A DREAM WORTH CHASING
551 Words
The evening sun cast a warm glow through the windows of Ethan's room as he sat at his desk, staring at the unopened email on his laptop.
He already knew who it was from.
His heart pounded.
Lily's words echoed in his mind.
"Don't stop chasing your dream because you're afraid."
Taking a deep breath, he clicked the message open.
Congratulations!
The first word was enough.
His eyes raced across the screen.
He had been awarded the international engineering scholarship he had worked toward for years. The university expected him to arrive in three months.
It was everything he had hoped for.
Yet, for the first time in his life, achieving his dream didn't make him feel completely happy.
---
The next afternoon, Ethan asked Lily to meet him at their favorite café.
The cheerful smile on his face was missing.
Lily noticed immediately.
"What happened?" she asked softly.
Without saying a word, Ethan slid his phone across the table.
She read the email.
Her eyes widened.
"Ethan..."
A smile slowly spread across her face.
"You did it."
"I did."
She stood up and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so proud of you."
He hugged her back, but his smile didn't last.
"There's something else."
She already knew.
"You have to leave."
He nodded.
"In three months."
Silence settled between them.
The café buzzed with conversation around them, but their little corner felt strangely quiet.
Three months.
Ninety days.
After that, an ocean would separate them.
Lily forced a smile.
"This is wonderful news."
"It doesn't feel wonderful."
"It should."
"I don't want to lose you."
She reached across the table and took his hand.
"You won't."
"You don't know that."
"I know us."
Ethan looked into her eyes.
"What if the distance changes everything?"
Lily shook her head.
"Distance doesn't decide whether people love each other."
"What does?"
"The choices they make every day."
Her words stayed with him.
---
Over the following weeks, they spent every free moment together.
They visited the bookstore where they had first laughed over the same novel.
They watched sunsets by the river.
They walked through Hillcrest Park beneath the stars.
Each moment became another memory they wanted to carry with them.
One evening, while sitting on the old wooden bridge, Lily handed Ethan a folded envelope.
"Don't open it until you're on the plane."
"What is it?"
"A promise."
He smiled.
"I'll keep it safe."
He carefully placed it inside his backpack.
Then he reached into his pocket.
"I have something for you too."
It was a small silver necklace with a tiny raindrop-shaped pendant.
"The rain started our story," he said.
"So you'll always remember where it began."
Lily gently touched the pendant.
"I'll never take it off."
---
As the day of Ethan's departure drew closer, both of them smiled a little less and held each other's hands a little tighter.
Neither wanted to waste a single minute.
Because they had learned something important.
Love isn't measured by how long two people have known each other.
It's measured by how deeply they choose one another, day after day.
But neither Lily nor Ethan knew that the greatest test of their love had not yet begun.
The journey that awaited them would demand patience, trust, and courage in ways they had never imagined.
- Writer
