The Girl Who Talked to the Wall

Maya had a habit that her classmates found strange: every afternoon, she stood in the empty music room and talked to the wall.

She was not crazy.

She was practicing for the school speech contest, and the wall never laughed at her mistakes.

At first, her voice shook and her words fell over each other like dropped books.

But she kept going, day after day, until the sentences began to flow.

Her teacher, Mr.

Patel, noticed her effort and gave her one piece of advice: slow down and look at one person at a time.

On the day of the contest, Maya walked onto the stage, her heart beating fast.

She took a breath, found a friendly face in the crowd, and began to speak.

Halfway through, she forgot a line, but instead of panicking, she paused and smiled.

The audience thought it was part of the speech, and they clapped loudly at the end.

Maya did not win first prize, but she learned something more useful: confidence grows each time you face your fear.