#royal academy stories

[yuiamaya]

Adolphine my beloved

[ahb-writes]

Book Review: 'Royal Academy Stories' (First Year)

Ascendance of a Bookworm: Royal Academy Stories: First Year by Miya Kazuki, You Shiina, Quof

adventure

fantasy

magic

library science

librarian

royal academy

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ortwin the innocent. Angelica the humble. Hannelore the disastrous. Traugott the insincere. Solange the optimist. ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM: ROYAL ACADEMY STORIES (FIRST YEAR), though bereft of drama and lacking much meaningful narrative, successfully bevels the sharpest corners that define several characters that lend color and shape to the Royal Academy. The most intriguing characters in this collection of short stories are those whose self-awareness and grasp of their role in the grand scheme of things shifts just enough for readers to glimpse a critical, lonely truth they might not otherwise have witnessed.

This volume is a serviceable middle-ground between offering the best of what this novel series has to offer and ultimately maintaining a brisk and healthy pace for the long haul. The novel series spends so little time on major events that readers must often pull together the tiniest details through various epilogues or character-specific narratives. Spending a single volume on Lady Rozemyne's first year at the Royal Academy certainly wasn't enough. And neither was the single volume dedicated to her second year. Fortunately, a few crumbs yet remain.

ROYAL ACADEMY STORIES (FIRST YEAR) holds a few overlapping tales, but readers will find their events largely in sync. For example, when Dunkelfelger reacts to losing a game of treasure-stealing ditter, readers view the fallout through the eyes of the duchy's dorm supervisor (Rauffen), a fourth-year apprentice archscholar (Clarissa), and a first-year archduke candidate (Hannelore). It's a puzzle worth assembling.

Rauffen reacts with surprising placidness, and his discernment regularly and authoritatively puts Lestilaut in his place (Rauffen: "Did you really gain nothing from that game of ditter except petulant anger? [..] If so, no way I can deny that you lack the self-awareness and mindset required of a proper aub," page 81). This insight into Rauffen's disposition outside of games and warfare establishes him as a credulous and genuine figure, a perspective otherwise missed in the course of the novel series' regular narrative.

Hannelore, hilariously, has no idea what she's doing. She's a mediocre person, and frequently chides the gods for her inborn lack of confidence and her terrible sense of timing. Hannelore tries her utmost to stay out of the way, but she often incites others into action by sheer accident. One should hope she marries away from Dunkelfelger. But alas, that appears to be the fate of Clarissa, a duchy peer whose high affections for the so-called Saint of Ehrefest means she has set her sights on gaining access to the inner circle of Rozemyne.

Another highlight of ROYAL ACADEMY STORIES (FIRST YEAR) is a startlingly emotional profile of Angelica. The medknight confesses to receiving consolation from temple attendants with greater sincerity than she ever found at home. "Now I really understood why Lady Rozemyne preferred staying in the temple instead of the castle," she says to herself. "That was maybe the first time anyone had said they were pleased to have my company in particular" (pages 143, 151).

Meanwhile, Ortwin, a fist-year archduke candidate from Drewanchel, grows close to Wilfried when the two young men learn they each have sisters with wildly uncontrollable personal agency and senses of individuality. Ortwin's sister, Adolphine, is a bit different though. Destined (cursed?) to wed Sigiswald, next in line for the throne, Adolphine equally dotes on and pushes her younger brother to be the best. She lost her opportunity to rule the duchy, but she won't see her kid brother suffer the same fate. This intrigue will likely remain an underplayed splinter plot, but the repeating affairs of a royal prince potentially forced to marry someone he does/does not love keeps coming up. Ortwin's anecdote of feeling helpless, watching his sister sob, as the news of her engagement reverberates, carves an indelible image.

The current volume features regrettably little from older students at the Royal Academy. And further, the only adults readers hear from are Rauffen, of Dunkelfelger, and Solange, the librarian. Episodes related by Prince Anastasius would have been entertaining, as would have events narrated by anyone else of status close to Lady Eglantine. Further, when one considers all of the nicknames students have for the legendary Ferdinand during his days at the Royal Academy (e.g., "Lord of Evil," "the lonely genius created by overwhelming misfortune," and "the Master Tactician of Ehrefest"), a few reminiscences from other professors may have proved illuminating.

