Citydreams Stories

"I think I'm scared that if I stay here too long, I'll stop remembering what I was meant to become." Alexis is twenty two years old and exhausted. Exhausted from counting pennies between paychecks. Exhausted from the same old fluorescent lights, same old customers, and the daily shifts at the Dollar Tree that make her feel like her life is passing her by one receipt at a time. But lately, something has changed. For the last two months, Alexis has felt it everywhere - in the quiet moments on her way home at night, in the pages of the stories she secretly writes, and in the ache in her chest every time she thinks about New York City. She feels called to leave. Called by God. Called toward something bigger. Toward the life she was meant to live. The only problem? Dreams don't pay your rent. With a major traffic ticket hanging over her head, barely enough money to survive, a family she doesn't want to say goodbye to, and a boyfriend who isn't ready to leave Illinois behind, Alexis is stuck between the comfort of everything she's ever known and the terrifying possibility of becoming who she's meant to be. But a piece of her seems already gone... The Weight of Staying is a raw and emotional story about faith, ambition, love, and what it means to outgrow the life everyone expected you to keep.