Farshad Torkashvand

My past is similar to that Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling with a different twist, though. I didn't grow to become a beautiful swan. I don't have my father's hard-working attitude. I am not as kind as my mother is. At last, I am not as bright and intelligent as my other siblings are. Hence, the daunting question that hunted me my whole life was what was wrong with me? I was always allured and enticed by the stories. I didn't like the hard science. What attracted me the most was the history behind science and how those scientists discovered them. Where I grew up half my life, people believe that there are two occupations in the world: one group that are engineers and doctors, and the rest who envies to become one of them. If I held any books that didn't look like my school's book, all parties would shun me. I always carried around that shameful feeling inside me when I spent my pocket money on any book that had a story in it.

My life changed when I came to Canada. I didn't have to pay for any books I wanted to read; instead, I dropped by the closest library. Since my excuse was that I was reading novels to learn English, my family didn't protest. From there, from the moment that library opened to the public and the moment that they were closing, I spent my time reading all those fantastic books. When I tried to read one of those Charles Dickens' books, even though I didn't understand half of it, it brought me exultation and joy. I even became interested in nonfictional books to expand my knowledge. One of the books was over six hundred pages, and it was all about evolution; it didn't even come close to boring me.

Then came a day that I met a writer who inspired me to write something. I thought I was going to write something that never sees the light of day. An interesting thing happened. Before I started writing, I didn't take pride in my job or anything, but it changed when I started writing. I morphed into something else totally.

Now there is something in my life that I care about the most: my writing. Like a father whose life changes when he holds his child for the first time, my life, alongside my feeling, changed by writing.

I don't know how much of my works I leave behind when the time comes, but I continue my purpose to the last moment.