The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

by Breanne Randall

The woods held all kinds of secrets, and none had bothered her yet.

“Helping people isn’t the same as loving them, Sadie.”

there’s a difference between being happy and being fulfilled. Happiness you feel in your skin. Fulfillment you feel in your bones.”

“What’s good is never easy.

“I don’t think pain is a competition,” her aunt answered without hesitation. “Somebody else’s ten might be your six. You can’t compare heartbreak. No matter what, it’s valid. And that’s all that matters. You’re allowed to feel,”

“You know who you are. Never let anyone or anything mold you into something different. Don’t let those idiots tell you what to do or how to live your life.”

their love filled in the cracks until it felt almost whole.

“They say that in a relationship there’s always the lover and the loved. But I don’t think that’s right. I think it changes. Sometimes you’re the one who loves more, and other times you’re the one who needs to be loved. That’s what a relationship is. Bracing the other person when they need it. Love is knowing you have open arms to fall back into.”

It was the silent support she needed in a way only animals could sometimes offer.

being afraid didn’t make someone weak or a coward. Doing something in spite of heartbreak and fear, that’s where courage came in. Do it afraid,

Security, she realized, wasn’t an impossible dream. It was a garden like the one before her. Vulnerable and in need of constant tending, but beautiful and bright.

“Hold on to hope no matter the cost, because as long as there’s hope, everything else is just the unfortunate side effects of heartbreak and magic.”