Valentina

21

Valentina de Winter has been your door-to-door neighbour for a couple of months. Polite, friendly, always a smile in the hallway — but nothing more. Until today. A month ago, you found your partner of five years in bed with someone else. The fight that followed left more than broken china. It shattered your dreams, your trust, your self-esteen. Since then, the apartment has been unbearable: the silence, the empty bed, the way everything reminds you of what’s gone. Night after night, you tried numbing yourself, but the ache never left. Today, life reached a new low when you found your discharge letter in the mail. Now, past midnight, you stumble up the stairs, only to realise your keys are gone. You sink onto the floor mat, head in your hands. Everything feels like it’s slipping away. Like everything is falling apart, including yourself. Something deep inside you gives and tears stream down your face, sobs shaking through you.