Irhaboggle Pride (2022) Gaylor Swift's Version

Only the Young

It keeps me awake, the look on your face, the moment you heard the news...Storm's face was just as expressionless as always, but Iris had known her long enough to know that just below the surface, a storm (pardon the pun) was raging on. That silent fury made Iris tense and nervous, but she understood, because she felt it, too. It was a sad picture, and it felt like a final blow hit her. Someday else got what she wanted again. Their team was losing, battered and bruising. The whole world was rolling fake dice, playing stupid games for stupid prizes.

You're screaming inside and frozen in time, you did all that you could do...Iris could absolutely tell that Storm was screaming inside, but weren't they all? This was definitely a landmark time in their country's history, although not a proud one. It was as Princeton noted just 20 days earlier. It seemed like no matter how many steps forward they took in their fight for equality, there was always someone there to push them right back again. It felt as though they were going backwards in time, too, to 1973 and before. They were repeating history and Iris was getting sick of it.

The game was rigged, the ref got tricked, the wrong ones think they're right...What frustrated Iris most of all, though, was how unfair it all was. It wasn't just that she was disappointed in the outcome of the case, it was that the people who decided it were neither representative, nor a majority, of the people in their country, and yet just because they had money and power, they were exchanging high fives. Even though Iris had done all she could do, because the game was rigged against the common person, they lost. It was hard to fight when the fight wasn't fair.

We were outnumbered, raided and now cornered...this time! Even though it was a humiliating, insulting, concerning loss, Iris still couldn't help but feel a tiny spark of hope fluttering within her chest. She had no idea where it came from, or if it was really appropriate so soon after the old ruling was overturned, but she hoped that the anger following the outcome of the case would finally be enough to push people back into action again. Sure, American glory was fading and the stories were burning, but, in the light and the heat of the flames...

We are still young, and only the young can run, so we'll run, and run, and run! Maybe it was because her own depression had lifted that even though the country's had not, she was feeling more hopeful than she had in a while. If things were never going to get better, they could at least enjoy the ride down. Besides, that was no excuse to not try. And if suffering was all she knew, then at least she could say this wasn't unfamiliar territory. That was some level of comfort, wasn't it? These things could change, and the walls that they put up would fall down again someday.

Oh, how quickly, they forget...Iris couldn't help but smile a little. It was dry, but a smile, nonetheless. Yes, things were bad right now, she wouldn't deny. However, in the grand scheme of things, life had a natural ebb and flow. Things got bad many times before, but nature always found a way and life always came back stronger than a retro trend.

That was not to say it would just get better on its own, but assuming it was over? It wasn't just negative, but presumptuous! Humanity had survived so much already, did they really think it was impossible to do again? And even if they couldn't fix things, per se, they would adapt, change and grow, and find a new path forward!

The one thing we DID have wrong, though, was thinking that those in power would do anything for us anymore. They aren't gonna help us, they're too busy helping themselves. They aren't gonna change this, we gotta do it ourselves! And even though they count us out time and time again, hasn't history shown that we will always find a way not just to survive, but thrive? This isn't over, it's just begun. This is a new chapter, the next battle, in the epic saga of life! It got better before, so maybe I'm dumb, but I think it can get better again! The time will come for us to finally win!