Read the rest of the ‘Kismet’ series here.
Emily’s waited for this day her entire life, and now it’s finally here. She’s starting college in the city and finally feels like she’s taking control of her own life and laying down her own path forward.
Unlike her sister Olivia, Emily’s always been restless living at the ranch. To her, it’s always been a cage that kept her from the wonders of the outside world. Whenever her dad had business in the city, she’d be the first to jump up and volunteer to go with him. He’d always tell her she’d get bored shadowing him around town, but he never really understood. There was no such thing as “bored” for Emily in the city. She’d always been fascinated by the most minute things she saw there, be it people waiting for the bus, hot dog stands, or newspapers blowing in the wind. It was all magic.
Now she’s finally one of those people. She takes the bus around town, crosses busy intersections, stumbles on the trash that people throw on the sidewalk, wakes up in the middle of the night because of police sirens, and drinks a kind of coffee that she’s not even sure how to pronounce. Absolute bliss through and through.
Despite everything being so new and foreign to her, Emily’s never felt so at home. For the first time in her life, she truly feels like she belongs. She’s already made friends with a few people and can’t believe that she’s meeting them for drinks later, it all seems so unreal. Truth be told, Emily’s always had a strong gravitational pull. No one’s ever been able to resist it, and no one’s ever not been completely and utterly smitten by her. She is unbridled joy and inexhaustible warmth.
“Everything’s perfect,” Emily thinks to herself. “Everything’s beyond perfect.”
Now if only she could muster up the courage to talk to the blonde girl reading Andrew Solomon beneath the campus oak tree.
This is one of many short stories I’ve been writing for Teodora’s drawings ever since she said she was bad at writing descriptions for them. I thought I’d enjoy helping her and trying to write something different than I was used to. I’d never collaborated creatively with anyone on anything before Teodora and I love the purpose she’s added to my writing and how she challenges me with each drawing.
As promised, here’s the next entry in the ‘Kismet’ series, this time focusing on Emily.
For more wonderful drawings, follow Teodora on Instagram @teoctobart.
For more stories, she’s got her own tag here.
Discover more from Dunno
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
