One Month Rhapsody (Shortys 2026)

For three years, Issa Preciosana has chosen loneliness over the possibility of hurting the people she loves. Once known as a sociable, dependable girl surrounded by friends, Issa slowly withdrew from everyone after being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, convinced that keeping people at a distance would make her eventual death easier for them to bear.

Now, on the first day of her 12th grade year, Issa's carefully constructed solitude is disrupted by Arthur Montreal, a peculiar transferee student who insists on becoming her friend after an unexpected encounter with her at the park that morning. Despite Issa's repeated attempts to push him away, Arthur refuses to treat her illness as a reason to abandon her.

As his persistence gradually draws Issa back toward the friendships, laughter, and warmth she once knew, she begins to question the walls she built around herself. Perhaps protecting others from her inevitable loss has only caused her to lose the precious moments she still has with them.

But with her condition reminding her that time is not something she can take for granted, Issa must face the fear she has spent years avoiding: that sometimes, loving someone means allowing them to stay-even when you are afraid they will have to say goodbye.

Can Arthur help Issa find the girl she used to be, and can Issa finally accept that she doesn't have to face her illness alone?