Dreams Can Come True

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.” By Linda Mello

Today was one of those days where nothing I did turned out right. I started my morning with my usual cup of coffee with its heaping serving of French Vanilla coffee creamer. Of course, when I poured the French Vanilla into my hot coffee, the cap came off the bottle and I had creamer all over my counter. It took me at least 10 minutes to clean up the sticky, milky mess. I tried to remain calm and poured myself another cup of coffee. Anyone who knows me knows I must start my day with that jolt of coffee to surge through my veins or I would be a morning zombie.

I savored two cups of coffee but knew I had to get myself moving. I was working on a project that was due today.  I work for a small advertising firm and our manager gave each of us a project to complete in one month. The project was for each of us, eight employees in all, to do something from scratch that pertained to our office. Our instructions were this project had to be made with glass, wood, clay, or sand. The winner would receive $1000 for the most creative idea. I was already dreaming of what I could do with that money if I were to win.

I went to the bathroom for a quick shower before giving a final touch up to my project. As the warm water ran down my body, I felt relaxed and confident for today. Suddenly, I could feel the water getting cold. What the heck??  I looked at the faucets and they were both in the right position. And now the water was freezing cold, so I just turned them both off. I didn’t have time to check to see what the problem was.

After getting dressed, and looking like a drowned rat, I turned the hair dryer on to dry my hair and get warm! Ah, much better until I looked in the mirror. My hair was tangled, and I now looked like something the cat had dragged into my home because he mistook me for that drowned rat! Well, today would just have to be a hat day. No time to waste as the minutes were clicking by.

My wardrobe had a lot to be desired. Being on a limited budget, I was not able to buy clothes that were sometimes needed for certain occasions. Today I wanted to look my best as today was presentation day for our project. So, I chose a simple black pleated skirt, a white sweater with small pearls embedded in the neckline, and small black heeled pumps. The black beret would go perfect to hide my ugly hair day.

I walked into my craft room where I had my clay sculpture sitting on a wooden base. This was a sculpture that I was proud of. I decided to make a replica of the front of our building. It was a one-story structure that was built in the early 19^th century. I researched and found old pictures of what this building once looked like. The detail I added was a hint of yesteryear and today. Clay is a medium that I have worked with for many years. Making this sculpture was not only challenging, but fun. Getting the colors right was my biggest challenge. I added color detail to the building to bring out the authenticity of this building. My final touch was adding our office group all gathered around the front door, waiting to go inside.

After getting dressed, I gathered up my purse and keys and went outside to warm my car up. My car was over 14 years old, and it had to be babied if I wanted it to cooperate. Once I knew the car was ready to be put into drive, I hurried back into the house to get my sculpture.  As I turned the knob to lock the door, my sculpture started slipping off the base. I reacted fast and caught it before it tumbled to the ground. I was so relieved that I almost started crying. Paying more attention, I slowly walked to the car and put it in the back seat.

I let out a sigh of relief as I pulled into the parking lot of the office. This morning was a weird one and I couldn’t take any chance of messing this up. I needed that $1000 prize. I was confident that I had this one in the bag.

Walking into the office, holding this sculpture that was one foot in length and height, I could feel my arms start to weaken. I hadn’t realized how heavy this would be with the wooden base not making it any lighter. As I reached my desk, I put my “building” down. As I turned to admire this creation, I noticed the people I had made were now lying all over the front of the building. Some heads were broken off, as well as arms and legs. “No” I screamed. “No, this can’t be happening.”

Brian, my manager, came running into my office. He had a look of panic on his face, and he asked, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Look, just look at my project. All my work and now it’s ruined. We are all broken, and this was so important to me.” I cried in anguish.

“Listen to me, Maryann. ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and you have put tremendous effort into this work of art. I know this took you a lot of time because of all these details. But don’t give up just yet. Use your creative mind to repair this. If anyone can do this, it is you. Take your time and don’t rush. You still have two hours before judging begins.”

I guess those were the words I needed to hear. I opened my desk drawer and pulled out glue, paper clips, and anything else I thought I could use to repair these little people. It took me exactly one hour and 45 minutes to finally get the look I was aiming for. Now I was ready to present this ‘office’ to the company for judging.

We all sat in the conference room to observe everyone’s projects they had done. My heart sank when I saw the beauty of some of these entries. One was a glass blown ball with a miniature replica of our office inside; another was office equipment all made of wood and painted with the exact color and detail; and the list goes on. Although I thought mine was good, that glass ball had me beat.

What none of us knew was that Brian had called executives from three main advertising agencies to come and judge our creations. He wanted this judging to be fair and unhindered by his thoughts or feelings. As the judges looked and talked in length with each other, they finally announced they had a winner.

The executive with the graying hair and serious face began to speak, “First of all, I want to thank all of you for participating in this contest. We were told about the talent that comes out of this office and we were able to witness this firsthand. Everything that is presented here is something to be admired. The choice we came up with was a difficult one to make. We base our final decision on originality, effort, detail, and research. What you all didn’t know is that the winning entry will be used for our new logo. And, because of the originality of all we see before us, we are giving each of you $1000, but the winner will receive $10,000. Also, the winner will be given the opportunity to work for our company, if you so choose.”

My heart almost stopped beating in my chest. I was so happy that I would be getting $1000. I was already a winner.

“The project we have chosen is the clay sculpture of yesteryear and today. That represents, to us, what advertising is about. Everyone wants to know and see where things started and where they are going. The building of what it once looked like is something I have never seen. The people represented in front shows loyalty and employees who are happy with their job. The detail on each face shows what going to work should look like. And the clothing on each figure shows different eras. This sculpture shows the heart and soul of the American dream. Thank you, Maryann, for this exquisite work of art. You will see pictures of this sculpture on all our billboards, office buildings, and more. We hope to see you soon.”

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even see. The tears streaming down my face were unstoppable. Nothing like this had ever happened to me. I was always the mouse in the office that never spoke up; who never made waves; who always strived to do my best. Maybe, just maybe, my world has just opened for me.