I wish I could freeze time right here. I wish tomorrow would just never come. This 4th of July, 2026, I wish I could skip it, run from it, tear it out of the calendar of my life. Because if it never comes, I never have to leave my world. I never have to leave my sister. I never have to leave my Bolt.
I want one more lazy morning in the warmth of my sister's side, with Bolt curled up right beside my bed. I let my hand fall over the edge and feel his fur, soft and fluffy under my fingers, like it always is. I get up slowly, do my little chores, then flop back down next to my sister. We scroll through the dumbest, laziest reels and laugh at things that aren't even that funny. Then I ask her if she wants coffee, and I make it just how she likes it, and mine the same way, because that's just how we do it. We sit there for a while, just us and the coffee and the quiet.
Then we go to the gym together, but not before spoiling Bolt with treat after treat like he's the one leaving, not us. We talk about our crushes for the thousandth time, the same jokes, the same lines, and somehow it never gets old. We play badminton doubles and laugh so hard we keep missing the shots and losing anyway. We come home, eat dinner together, do the chores all over again, and feed Bolt. We take him for his walk, slip him a few more treats he definitely doesn't need, and fall asleep close to each other, like nothing in the world could ever pull us apart.
And I want to wake up the next day and see Bolt still there in our room, and feel that same small rush of happiness, like it's the first time all over again.
But I know that's not how it goes. Not tomorrow.
Tomorrow I carry my bags out to the car in the rain. Tomorrow I kneel down and tell Bolt I'm sorry, even though he can't understand it, even though sorry isn't enough. I hug him and I cry into his fur, and I hate that I can't explain to him why I'm leaving, why I have to go. It won't be the same after this. It will never be the same again.

















