HER QUIET STRENGTH.

There is something about friendship that starts from when you are young , it holds a different kind of depth. You don’t just grow up together; you dream together, You imagine your future side by side, talking about the kind of life you’d have, the comfort, the freedom, the laughter all the good things.

I have this friend… she has been in my life since we were kids, She lost both her parents at a very young age, and even as kids, I used to wonder how she held so much strength in that tiny frame of hers. We were young, but I saw it , she never let anyone pity her, never let her shoulders drop. She would say, “I have my own flame and trust me ,it's gonna burn hard and I will make it.” And we believed her. I believed her.

We grew up like that, with our little fire , our hope, we told ourselves that when we got older, things would be different , Life would balance out, Things would start to make sense, All our sufferings would just be one long story we’d tell while sipping cold drinks in our dream houses.

But here we are now , grown, yes, but still in the middle of life’s tough wind, still holding onto hope like it’s the only thing we own.

She called me earlier today, It was not the kind of call filled with gist or long banters, It was short, tired, heavy, her voice just carried this weariness, and I could feel the weight through the line, she is now a single mother, trying to raise her child alone, trying to keep a roof over their heads, trying to stay sane, and just trying in every way possible.

She didn’t even complain much, that is the part that hit me, she did not even rant the way I expected, she just said, “I’m tired, Treasure, But I will keep doing my best ".

And my chest tightened, because I know that feeling, when you are running on empty, but you still keep moving because stopping isn’t an option, We did not think it would be like this, Not us, Not after everything we had been through as kids, We thought we had already seen the worst of it.

I thought by now we would be in a better place, at least better than this, not still wondering what tomorrow holds. Not still waking up with anxiety about the next meal or school fees or if we’ll be able to afford light and data.

Sometimes I sit back and ask, “Is this really how life is?” And then I remember that almost everyone is fighting something. Some people hide it better, that’s all.

But even in all of this, all this heaviness and struggle , there is still something burning in us, i don’t know what to call it exactly, Maybe it is that same flame we had as kids, Maybe it is dimmer now, but I know it is there, That quiet fire in the heart that refuses to die, no matter how bad the storm gets.

But despite everything, she still wakes up and tries again ,she still takes care of her child, She still shows up, and that to me, is courage, that is the kind of strength you do not always see in the movies, but it is real very raw and real.

And after the call, I just sat for a while just thinking, thinking about how we got here, about how life can test people over and over again, but also about how some people, no matter how battered they are, still carry their flame, Maybe not loudly, but it is there ,burning quietly in the corners of their soul.

What I do know is that if that small fire inside you is still alive, even if it is just a spark, then you have not lost yet.

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