been laughed off stage lingered in her reflection.She didn't even have friends at this point in time.It was very hard for her to make friends now.Even if she made any, they'd disguise to be friends with her because of her current status.No situation and achievements were going to heal her inner child,she still hurt.She had lost contact with her best friend,Chase,they never crossed paths since she quit her waitress job. It's really hard to maintain contact when people move around so much.