Nineteen:

You turn the ignition on the car your grandparents helped you buy, packed up with clothes your mother helped you choose, heading for a city you only know as lines on a map.

Click in the seat belt and a shiver starts at the back of your neck. Loneliness nestles in your belly, so you tune the stereo to loud rock music and chant under your breath, ‘make your curiosity bigger than your fear.’

Paragraph Planet
Published 5th April 2026