𝕃𝕖𝕠𝕟 𝕊. 𝕂𝕖𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕕𝕪 - 𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝔸𝕟𝕕 ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤

ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕎𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕨

"𝚈/𝙽, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚠𝚎𝚍?"

"𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗."

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢.
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"𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗!" 𝙸 𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚞𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛. "𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔. 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛!"

"𝚈𝚘𝚞? 𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐? 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎?"

"𝚂𝚑𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚙, 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗." 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚙.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞."

"𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐."

𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚝.

"𝙷𝚘𝚠'𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚐𝚘?" 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚐𝚎𝚗, 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.

"𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙸 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜. 𝙸𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝙸'𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢."

"𝙾𝚘𝚘, 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗! 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝙸 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎. 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕." 𝙸 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢.

𝙸 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚊 𝚘𝚞𝚝.

"𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚊. 𝙸 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚝."

𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚊. 𝙸 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝.

"𝚆𝚘𝚠. 𝙸𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚜" 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. "𝚂𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘." 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚊 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.

"𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢? 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔?"

"𝙾𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎." 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗.

𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎.

"𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐." 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜. "𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚛𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚈/𝙽." 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.

"𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚎, 𝚈/𝙽?"

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚖𝚊𝚗.

"𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗." 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙. "𝚈𝚎𝚜!"

𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚞𝚙. 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙷𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢.

𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗'𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍.

"𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎, 𝚈/𝙽." 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜.

"𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚎, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎." 𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔.

𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔.

"𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚙, 𝚈/𝙽." 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐.

"𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢, 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝." 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛.

"𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚈/𝙽."

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𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 514

𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 29, 2021