Side stories are fun, but one doesn't anticipate many of these characters returning with any significant influence on the greater narrative. Hopefully, readers will see more of Ortwin, and hopefully, readers will see the more sensitive and pragmatic Angelica, but the odds aren't in their favor. On the plus side, ROYAL ACADEMY STORIES (FIRST YEAR) includes one of the most phenomenal intersections of character writing and novel translation to date: A single instance in which Wilfried (pathetically) attempts to explain pound cake to a group of girls, uncomfortably rationalizing the unadorned and unflavored plate as "puh-lein." The scene is an achingly comical exhibition of Wilfried's sad detachment from commonality, as well as a strikingly brilliant example of a novel translation and adaptation team that knows its source material inside and out.

❯ ❯ Light-Novel Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

[cosmonavo]

Working on a design for prince Rielle

[en-geneisaxx]

Dark Moon: The Princess' of Oztenxia

𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽, 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷 .

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐎𝐓7 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐱 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧, 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐈𝐬𝐚, 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐡 𝐱 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧, 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐱 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐡𝐚.

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 - 𝐇𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠 | 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧 - 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧 | 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐡 - 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐨𝐧 | ����𝐢𝐧𝐨 - 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 | 𝐉𝐚𝐚𝐧 - 𝐉𝐚𝐲 | 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐨𝐨 | 𝐍𝐨𝐚 - 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐢

𝑺𝒚𝒑𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒔: 300 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔, 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝒛𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒂, 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒓, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒓𝒂, 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔.

A/n: Hi guys! So this is going to be a collab with my big sis (at heart), Prin, and we're making our own version of 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧. Just letting you guys know, this will 𝐧𝐨𝐭 be a Y/n fic (sorry yall) because we've only just decided to show you guys our masterpiece. It is still going under construction, but we do have an idea for where we're going, since we've planned this out for 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬. Apart from that, we hope you enjoy!

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔' 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔

Word count: 3,225

𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝/𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 ♡

Chapter 1: The new student

𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 - 𝑰 𝑵𝑬𝑬𝑫 𝑭𝑶𝑶𝑫! 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 -𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞- 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤. 

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 ‘𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭’ 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐲, 𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭��𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐟𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐭.

𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 ‘𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡’ 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 -𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭- 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲, 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬: 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

‘𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑧𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑎, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛’𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑-’

‘-𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦.’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞.

‘𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?” 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

‘𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒,’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤, ‘���𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦. 𝐵𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠,’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞, ‘𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒, 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑘 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑠𝑜? 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛’𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ.’

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, ‘𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢?’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬’ 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩, ‘𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖����𝑛?’

‘𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝐼 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡, 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛. 𝑆𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛.’ 

‘𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒!’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, ‘𝐷𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛!’

‘𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠, 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑜𝑙𝑓𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠.’

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, ‘𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠’ 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑠?”

‘𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑖𝑡’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟,’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, ‘𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝐴ℎ! 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦. 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛.’ 

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, ‘𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑡𝑜𝑜?’

‘𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙, 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠.’

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, ‘𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣��𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡,’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, ‘𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝, 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑂𝑧𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ. 𝑀𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛, 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡.’

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, ‘𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑦 𝐼 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛,’ 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐬, ‘𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘. 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡.’

‘𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛.’ 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭, 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲.

“𝐎𝐰!” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, ‘𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒?’ 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝑳𝒖𝒙𝒖𝒓𝒚.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 -𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫- 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐩, 𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐥𝐲-𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬…𝐲𝐨𝐮!?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧-𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞, ‘𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫.’ 

𝑾𝒐𝒘, 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕!

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨��𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

“𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐦?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭, 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬, “𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐚����𝐞𝐦𝐲!” 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞. “𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞.” 

“𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 300 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬!” “𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐯𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.” “𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲,” “𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥!”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬. 

“𝐔𝐦, 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡?” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬.

𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕, ��𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉?

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠,” 𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐲, “𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒏, 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒅! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥,” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, “𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐲, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 -  “𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥’𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐠𝐞, “𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲. 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭!” 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬. 

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭…

𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞- 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲-𝐨𝐧-𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

“𝐒𝐨…” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 - 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆. “𝐎𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐈’𝐦 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.” 

𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆? 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒍, 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕! 𝑶𝒉, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 - 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒖𝒑 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍! 

“𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞?”

“𝐇-𝐡𝐮𝐡!?” 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐝.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫? 𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐭’𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

“𝐔𝐦, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞? 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬,” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, “𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚-”

𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒊’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒅: 𝒔𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒈? 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

“𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?”

𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐩 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫. 𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 ‘𝑇𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔,’ 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢. 

𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧. “𝐀𝐡, 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤.” 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. “𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐭. 

𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲, 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐥-𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡.

𝑾𝒂𝒉, 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆.

“𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨���-” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐬, 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞…𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞

“𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐡𝐚?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧. 

“𝐇𝐦? 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠?” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭.

“𝐎-𝐨𝐡, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐦,” 𝑼𝒈𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒊! “𝐔𝐡, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰,” 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐭, “𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠?”

“𝐎𝐡!” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, “𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲.”

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐎𝐡, 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 . 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐡𝐚? 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥.

“𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭. “𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬? 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.” 

‘𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑶𝒉, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔.

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 ‘𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬’, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮…

𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒐𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.

“𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞,” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, “𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥,” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐩, “𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫, 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬, 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲. 

“𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 203, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, “𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞. 𝐎𝐡, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬’ 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬. 𝐁𝐲𝐞 𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟.

𝑾𝒐𝒘. 𝑾𝑶𝑾. 𝑰, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏-𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓-𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒈𝒐, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎!? 𝑰𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆!?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒚𝒔?

𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏, 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔? 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉, 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆, 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒚 ��𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞. 

𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕?

𝑶𝒌. 

𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆,

𝑻𝒘𝒐,

𝑶𝒏𝒆,

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡-𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧. 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝. 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭. 

𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕, 𝑫𝑶 𝑰 𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑻��� 𝑷𝑨𝒀?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭’𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝑨𝒉, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑! 𝑯𝒂𝒉𝒂, 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆. 

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆!

 𝐀 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 

𝐍𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧! 𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 

𝑺𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔. 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫, 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐀𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩��𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐲 𝐩𝐲𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞. 

𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐮𝐩𝐬, 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟. 

𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕, 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆…𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑳𝒀 𝑴𝑼𝑺𝑻 𝑩𝑬 𝑾𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑻𝑯𝒀 𝑷𝑬𝑶𝑷𝑳𝑬 𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬.

𝑼𝒈𝒉, 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬.

𝑶𝒉, 𝒐𝒉! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒅! 𝑨 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒅! 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅. 𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔, 𝒚𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔. 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒌, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆. 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒕.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐝.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥?”

𝑇𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔: @pockettwinzz @diorsyun @potatohoon @dollywons @emi-en @rinbowaman @raeofsnshne @jaylaxies @sungvrhs @heeslomll @velvetkisscs @dollyyun (lmk if you want to be added through asks!)

[disneytva]

Disney’s Expanded D23 Fan Event: Ticket Prices, On Sale Dates, Day-By-Day Event Focus

Disney has revealed key details about its biannual D23 fan event coming to the Anaheim Convention Center and the Honda Center on August 9, 10 & 11. The company promises “the best of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more. This year’s event will feature Disney+ integration with some presentations streamed live, musical performances with world-class artists, special content presentations, a new interactive app, and one-of-a-kind shopping experiences.”

The Honda Center is a new addition to D23 this year and Disney says it “will be home to three nights of marquee showcases—Disney Entertainment, Disney Experiences, and Disney Legends—allowing us to bring bigger shows with more magic to the biggest audience of Disney fans in the world.”

Disney Entertainment Showcase Friday, August 9 – 7:00 p.m. Honda Center Enjoy the magic of Disney Entertainment in a star-studded showcase featuring the best of Disney storytelling onstage and onscreen. Get an exclusive look at the movies, series, and shows fans love, and a glimpse into what to look forward to from Disney’s film studios, television and streaming services, live stage shows on Broadway, and beyond. Join some favorite stars as they give a peek behind the curtain at upcoming projects, never-before-seen footage and art, surprise announcements and special guests, musical performances, and exclusive new content coming to the big screen, to smaller screens, and to the stage… all from Disney Entertainment.

