#Comment please

[disorganizedkitten]

Oh also more on this but commenting legitimately gets fics back into the Active Wip Designation. Just so you know.

Every author works differently, of course, but I have around 200 works in progress and write mostly according to what sparks joy - you know what sparks the most joy? Nice comments.

I'll drop a few examples but comments like this genuinely do get me into the document to add another sentence, paragraph, chapter, etc

Say you like the fic and are interested in where it's going! Say you enjoyed XYZ! Ask a question about a mystery left in the chapter! What made you laugh? Drop some hearts! Say you reread a fic or you got it from a rec list and are deeply enjoying it! Say "thank you for posting, I'm looking forward to more!" I promise, that will be a thousand times better received than an "update pls" comment.

Just. Comment please, it makes the author happy, it helps you to gush over the writing and enjoy it on a deeper level, it shows - especially on multichapter works - that you're still reading, since you can only leave kudos once. And a lot of writers do adjust their upcoming chapters based on comments, especially big plot reveals. How else do we know if we've left enough clues?

do fic readers know that their comments actually influence the course of the story sometimes? i don't mean in a "you need to write it this way because i say so 😡" type of comment, i mean when people are asking questions or really engaging with the plot and the themes in the comments they sometimes bring up things that i didn't even think of, or dig into parts of the story that i've overlooked, or get really interested/fixated on something i was going to just kind of glance over--and it has me going 'oh wait that's actually really interesting, that's a good point' and fully adding or tweaking or changing things about the story going forward. i'm literally adding an entire additional chapter to something right now because someone's comment had me like "oh i didn't dig into that as much as i could have." you have impact!

[boopiemadz]

HIII saw your post abt travis x reader so PLSSSSS literally anything w him, maybe s2 timeline when Javi is missing like sitting by the fire with him in the middle of the night, or being like the only one he opens up to???? I just want to give him a hug oml 🙏

OML yes! This came out more angsty then I intended but thats okay, still has a happy ending for reader and travis dont worry. Also I wrote this as a !Fem reader btw.

If youd like I love when ppl leave comments on my stuff, it js makes me feel happy so feel free! But yeah heres the little oneshot I wrote based on this prompt.

WARNINGS!

Suicide, Death, Cannibalism (this is yellowjackets...), Loss, Grief, Kissing 🤭, and basic yellowjackets topics.

[Guilt ridden scars]

---

Time is a weird construct. Especially when stranded in the Canadian wilderness for an unknown amount of time. Ever since the crash you had kept tally marks in your journal, unfortunately you lost your notebook somewhere between the 21st and 26th day. So you had to restart. This time you kept time on the wall of the cabin, in the small corner you slept in next to coach Ben's room. You started this tally the day Javi went missing, the day of doomcoming. 

Doomcoming was a mess. 

Nothing about that night should've happened, it was the catalyst for everything. Though you never participated in the hallucinogenic chase that went down, there was still a deep pang of guilt that you didn't get to him sooner. You had been wandering around high on mushrooms far away from the group, but when you returned, the sight of Travis pinned against that tree, knife to his throat put a knot in your stomach.

It wasn't your fault.

What happened to Javi was not your fault.

What happened to Travis was not your fault.

What happened to Jackie was not your fault.

Yet it still felt like your fault.

---

It had been around 59 days since Javis disappearance, according to the tally marks. 59 days spent everyone out, 59 days since you felt anything at all. 

You'd spent the first few months staying close to the friends you were close to on the team, you loved the yellowjackets, those girls were a lifeline, a source of belonging. But something shifted somewhere between finding the cabin and doomcoming, the cabin was hot, and cramped, to be honest it made you infuriated. So to combat the overwhelming crowd you started to occasionally take a walk down to the lake to sit and think. This became a regular thing for you. Eventually someone found your spot.

“So this is where you go when you disappear”

Says Travis slowly approaching you. “Please don't be a dick and tell everyone” It's not that you didn't like Travis, he was just, abrasive. His demeanor was cold and snappy, but you couldn't blame him, he had lost his dad and wasn't exactly in the right state of mind. But you never really paid much attention to him either. 

“Nah” He says kicking the pebbles lining the shore. “I get it” He sits down next to you giving some room for space as you continue dipping your feet in the cold water. “Aren't you supposed to be out hunting with Nat?” You question “Not today, she went alone. I decided to come here instead of slowly dying of heat stroke in the cabin” You let out a giggle. 

That day marked the start of your friendship with Travis, he went from a rude and annoying boy to a close friend you'd sit with at the lake to escape from the fact that your friends are changing and everything that came with being stuck in such a place. 

---

When doomcoming happened it's like everything was flipped upside down. Talking to him felt too much, your routine lake chats stopped, eventually he went back to being the boy you'd never pay attention to, the boy who sat quietly by himself, except this time he didn't have his brother, he didn't have you.

---

The sun was setting over the snowy landscape of the forest. You'd sat yourself in front of the attic window watching it go down, yet another day without game, without peace, without javi. Ever since winter hit it's been maggots, leather belt soup and rationed meat. To say you were hungry was an understatement. Hell, a few weeks later you and the team would partake in cannibalizing your teammate Jackie (oop). 

Going back downstairs after sulking in the attic you got changed and started to settle down on your spot on the floor. Laying on your side looking at those tally marks that showed how long it had been since Javi disappeared, 59 days.

Just before you were about to close your eyes a figure walked through the dark and stopped at the door to open it and sneak outside. Everyone had already been asleep when you were up in the attic watching the sun get lower as due to the lack of food everyone had become increasingly low energy. 

You get up slowly so as to not disturb Akilah who was asleep peacefully beside you. As you crept up to the door and opened it, wrapped in your blanket, you squinted in the dark to see the person who’d left the cabin chopping wood. 

“Hey” You whispered, walking closer to the figure. “Why are you out here?” You questioned

As soon as the person turned around to face you, you finally recognized who it was, Travis. 

“I could ask you the same thing” He says, continuing to swing the axe breaking wood into smaller pieces.

“I came out here because I saw someone sneak out of the cabin, not because I wanted to stand in the cold” You retorted, giving him a sarcastic tone. He scoffs and throws some wood down on the fire pit leaning down to light the pile then sitting down in front of it hands out. In that moment, in the firelight you see it, a tear drifting down his cheek, eyes red and nose running. He'd been crying. 

In that moment you sit down next to him in silence, you hadn't had a real conversation for a long time, but something in you told you he shouldn't be alone right now.

---

After a minute of awkward silence a shift in the air starts to happen. You don't know why but for some reason the silence shifts from awkward and uncomfortable to a warm knowing embrace. It takes another second before he speaks up. 

“I- Im scared”

He says eyes are still focused on the fire in front of him. “Im so fucking scared Y/N” 

A tear falls down his cheek as he speaks, the heaviness of his statement hanging in the air. “I know” You say sliding your hand over his, something in you sparks when you finally touch. Then he turns to you, tears in his eyes, cheeks red and chin quivering. 

“I need you.”

And with that he lets out a sob, not just a tear or a cry but a gutoral sob laced with vulnerability and emotion. He buries himself in your shoulder quaking while you hold him. Holding him. 

“I'm here… Im here Travis” You mutter stroking his hair as a tear simultaneously escapes your eye. 

“I don't know what to do” He says, releasing from the embrace and wiping off his nose with the back of his sleeve. “I have no one left, what if Javi is…” You stop him “You have me” His attention softens as he shakes his head.

“Shit this is embarrassing” He chuckles softly trying to avoid eye contact. “I've never cried in front of anyone before” You speak up “It's about time you let it all go” 

“What do you mean?”

“You've been holding back this… grief, for javi. Sure we had talks at the lake but… ever since, its just been this quiet resentment. This needed to happen.”

He looks at you for a second before looking down to speak. “You know why I came out here?” 

“No”

“I've been coming out here every night. To leave food out for Javi. I knew you guys would yell at me if you knew… cuz of animals or something. But if there's a chance he's still alive, I need him to be.”

“Travis..” He cuts you off.

“But this night was different.” He takes a deep breath

“If hadn't… if we…”

You see the struggle in his eyes, the words he's saying he can't form.

“I was planning on killing myself” 

He finally spits out.

---

“Travis” Is all you manage to say as your throat dries up and your eyes water once more. You gently put your hand on his shoulder before you say another word. “Stay with me” He tilts his head to look at you, with an almost confused look “What do you mean by that. Why shouldn't I just try again tomorrow night.” 

“Because I need you” All you can hear is the wind, and your own racing thoughts. Your heart bounds across your chest as you think about him, about life and about this situation.

“I will come out here every night. I will stay by your side to make sure you stay alive.” You're not finished yet “Because I need you. I can't survive without you.” You take a breath “Everything in me says give up. Every bone in my body wants to jump off a cliff and just die. But when I look at you… When we would spend our evenings together by the lake. A tiny voice in me wants to live just one more day. With you.” 

You blurt this out without thinking, just a mash of thoughts and feelings you'd buried somewhere deep down. After another pause he doesn't speak, instead he cups your face with his hand, searching your face with his deep brown eyes until the land on your lips and he asks;

“Can I kiss you?”

And all you can do is nod before he comes closer and presses his lips on yours. They aren't tough, not like you'd expect but soft and gentle and patient. Peace fills your head and passion floods your mind as you kiss him softly but with a desire thats been brewing for a long time. After you both pull away a small smile forms on his face. 

“I guess I'm staying around.”

[wenumsmol]

𝕊𝕦𝕜𝕦𝕟𝕒 (𝕐𝕦𝕛𝕚) 𝕩 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

Content Advisory: Fem Reader, Eventual Smut, Eventual Dark Content, Sukuna/Yuji Hybrid, Exterminator Sukuna (by day)/Rocker Ryo (by night), Reader Has Trauma, Mentions Of Being Abused (Reader), Graphic Everything (If you can't stomach content covering abuse, stalking and sexual assault this isn't a fic you want to read. I'm going all in), Bartender Reader, Reader has a kitty and a cat (lol). ~ I might have missed something but I'm sure I covered the triggering stuff. ~ WC: 3k words. A/N: The chapter titles sometimes have links to songs of the same name. If you want to listen while you read, it's an option. Minors do not interact with my works. Ageless blogs and underaged blogs will be blocked.

ᴛʜʀᴏᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴜᴀʟɪᴛʏ ᴘʟᴀʏʟɪꜱᴛ

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ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 1: 𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎. 𝚃𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛. 𝙵𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛… 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚔𝚢𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙵𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗, 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛. “𝚂𝚑𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙, 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢,” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝. 

𝚃𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚓𝚘𝚋 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚑 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚜𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎.

𝚃𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚢𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝙷𝚘𝚝 𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚊𝚕.

𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟻 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚟𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑, 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚜𝚜, 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗 𝙽𝙿𝙲.

𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚞𝚙/𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎, 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚍-𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚏. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚢.

𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚙𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐. “𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚢 𝙱𝚘𝚢,” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚢 𝚞𝚙, “𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗’.”

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 ‘𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢’ 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚍. 𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙰𝚗𝚝𝚒-𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐-𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕.

𝙰𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜. 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚝��𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚊𝚙𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝, “𝚐𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚌,” 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢. “𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔’ ���𝚊𝚔𝚎,” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. “𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚌!” 

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚛𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗. 𝙰 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜-𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗-𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕, "𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑?" 𝚃𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜, 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎.

“𝙿𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙,” 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚔𝚢 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚍-𝚞𝚙 𝚗𝚊𝚟𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 ‘𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗.’ 𝚄𝚙 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜. 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚓𝚊𝚠𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔. 𝙿𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔.

𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍… 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚘𝚗? 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍.

“𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗,” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍. 𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗'𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔, 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.

“𝚂𝚘, 𝚞𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛?…” 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗, 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚕𝚝, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠 .

