"Is that your final answer? the quizmaster asked.
The hall went silent as the audience anticipated her response and she could hear the gushing sound of blood flowing in her veins. Kiki clenched her hand while staring at the timer, her heart pounded heavily to the rhythm of the clock.
"Kiki, you have eight seconds left." The announcement was accompanied by the microphone pitch noise which called her back to reality.
"Emmm, yes." She replied with her lips trembling.
The timer made a sound to signify that her time was up and Kiki's heart raced faster.
"Am sorry, you got it wrong."
Kiki burst into tears immediately after the quizmaster announced the result and the sobbing sound she was making made her mother woke her up.
"Why are you crying while sleeping?" She asked Kiki who was still sobbing.
Kiki wiped her face and realized that she was truly crying. It made her mother worried and she quickly drew her closer.
"Did you dream? What happened?" She went on asking multiple questions and Kiki didn't utter a word.
She was calm after a few minutes and went to check on her ailing father. She stood at the room entrance for a few seconds before he noticed her.
"Come here, my angel." He called her in and she slowly walked into the room.
"Have you been crying? I told you I would be fine, you don't have to cry." Daddy said immediately he noticed her eyes were a bit swollen.
"I wasn't crying," she replied with a smile but he knew something was going on with her.
Kiki retired to her room and cried for a few minutes. The dream made her terrified because her dreams always come true, She had the dream about her father's illness exactly five months before it happened and it eventually happened.
She was able to shake the feeling off and picked up her books to continue studying for the coming regional science quiz competition in a few weeks.
The thirteen-year-old entered the competition from the local level because of the prize involved and she made it to the national level where the best students from different states would participate. Although she never mentioned to her parents why she entered the competition and her aim was to win so that money would be used to further her father's treatment.
As the quiz date approached, Kiki studied harder.
"You need to sleep now, we are leaving as early as five tomorrow morning."
"Okay, I just need to complete my revision " Kiki replied.
She finished studying and while praying, she couldn't help but cry. Her father's condition crossed her mind and the dream played in her head at the same time.
Kiki dimmed the light and could barely sleep because she was trying to remember some part of the dream. Her mom came in around past four and they started preparing.
She rejected the clothes her mom suggested because it was the same she wore in the dream.
"It is beautiful, why don't you want it?" Mother asked.
"I don't just want it today." She replied.
They finished preparing and left the house at exactly five in the morning. On their arrival at the location, everything was the same as she saw in the dream and it made her scared.
"Good morning," A contestant sitting next to Kiki greeted her and she did the same, they shook each other's hands.
"I am..." The girl wanted to introduce herself but Kiki mentioned the girl's name first.
"Have we met before?" The girl asked with surprise and Kiki ran out of the hall.
Her mom noticed and quickly went through the back door to meet her.
"What happened?" She asked.
"My dream is coming to reality, I dreamt that I lost." she stuttered.
"You won't lose my daughter, stop crying or do you want us to leave?" She asked.
"No, I will participate." She replied.
Mother comforted her and they went back into the hall together.
As soon as the quizmaster climbed the stage, Kiki looked at her mother in the crowd. The quizmaster introduced himself and the contestants did the same as well.
The competition started and one contestant was eliminated at the end of every round. Things went on smoothly for Kiki until the semi-final where the questions got tougher.
She remembered the face of the same girl who greeted her outside earlier. The girl made it to the final against Kiki and it bothered her because she was just too intelligent.
"We have four questions left and if by the end of this we don't have a winner, we will bring in more questions." The announcement sounded familiar.
Kiki kept racking her brain to figure out the number she missed in the dream but she couldn't remember.
"Now to you, Kiki. Please choose a number." The quizmaster said and her heart started pounding.
She looked around and the atmosphere was the same. It felt like she had been there before but not remembering the number she missed in the dream made her troubled.
"Number 6," she said and readjusted on the podium she was standing on.
The quiz master read the question out and she remembered.
"Why didn't I remember this when I woke up? Was I destined to fail here?" She asked herself as she stared at the quizmaster.
"I choose A," she replied.
"Is that your final answer?" The quiz master asked and she replied "Yes".
"You are wrong, the answer is D." the quizmaster replied.
Kiki was heartbroken, she couldn't help but burst into tears. The quizmaster consoled her and she asked "Can I just walk away, I lost already?"
"That's possible but you should at least wait till the end," the quiz master replied.
Kiki felt bitter and she couldn't face the crowd anymore. She fixed her eyes on the stage as the other contestant answered her question correctly.
"Final question Kiki" The quizmaster called and she picked a number.
She got the answer right but it meant nothing to her since the other contestant had just one question left to answer.
"You are wrong and this makes the competition a tie," The announcement called Kiki back to reality as was lost in thought already.
"Did she miss it?" Kiki asked herself as she quickly turned to check the scoreboard and was surprised to see that her opponent missed the last question.
At that stage, the first loser will be automatically removed so Kiki thought about every question carefully before answering and it got to a point where her opponent missed.
She couldn't believe her ears when she was announced the winner. Her mother jumped up with joy and the audience couldn't stop clapping in admiration of her fighting spirit.
Kiki was called to the stage for the prize presentation and she couldn't stop crying.
After the presentation, one of the sponsors of the event asked what she was going to do with the money.
Kiki mentioned her father's condition and it made her mother emotional as well. They both cried on stage and right there, they started a fundraising for her father's treatment.
She got endorsements and a scholarship to study abroad. Her father got the necessary treatment and recovered fully as well.