It's unknow if Disney Television Animation will be attending however considering that is the 40th anniversary of the studio, probably will get a separate panel.

[mitzysmitzy]

sometimes i think about the dwarves from twisted wonderland and think, yea actually, i can get why gran's annoyed all the time

imagine you were born shorter than others because of your race, and people infantilize and look down on you because of it, i'd be frustrated as well.

and like, imagine, you'll always be seen as this cute little child, even though you're already a sophomore, and you'll probably always be perceived as one, even when you're an adult, because at the end of the day, all you'll ever be is an extension of someone else's image (neige) and you're whole entire identity revolves around them.

idk i just find the dwarfs to be interesting. like whats their life like outside of neige? do they have hobbies of their own? i'm sure they do enjoy performing with him, but is that all there is to it?? like, what if one of them just goes "hey singing and dancing is fun and all but i wanna pursue a career in archaeology"

probably the other dwarves are bothered by this too, but they care about neige a lot, so they don't really say anything

[brian-in-finance]

Image: Time

Instagram

Remember when nominee Kahleen Crawford ran into Space Force’s Captain and Blorg at Sunday’s BAFTAs?

Susan Shopmaker, The Holdovers, took home Best Casting. Kahleen took home Blorg.

[twst-hottest-takes]

I’m getting real sick of RSA always managing to win against NRC. I don’t care if they’re nice, I’m still salty.

You and many others, anon.

Fear not! Our boys at NRC have a chance to get back at them yet!

The game seems to be setting up a major upset in the current trend of NRC being unable to beat RSA. I think in chapter 8 we'll get to see the big Spelldrive match between the two schools and because the MC has been around to help the students at Night Raven College shape up and learn a little teamwork, they will win for the first time in 100 years! For now, the "good guy school" has to keep winning as an example. The eventual NRC victory will happen as a consequence of learning how to "play nice" with each other.

Or so my current prediction goes~ The game needs to have a big payoff for the MC being around and how they have influenced everyone around them. You know before ripping our hearts out and sending them back to their world in a teary goodbye scene (possibly before or after Grim Overblots).

Thank you for your take.

[redskull199987]

Show Masterlist

the Masterlist for all the shows/Series that I write fo

Masterpost

BBC Sherlock :

-Sherlock x fem!reader

Dr. Who:

-11th Doctor x fem!reader

Broadchurch:

-nothing yet

Warehouse 13:

-nothing yet

Supernatural:

-Castiel x fem!reader

-Jack Kline x fem!reader

Criminal Minds:

-nothing yet

Good Omens:

-nothing yet

The Sandman:

-Morpheus x fem!reader

Takin' over the Asylum:

-Morpheus x male!reader

Dead Boy Detectives

-nothing yet

-nothing yet

Umbrella Academy:

-Umbrella Academy x gn!reader

The Witcher:

-Cahir x gn!reader

-Cahir x fem!Witcher!reader

-Jaskier x fem!reader

-Eskel x fem!Witcher!reader

Young Royals

-nothing yet

Cobra Kai

-Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso x male!reader general Dating Headcanons

Heartstopper

-nothing yet

The walking Dead

-Carl Grimes x fem!reader

I am not okay with this:

-nothing yet

American Horror Story:

-nothing yet

Peaky Blinders:

-nothing yet

The artful Dodger :

-nothing yet

Fleabag:

-nothing yet

The Queens Gambit:

-nothing yet

Stranger Things:

-Eddie Munson x fem!reader

The Boys

-nothing yet

Gen V:

-nothing yet

Ragnarok:

-nothing yet

Vikings:

-Ivar the Boneless x gn!reader Part 1

Ivar the Boneless x gn!reader Part 2

-Ivar the Boneless x fem!reader Part 1

Ivar the Boneless x fem!reader Part 2

-Ivar the Boneless x fem!reader

-Ivar the Boneless x gn!reader

-Lagertha x fem!reader

-Ragnar x Lagertha x fem!reader

Arcane

-Silco x gn!reader

-Viktor x gn!reader

-Viktor x gn!reader

Mech Cadets:

-nothing yet

Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss:

-nothing yet

The crowded Room

-nothing yet

One Piece live Action

-nothing yet

Paradise City:

-nothing yet

MacGyver (2016):

-nothing yet

Hannibal (2013):

-nothing yet

Avatar:The last Airbender Live Action:

-nothing yet

[oswincoleman]

Jenna Coleman on Instagram stories!

