❝ it takes 21 days to form a new habit. ❞ -dr. maxwell maltz when you practically live in a hospital, you'll inevitably get used to terminal sicknesses, depression, and death. it further underlines the quote, "nothing is permanent." caleb has nothing permanent in his life. and ever since his mom's absence, that's all he ever wanted; something tangible, something real, something constant. well, at least there's his one-legged african-american best friend that would never leave him alone (hopefully). and who would've thought that another constant would appear in the form of a cigarette-toting spaniard? and caleb hopes, just hopes, that he wouldn't be another temporary. (lower-case fully intended)

❝Be yourself.❞ They say. Except what they really mean is, ❝be the person we want to see.❞ Jaime Carvalho is done with all of that because it's not always rainbows and butterflies in the world of acceptance. -- short story #19 | teen fiction #100 09/12/14 Cover Art: @ambhus_art // Amber Quinonez Design Completed 8/16/14