The Mobile Maniac

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌     (2238 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜) 

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 :

"𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. "

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝙱𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐. 

𝙱𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊, 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚌𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐. 

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜. "

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔. 𝙱𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚊𝚕-𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘r in the dining hall. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊. 

"𝙳𝚒𝚟, 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚝," 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍. 

𝙳𝚎𝚟, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 shower 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚄-𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 

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"𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚊, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚙!" 𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 7 𝙾'𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚅 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛-scare. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚍 at the same time 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜. 

"𝙼𝚊, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝… .. " 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊, 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗, 

"𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝙰𝚕𝚒. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎! "

𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 :

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍! "

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎-𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌   

𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 

"𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚊, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚒𝚟'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. "

"𝙸 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝. 𝚂𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍! 𝙱𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎. "

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛. 

"𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢. 𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢. 𝚆𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚊. "

"𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚛. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 ours was 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢. "

"𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 is 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛. "

"𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙳𝚒𝚟 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙷𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚋'𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠. " 𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎-𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌   

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙳𝚒𝚟'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑. 

"𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚊, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐? " 𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛. "𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝, 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘." 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍," 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚊, 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑. "

𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚅, 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚎. "𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜? 𝙳𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢? 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢."

"𝙾𝙺. 𝙴𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙳𝚒𝚟'𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗?" 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎-𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌   

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐.

"𝙸 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜. 𝙸 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝙼𝚊." 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. " 𝙰𝚗 𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 one evening 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 

'𝙶𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗, 𝙸𝚕𝚊. 𝙸 𝚊𝚒𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚊 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 it may be 𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝. 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚋 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞? '

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝙸𝚕𝚊, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝙰𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚢'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝙸𝚕𝚊 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, both aunt and Ila 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚛otting, 𝚐𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 horrible-looking 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘! "

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍-𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛. 

𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, "𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙳𝚎𝚟. 𝙾𝚑, 𝙳𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝?"

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎-𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌   

𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊, 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙. 

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"𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚊, 𝙸 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠. 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? " 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛.

𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖. 

"𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚊, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍-𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙?

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚜 𝚠ere 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑. 

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 cut 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎-𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌   

"𝙳𝚒𝚟, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔! 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚒-𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍. "

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚊. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙼𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. "

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚘. 

𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝, 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚔𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 miraculously d𝚛iven 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑. 𝙰𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚗𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍.

"𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝙶𝚘𝚍'𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚎, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝙳𝚒𝚟. 𝚂𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕. 𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚓𝚘𝚋 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝. "

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢.   

"𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚓𝚘𝚋𝚜 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎!"

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑. 𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛, 𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝, 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚝-𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚝-𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖. 

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 :

"𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚗. "

"𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝. 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚗." 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛, 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖. 

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊, 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚣𝚘, 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍. 𝙰 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎. 

𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝙳𝚎𝚟'𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝙲𝙿𝚂 𝚋𝚢 𝙳𝚒𝚟'𝚜 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝙳𝚒𝚟'𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚖.

"𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜. 𝙸𝚗 𝙴𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚖, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝙿𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙽𝚞𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚆𝚎'𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚙 though 𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. "

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 seeing 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜.

"Thank you, Mr. Das, for all the trouble you've taken on my daughter's account. " Dev was politeness personified. 

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑, 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚍 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝, dull 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕. 𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙽𝚞𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝙿𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘gy 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛? 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚘𝚛. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚖𝚎, 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛. "

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖. 𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 say. 

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚝. 𝙸𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑ard 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝙳𝚒𝚟'𝚜 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 

"𝙼𝚛.𝚁𝚘𝚢, 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚢 sentiments. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. "

𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚞𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚟. 

"𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝙿𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛, 𝙼𝚛. 𝚁𝚘𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝙲𝚀𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. 𝙰𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐, " 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕, 𝙼𝚛. 𝚁𝚘𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜.. "

𝙰𝚜 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝙳𝚒𝚟'𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙸𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚐𝚊𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 skeletal 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚐𝚘. 

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚜, 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 

𝙾𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙴𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙳𝚎𝚟 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 him before entering the hall. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚙𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 

"𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, " 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢, 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑, 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚜 disengaging herself from 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚗𝚍