"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛."

𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 # 𝟷𝟻

𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚢, 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙹𝚘𝚋. 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚞𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎
𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝙸𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚠 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞
𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘
𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢. 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜. "𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?" 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍. "𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎." 𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜.
"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸'𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗." 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍. "𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊-𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?"
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍; 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛,
𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚙𝚜.
"𝚈-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝙸-𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚘. 𝙹-𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝... 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝚒𝚝'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗. 𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎."
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎
𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛, "𝙽-𝚗𝚘," 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎, 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝, "𝙽𝚘! 𝙽𝚘, 𝚗𝚘, 𝚗𝚘..." 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐  𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍, "𝙸-𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸'𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘 𝚢𝚎𝚝. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜."
𝙶𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 , 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚝? "𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖; 𝚗𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚢
𝙲𝚊𝚝, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎?