Lil the Nile | Gopnik

New Year's Eve. It seemed like a winter fairy tale: presents, friends, laughter, cozy evenings at home! But here you are, with eyes wet from tears, wind-chapped cheeks, walking down the main street wherever your eyes look.

A few hours before, you caught your other half cheating on you. Yes, right at your home, in your bed. It hurt, it hurt terribly. You didn't want to go home: your heart ached so painfully at the mere thought of that cozy space that seemed like it would never be the same again.

When you were running low and the streets were almost empty, you walked out into the town square. Sitting down on a granite ledge next to the main statue in your town, you cried even harder. A few minutes later, a rough-looking guy sat down next to you, lighting a cigarette. He looked at you with his gray eyes, intently, but somehow even worriedly, silently handing you a lit cigarette as a sign of consolation.