“𝚈-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎,” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎��𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚗. 𝙷𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚔𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.

𝙲𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜— 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚔𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚛𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚢.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚡𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠.

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚔𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚛.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚐 𝚣𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚋 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚋.

𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚚𝚞𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚝.

𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙰𝚍𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍, “𝙺𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗?”

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞? 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 ��𝚘𝚍𝚜—𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛.

𝙼𝚢, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗…

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙳𝙹 𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚙 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛.

𝙽𝚘, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝙱.𝙾. 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚘𝚋 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕, 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢.

“𝙰𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝,” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙰𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗. "𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜," 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛-𝚘𝚏-𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙰𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎.

𝙴𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍-𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎-𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚒𝚛-𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝, 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 '𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢'. 𝚂𝚘 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚝. 𝚂𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕. 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚍𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚜. 

𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕-𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. "𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎." 𝙷𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚒𝚌 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛, 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚣𝚎𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎- 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐- 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚜.

"𝚂𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢?" 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐? 𝙶𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚞𝚖𝚙.

"𝙿𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗' 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐," 𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖. 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚜?"

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚑𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑. “𝙽𝚘𝚙𝚎," 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍, 𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 '𝚙'. "𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎.”

𝙷𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚍. 𝙱𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚕.

“𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚎?” 𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚐 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚞𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎. 𝙷𝚎’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚜… 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚕𝚍.

“𝙼𝚢 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚢.” 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍… 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠.

𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢.

“𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛… 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚢?” 𝙷𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗, 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚊 𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏.

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚙, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐.

“𝙲𝚊𝚝, 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗,” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜. 𝙶𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕.

 “𝚄𝚑 𝚑𝚞𝚑… 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚒𝚝?” 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙷𝚘𝚝 𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚎. “𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝’𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗’,” 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚢. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙷𝚘𝚝 𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚎.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏, 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚜. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚡 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚜𝚘, 𝙷𝚘𝚝 𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢.

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚡 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚙 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.

“𝙽𝚘 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚎, 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚍. 𝙳𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢,” 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚔, 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘. 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚍��𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝙷𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎? 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚎 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐.

“𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜,” 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢. "𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍."

"𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚍," 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚌��𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔.

𝚃𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚐 𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚛𝚝-𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎-𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚂𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑. 𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚒𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚜𝚑. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. “𝚂𝚘, 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕-𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚐?” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜.

𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎. “𝙽𝚊𝚑, 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚓𝚘𝚋. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.” 𝙿𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚙𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊: 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚡𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 ��𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜. 

𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝙰 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 ‘𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝’. 𝚆𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎? 𝚆𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚗? 𝙰 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚛? 𝙰 𝚙𝚒𝚖𝚙? 𝙾𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕? “𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜?”

"𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎," 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝. "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗’ 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛," 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎, 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚙.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚔𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘, 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝚁𝚢𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜.

“𝙱𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖,” 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚢. “𝙶𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝,” 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔. 𝙾𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

��𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗.

𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚢𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝, 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚎.

“𝙳𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕,” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 ��𝚒𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔–  𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕, 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙾𝚛 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎.

𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚕𝚎, 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍– 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚟𝚎–  𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢. “𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞,” 𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢.

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[jooroy-blog]

Izek after waking up waiting for a kiss only to open his eyes properly to see his wife comforting the wannabe baby dragon who almost killed him:

[i-ll-fold-the-laundry]

if anybody is looking for parry fics where paul is actually a nice guy... you should totally check out my fics....

[still-waiting-for-a-response]

the fic has been posted

[sturns4thisbitch]

“next door neighbor”

-matt sturniolo pt.3 finale

warnings: SMUT, fluff, a bit of breeding, soft!dommatt, unprotected sex (wrap it b4 u tap it!), pet names (baby, sweetheart, ma, my girl, pretty girl, good girl), use of y/n

pt 1, pt 2

recap

“yeah but everything just fits you so well”

i blushed, hard.

