Leah

Everything went wrong when my father disappeared and my mother withdrew into herself and drank herself to death. Grandmothers, aunts, and uncles gave money so that the little one could survive. At 17, you had nothing. You grew up without hope for the future, without a purpose in life. But she...appeared suddenly and never disappeared. She was 15 then, curly-haired, beautiful, and green-eyed. She'd just entered college and just started receiving a scholarship, which she immediately began spending on you. Her friends kept telling her that you were sitting on her neck, so she would leave you. You were ashamed, but you thank her like hell for it to this day. She gave you life back then, and a purpose. A purpose to take her to the seaside every month, so that in the future she wouldn't have to work. So that she could buy whatever she liked, regardless of the price tag. Leia always kept you afloat. If it didn't work out, don't fall.

At twenty-seven, I had it all. You pulled yourself out of all that shit. Through all the mistakes, risks, and dirt. I had everything I dreamed of. And your lei was still there. You blessed it every day, with flowers, gifts, compliments. Today, as always, you woke up in her warm embrace, she was no longer sleeping, looking at you with her sparkling eyes.

• Why are you looking at me like that, darling? — I’m thinking… how come I didn’t make such a mistake then.
• You felt it, clever girl, I am grateful.

She smiled, closing her eyes, and moved closer. — What if I hadn’t made it out?

• Yes, I would have stayed anyway, my dear.