𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐘 𝐗𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐘𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐋𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐊𝐲𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐚𝐢𝐥. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭.

𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞; 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬.

"You can't see the future. I might have a chance. You don't know for sure." He mumbled, making her expression soften. "M-my mom used to tell me t-that birds still sing even after a storm. Why shouldn't people feel as free t-to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?" Samir stopped talking for a moment to regather himself so that he didn't stutter, but Nina froze completely. "You don't have to settle with him Nina. It's been five years an-and you're not a-as happy as you should be. You smile differently with me.. and you cry a lot with him. I just think that you deserve to enjoy your time with someone other than h-him for a minute because there's still sunlight out there for you too, even if you can't see it yet." How did he become her source of 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 so 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲? A short story.

𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙘𝙮𝙘𝙡𝙚. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧. 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡. 𝘼𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙬𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠; 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚.

𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗂𝗇 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾? - 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 -𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐲. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐯𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭, 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡'𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

"I'll play you." Kross challenged with a serious expression on his face, smoothly twirling the basketball on his pointer finger. "For what?" Amiko sighed heavily, a bored look on her face, crossing her arms over her chest, tapping her foot repeatedly on the ground. "𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭."

"It ain't a secret , it just ain't nobody business"

"𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑. 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍' 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑."