Merril Wirrey

By Likhit Sethi
{Merril Wirrey is pronounced as (mae-ril wae-rry) (मेरिल वरि) }

“What is done is done but what can be done always stays in our hands.”

Not a normal story, I assure you before we start…it might leave you crying (if you are of an emotional type) but it will definitely leave you thinking about those whom you might have wronged in your life.

So this story is about a boy named Merril Wirrey, odd his name might be and his skin was as black as a sweep not to forget that he was also shorter than the average boys of his age. Though his family was poor, he went to a rich American school, all credit to his good grades which got him the scholarship to the school. But the school was practically made up of people with a fair skin tone. Being poor and helpless, our Merril couldn’t make friends there…leave alone good friends. There was a child in particular whom he could call his friend; he went by the name of Jacob. Jacob was fair skinned, of average height and happy-go-lucky. He was neither fat nor thin. He was the only one who would talk to Merril but even Jacob had to distance himself from Merril as the bully of the school, the charming, proud and arrogant Richard Casin would pick on Merril for his skin colour and dwarfness…Merril ignored him as much as he could.

But there is always a time when the line gets crossed and one has to raise one’s voice. Soon, such a day arrived. It was when everyone was in the school yard which was lush green and surrounded by well trimmed beautiful trees. Richard, with his gang members, came around to pick on the weaklings. When they neared Merril, Richard laughed at his short height calling him a dwarf…to this comment Merril outrageously shouted “Who are you to decide who is bad, dwarf or weak. You are a coward yourself to say so…pathetic and arrogant Richard”…to this came the reply “Oooh…..Someone’s saying something”, said Buster (Richard’s gang member). “Oh, so now you got the guts to argue with me…with Richard. You think I am no one to say so….K, then prove that you are not a short, scared wimp”. “You want proof, I will prove it”,replied Merril . “Will you? Ok then prove it by getting your name on the school basketball team”. Sure was the word that came out of Merril’s mouth and he stormed away in anger. Oh boy! Merril didn’t realize what he had just said but what was said could not be altered. Richard was the school basketball team’s captain. He knew he would never make it to the team.

Jacob motivated Merril and made him realize that he could make it to the team. He made him realize that basketball doesn’t only require a good height...Merril understood where Jacob was going with those words.

For the next three months, Merril did not attend school and no one knew where he was, except for Jacob. He made Merril practice. He made Merril understand that height being his disadvantage, he had to polish the other major skills required in basketball. As the months passed, Merril became more agile than ever…..he could move quickly, he gained good speed and flexibility and an extraordinary aim to basket the basketball.

Soon the day came when everyone went to the trials for the school sports teams. Merril had never seen such a perfect basketball court in his three months of practice. It surely did not have a match in the whole of America, thought Merril. At the basketball court, Merril came face to face with Richard. “I thought you had fled away to another country, Merry Werry” taunted Richard laughing heartily. The coach separated them and ordered Richard to begin the trials. Though Richard had a say in deciding who could join the team and who could not, of course the coach would have the final word. Richard rejected Merril without even a trial but the coach prevented it from happening and after the trials, Merril finally got selected.

After Merril got selected in the team, Richard tried his best to avoid him. Merril didn’t care whether Richard apologized or not, so he himself did not go to him to make him feel sorry. Though one positive outcome was there, in a way Richard had stopped bullying the students.

But no…This isn’t the end of the story, there is more to come.

After a month of practice and just three days before their first match, the coach made Merril the captain of the team because he knew Richard wouldn’t let Merril play which wouldn’t be good for the team as the team required a player like Merril.

All the matches were won by the school. But the last match was the one which changed everything. In the last match, the team could barely score well but as the team was good in defense it prevented the opponents from scoring. Merril was the one who scored the winning points for his team when he used his short height to his advantage to go round the tall and broad opponents. The whole stadium was stunned and awestruck at Merril’s basket. Merril who had always seen his height as his disadvantage could not believe that the winning basket was possible only because he was short.

Later, Richard apologized and from that day onwards they became good friends. Merril grew up to become one of the legendary basketball players the world had ever seen.
You see there is a lot of positivity in the negativity around you. It depends only in the way you perceive it. And don’t forget: sometimes your worst enemies unintentionally become your well wishers by triggering the nerve which might lead you to your success. And always remember:

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” Quote by Lyndon B. Johnson