"We're our own type of weird, lost, and unique. You can't share that without accepting it first."
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A girl's holiday shopping trip turns upside down, the right way around, when a boy like her shows her the meaning of Christmas.
Dedicated to Isha, my beloved cousin diagnosed with social anxiety and ADHD. This one's for you.
❆e p i g r a p h❆
Pause.
Notice.
The flakes swirl into a manifestation of an artificial reality.
They dance in the air, flying like a bird tasting freedom for the first time. The beauty prolongs as the snow falls; it takes its time. The longer, the more beautiful. Then, as it all finally settles down, disappointment slowly creeps in. It has ended nonetheless. Once it's shaken again, it won't be the same as the one before. It's as unique as a real snowflake.
Each shake may look the same, but a certain one can mean much more. If an eternity existed, that would be the place to stay.
Take the chance. Because you'll never know when the snow will fall and it'll be over.
So, shake and pause. Then, notice and let it fall.
❆
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Victoria Russell hated shopping. It wasn't because of the rip-offs and waste of time it brought, but merely for the fact that there were so many people at the store. Everyone was doing their last minute Christmas shopping at the local superstore in the town where most of her relatives lived. It was a nightmare at home, having to be under the eyes of several people she hadn't seen in years. The girl's self consciousness was flying through the roof this past weekend. The constant apprehension she had was always to be swallowed with a smile because rejection worried her beyond everything else. This morning though, she had gone through enough and went to talk to her mother about it.
She loved her mother like any child would, but sometimes her parents' actions were not considered very loving in Victoria's opinion. Mom had ordered her to bring some supplies—which weren't even that close to being inadequate—at the grocery store alone. She had no other choice, but refused even though her mother needed it and Victoria was the only person able to go. As selfish as that may be, all Victoria could think about was the mortifying situations she could end up in.
