Amina
It was Amina's birthday. Another unremarkable birthday. As she grew up, Amina realized one thing about birthdays: if you have lots of bad days in your life since childhood, your birthday isn't going to magically become a happy day. It's just another day. You think it's special, but only you think that.
Amina had never had a birthday party in her whole life. She had gone to other people's birthday parties and other kids' birthday parties when invited. She had no idea why she never got birthday parties. As an adult, she realized it was because no one thought she was special, and no one was actually happy that she existed.
To be honest, Amina felt like a failure. She felt like a disgrace to all humankind because she had achieved nothing in her life. She felt lonely and like she didn't belong anywhere. She used to have goals, dreams, and hope when she was a kid. But growing up, all those goals, dreams, and hopes shattered into tiny little pieces.
So it was another unhappy birthday for Amina. No cakes, no wishes. Just feeling lonely and miserable as usual. Amina was no longer a kid who wondered why these things only happened to her. She accepted her fate because it was easier to accept fate than to fight against it. Fighting had only made her feel like a loser and more broken.
So Amina forgot that it was her birthday and just spent the day as usual.
Not everyone in this world is special.
It's okay to wish to be special. It's okay to hope for cakes on your birthday. It's okay to wish you belonged somewhere and had someone. It's okay to feel all those good feelings. But just because you feel these things doesn't mean you'll get them. That's how life is.
