At first, I wanted to run. I wanted to vanish into the wind and pretend none of it was real. But I was in denial. Somewhere deep down, I held onto the hope that maybe the sun would shine again—that somehow, things would work out. But slowly, silently, I was losing my mind.
I looked left. I looked right.
Everyone else seemed to be moving forward studying abroad, chasing dreams, laughing in café lines, taking airport selfies with excitement in their eyes. And me? I was stuck.
Was I wrong to wish for something that wasn't meant for me?
Was I on the wrong path?
Had I missed my destiny?
All I ever wanted was a simple, normal life. To be like the others—young, free, with a suitcase full of dreams and a university admission in a foreign land. I didn't ask for luxury or fame. Just a chance. A real chance to live.
But reality hit like a slap when the words sunk in: Visa Rejected.
Just like that, everything fell apart.
I didn't cry in the office. I didn't scream. I just nodded, stood up, and walked out.
Outside the embassy gates, I sat down, my legs too weak to carry me. Tears streamed down my cheeks, warm and bitter. My nose ran, and I didn't even have the strength to wipe it. Everything felt heavy—my body, my breath, my hope.
Was this all I would get after years of waiting?
They say the sun sets only to rise again, I whispered to myself, but I no longer believed that. My sun had set for good. I was left to live in its shadow, cold and forgotten.
Just as I was about to leave—just as I pulled myself together enough to stand—my phone buzzed. A message.
I stared at the screen, blinking through the blur of tears.
His name.
My heart skipped a beat.
He was the last person I expected to hear from, the one I had tried to erase from my thoughts. But a part of me—one I hated to admit still existed—felt something. Something real.
Why now?
Why him?
Why, in the darkest hour of my life, was the only spark of warmth a message from someone I thought I'd forgotten?
I didn't know whether to smile or cry.
But in that moment, I realized something: even broken hearts still beat.