once upon a time, there was a girl who lived a normal, insignificant life in a little town in the middle of nowhere. this girl, longing for excellence and acclaim, swept past her friends, acquaintances, and rivals, leaving them coughing in the dust of her wake. she became the center of attention everywhere she went, and one day.. one day, she found herself at the top, alone, when she was only 29, but with unlimited power and wealth at her manicured fingertips, and she stood there, at the top, and turned around; she turned around and looked down the road of her life, the road upon which she had toiled so determinedly, and she wondered for a moment, just wondered, what her life could have been like if she'd taken a moment to savor the delights that she instead rushed past... and she saw her friends in the far distance, and wondered what they were doing now, and wondered how it could have all turned out...