[mayordeas-clone]

the character ensemble art is gonna get goofy when i make a page in my notes app that looks like this

[dailyasiandramas]

[zeronekohoshi]

January 11 2023

1: Antarctica, Henry and Zerone

2: Devildom, MC and Mammon in class

3: Waterscapes, Midori looking thru maps

[cybererotic]

tournament will come after the best housewarden poll is finished. my autism brain needs time to set up the bracket but trust that it will come

[thatgeekwiththeclipons]

Happy 54th Birthday to Academy Award nominated filmmaker Wes Anderson! ^__^

[brian-in-finance]

Instagram

How Lauren Lyle Got Ready for the 2024 BAFTAs

Behind the scenes with the Outlander veteran as she prepares for British film's biggest night.

LIA TOBY/BAFTA//GETTY IMAGES

"You can take this really seriously," says Lauren Lyle, "but the BAFTAs are meant to be a good time." That's just what the actress—a star of Outlander who's about to begin filming the second season of the series Karen Pirie; season one is streaming now—was aiming to do. She attended the awards as a guest of BritBox, which exclusively broadcast the show in the U.S., and took the opportunity to go all out in a dress by 16Arlington, accessories by Jimmy Choo, and jewelry by Messika. "I want to feel like myself," Lyle told T&C as she was headed to the ceremony, "just an elevated version."

Here, Lyle let Town & Country tag along as she prepared.

Jamie Salmons, Courtesy of BritBox

"When you first get the invitation, the question is what to wear. I immediately went to my stylist, Holly White, to get a brief. This time, we wanted to go minimal and modern. I wore 16Arlington, which is a very cool and sleek brand. I wanted to look good and make a statement, but also wanted to be comfortable. You want to turn heads without being obnoxious about it."

Jamie Salmons, Courtesy of BritBox

"Because the dress is slick and dramatic, I wanted to keep my hair up to allow the dress to have its moment, and my hair stylist, Fabio Petri, and I were leaning into something a bit 1990s, which feels right at the moment. We modernized it a bit, but that’s where the inspiration came from."

Jamie Salmons, Courtesy of BritBox

"My makeup, done by Mata Marielle, was similarly inspired; it was clean and fresh but with a nod to the '90s in the brown lip, which is done sort of how Claudia Schiffer used to do it. It’s a long day—carpet, ceremony, dinner, after parties—so you need makeup that won’t end up melting off of your face."

Jamie Salmons, Courtesy of BritBox

"There are times when you have like four days before an event, but this time wasn’t. We had about a month to plan and pull something together. The mad dash was today, because we started so early. You go through the process of picking outfits and from there you get ideas about the hair and makeup that’ll go with it. Everyone involved has their own ideas about what they want to bring to life."

Jamie Salmons, Courtesy of BritBox

"Last night was the nominees party, which was a really glamorous night at the National Gallery, and then a bit of an after party, where I was trying to find Margot Robbie. This morning, I woke up at 8 am to be at my hotel by 10 to start glam for a new day. I got to the hotel, I had a coffee and we started right away. Then we had lunch—a club sandwich and some fries—and it was time to get dressed."

Jamie Salmons, Courtesy of BritBox

"As far as accessories go, I have Jimmy Choo shoes and a bag, and Messika jewelry. I am dripping in diamonds, from my ears to my fingers. It feels fantastic."

Jamie Salmons, Courtesy of BritBox

"To keep going for a long night, I drink lots of water, I’ll have snacks, but mostly I’ll drink lots of Champagne. I have nothing but a massage tomorrow, so I can really go all out tonight. I have work to do later this week, but tonight I want to enjoy it and have fun."

"When it comes to events like the BAFTAs, more than anything you're hoping to have fun!"

Town & Country

Remember… you can take this really seriously, but the BAFTAs are meant to be a good time. — Lauren Lyle