“i- not like that” he covered his face in embarrassment

“i’m so sorry, i wasn’t trying to be weird”

“no, i know” i smiled walking towards him

-

“you know hm?” he smiled looking up as i walked right in front of him

“mhm” i bit my lip and he slid his hands around my waist bringing my closer to him

“god, you’re beautiful.” i blushed even more

“can i?” he lifts my top

“please” i mumble as he slides it off, kissing my neck softly

“fuck baby, i need you” he groaned against my neck

“yeah? you have me.”

he sat me on my bed and quickly unbuckled and unbuttoned his pants, sliding them down. i looked up at him and i started palming his through his boxers, he threw his head back and groaned.

“fuckkk y/n i’m not gonna last long”

“me neither baby it’s okay”

he gripped my thighs and kicked off his jeans and climbed on top of me

“are you sure you want this?”

“yes- fuck matt i need you” i whined

he pulled down my shorts and revealed my black thong.

“this all for me pretty girl?”

“mhmm fuck matt stop teasing”

he made circles on my clit through my panties before pulling them off of me

“ngh~ fuckk”

he massaged my boobs through my bra and i threw my head back as he started kissing the skin around my bra, licking a bit as he made his way back down my body, he yanked off his shirt and placed many kisses on my clit and licked a stripe up my folds

“shit matt holy-��� he took his dick out of his boxers and slid them down slightly, rubbing his tip on my folds, which made me whimper like crazy, he was huge.

“fuck baby, so wet for me”

“m-mghh please matt~”

he reached out his hand

“spit, y/n” i reluctantly spit and he used my spit as a lubricant to stroke himself

“this might hurt a little, okay?”

“okay” i whined as he slowly entered me

letting me adjust to his size

“move please!” i whined he pumped into me slowly

“good girl, taking me so well” he groaned

“faster matt!” i threw my head back as he quickened his speed, pumping into me quickly

“fuck baby, i’m close” he panted in my ear

“me too”

his voice in my ear was so raspy and breathy it had me even closer to the edge

“where do you want it sweetheart?”

“in me please”

“yeah? you want me to fuck my kids into you?”

“matt please”

he came inside of me, painting my walls with his warm liquid as he groaned

“fuckk so tight, i feel you clenching ma, let go for me” and i did.

“nghhh~ FUCK MATT” i screamed as i came hard. he smiled and kissed my forehead

“you’re so pretty, did so well my girl”

i smiled and we cuddled for the rest of the night until we eventually fell asleep

authors note:

hey bitchess, series is over, it was a very short one but i need a matt in my life. anywhoo lowkey i think i ate but lmk in the comments 💋

[hyena-matas]

Do you guys hate me For always spamming thousand pics a day? Should i Post one a Day or is this okay? I usually Post them right away when im done so i dont chicken out later haha. Well anyway let me know

[sploinkyclown23]

Does anyone have any tips for how to start junk journaling? I found a spare journal and have stickers and paper scraps but don't know if there's any specific rhyme or reason to setting it up TwT

Any discussion or suggestions / accounts to follow are welcome!!

[whimsyferret]

NEAT SHIP LIST ALERT!!!!!

Also if you want to comment or DM me your favorite ships feel free, maybe I'll make a whole list just for you guys!? (Edit: Btw I added three more ships so part 2 is closed, but Im still open for requests!)

[rosenightmares]

Should I use colored pencil or marker?

[xombilog]

Chat I forgor how to respond to Asks, I did it like five minutes ago why isn’t this working!? AHHHHHHH

[jooroy-blog]

I wonder if in the distant future when jiwoo grow up his relationship with kayden will develop to a point where kayden say something crazy or stupid and jiwoo will look at him like this:

[foreverafangirl14]

Boyfriends

Yo Tumblr! I JUST SPENT HOURS ON THIS BUT I AM AFRAID TO COLOR IT IN!! I already messed up going over it with a thin point sharpie.

This looks bad 😭 but I had a good time drawing it so I guess that's all that counts 😅...

What do you think, should I take a gamble and color it?

Btw this is my second time reading this book 📖💕, I've only read the first one I have read the other three yet but I love this book!!! The first time I read it I read it all in 2 hours and it took my getting more than halfway through the book before I realized none of the characters had names 😅😳

[twisted-monster]

pls reblog i want to know