Counting Down with You Quotes

“If I'm lightning, then what are you?”
Already I can imagine Ace teasing me but instead he smiles and says, “I'm thunder. I'll follow you wherever you go.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Promises are meant to be broken, that’s what people always say, but what if I want to keep mine? To this day, I’d sooner break my bones
than go back on any of the words I said
so dearly to you. We’re so young, God, we’re so young. Only sixteen with a pocketful of big dreams. The world is in our hands, that’s what people always say, but what if I’m afraid to carry it? What if I don’t want to be Atlas? You, my dear, are unshakeable. You hold your cards close to your chest. Courage finds a home in the space between your ribs. I’m too young to understand, that’s what people always say, but I am old enough to see. There’s a forest fire in your eyes that sets me alight. A bravery in your heart that beats in tune to mine. My darling, you’re something out of a story. Poetry doesn’t begin to do your soul justice. Change is inevitable, that’s what people always say, but what if that change is good? There’s a lightness to my steps there wasn’t before. There’s a brightness in my heart there wasn’t before. If you held me up to a candle, my silhouette would be covered in your name. Before you, I used to care what people always say
your lovely heart led me astray in unexpected ways. Sometimes I think I’m going to burst into flames. From the spark you struck inside my chest. I wonder, how do you keep from setting yourself afire? But then comes the startling yet undeniable understanding.
You are fireproof, lionheart and now I am, too.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Being seen is the most tender form of love, and I see you. I do”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Don't let the fear of disappointing them stop you from living your fullest life.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“He's somehow turned me into a song, into a series of notes.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“My religion has never been a problem. It's the ideals of the generations before me.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I'm not a bad person for wanting. But I feel like I am.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“If I'm lightening, then what are you?"
"I'm thunder. I'll follow you wherever you go.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“rain, rain go away
come again another day...
that's what they always say
but what if you want rain to stay?
being addicted to the storm
wanting to see it transform
I'm lightening, he's thunder
my God, he's a wonder
I'm quick, I'm fast, I glow
and him?
he follows me wherever I go”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Sometimes I wonder if [my parents] want me to do well for me, or if they want me to do well for them. If all my accomplishments are for their pleasure, rather than mine.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I'm still learning your lines, but one day I'll know all of them and I'll never cross them again.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“If we can't take a break to pet dogs, Ahmed, then what do we have left?”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I don't want to give up on us. I choose this. I choose us. I choose you.”
“Then I'm here to stay,” he says.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“But if anyone can find a way to come out of it on the other side, it's you. My lionheart. It's always going to be your decision, but I hope you know I believe in you more than anything.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Your lovely heart led me astray in unexpected ways
sometimes I think I'm going to burst into flames
from the spark you struck inside my chest
I wonder, how do you keep from setting yourself afire?
but then comes the startling yet undeniable understanding
you are fireproof, lionheart
and now I am, too”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I just don't like making other people feel bad”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“He catches my wrist and holds me there, suspended. "Wooed? I've wooed you?"
I pout at him halfheartedly. "I was trying to be nice and this is what I get--"
"No, no, I like it," he says, playing with the cuff of my sleeve. "That's going to be my job from now on. To always woo you. Expect to be wooed frequently and as often as possible.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I wish we could all live our lives in peace, without these expectations that seem to dictate our every breath.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I'm a puppet on strings, playing out my parents' dreams.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I know my parents care and love me, but they never show it the way that they do for my brother.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Sometimes I think he has no idea how his achievements highlight my failures.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“It's easier for men, I guess. Traditional ways cater to them.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Even though it's wrong, all I feel is relief.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Dad, why is life so hard?" I ask, flopping onto her pillows.
She squeezes my ankle. "Your Dada used to ask me the same thing."
"Did you have an answer for him?"
My grandma laughs lightly and looks at her bedside table. A photo of her, Dada, and the rest of our family is framed there. "Of course not. I don't think he was ever genuinely asking. Life is hard because it is. There's no easy answer. It's just a matter whether we're willing to face the hardships. Even when life was hard, your grandpa was always willing to face it with me.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“It's not my fault you look like the sun brought to life.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“somewhere there are birds that fly free
here I am caged and can barely breathe...
I am scared of so goddamn
much afraid these flames
will burn my fingers
they hurt from clinging too hard
I'm lost I'm bruised
I don't know what to do
I never thought I'd give up
but I'm starting to think I'm
going to lose
freedom tastes sweeter than I'd expect
unshakeable we whisper,
you guide me through the fire”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I've always believed that Islam on its own is beautiful. Islam in the hands of people who are determined to tear others down---not as beautiful. It's the same way with any culture, any religion. There will always be people who carry out beliefs without stopping to think of the meaning behind them, who follow without question, who don't think about who they might hurt in the process.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I have a plethora of girl cousins, and she treats every single one of them with incredible tenderness...I can't begin to explain how much I cherish that.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“I give Ace an incredulous look. “Who are you?” Ace shrugs, a smirk tugging at his lips as he runs his fingers through his hair. “The man of your dreams, obviously.”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You

“Rain, rain go away
come again another day ...
that's what they always say
but what if you want rain to stay?
being addicted to the storm
watching it transform
I'm lighting, he's thunder
my God, he's a wonder
I'm quick, I'm fast, I glow
and him?
he follows me wherever I go”
― Tashie Bhuiyan, Counting Down with You