Stimulus question:

Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups

and downs. Its a journey of discovery there are moments on
mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair. Write a short
story based on this quote.

Puzzle
Dan was on his own. On his own balcony overlooking his own university campus.
The dust stacked over the four years he lived here have formed a grey, rough
carpet like surface on the tiled floor. Mobs of students flooded through the
pedestrian path of the campus entrance. Dan was part of them just a month ago
before his semester ended. He let out a sigh of relief. The bitter air caught in his
lungs forced him to once again cover his mouth with his sleeves, as tears rolled
down his swollen cheeks.
It was time for him to head off. As the outside quietened, he grabbed and
chewed the last crunch of bread left in the cracked plate whilst opening up the
bookshelf. He folded up a carton box and decisively junked inside the thick, torn
textbooks titled Human Anatomy, Bio-chemistry, and others that equally gave
him countless headaches over the stressful years. He had few clothes to fold
and pack in his suitcase, so the space left was enough for a box of puzzle he had
since childhood. As he gently removed the box from the top of the bookshelf,
the fingerprints on the cover of the box came into his sight and struck him
painfully. The last one was left on it when he moved in, others from high school,
even some with his little pinkie in primary school. The seal from more than a
decade ago still adhered to the box, refusing to let go of it. His eyes flooded
again, soaking his pale cheeks.
He glared into the stunning artwork on the cover as the sun shifted from the
horizon to the point right above the apartment complex. How magnificent the
puzzle would look once the pieces unite, he thought, a question that repeated in
his mind over the years. As his eyes dried up, his finger reached for the tape
sealing the box. That marked his first step after more than a decade of
hesitation and lack of courage, yet his lips were too exhausted to cheer up. As
he opened up the box and slowly revealed the puzzle, his fragile heart was
stroke again. It was an ugly, chaotic bunch of pieces that spread around messily
like garbage, nowhere near being the impressive artwork that it should be. The
painful sensation reminded him of his dream to become a dental practitioner.
Four years of humble university life, Dan never stopped motivating himself into
entering the dentistry course. Yet his undergraduate years spent working hard
did not score him enough to enter. His dream was torn. Esteem shattered. Four
years spent meaninglessly in an attempt to construct his puzzle on a rough path
to dentistry.
His hands swirled in the pool of puzzle pieces as he tries to comprehend his life.
How could he possibly let his lack of perseverance affect all aspects of his life
again and again and restrict those different things he wanted to achieve? He
matched two of the pieces together firmly, they resemble the miniscule bird

that takes up one five-hundredth of the puzzle. He could not wait to see how the
bird would appear like when the puzzle is completed. He was just as young and
lively as the bird, how could he stop half way when hes at the peak of his life?
Dan hurriedly rushed to his desk and filled out the application form for post
graduate Science, it had been left there since graduation. Two pieces of his
dentistry puzzle jointed as he was one step closer to completion.