He looks her in the eyes
Tells her this is it.
This is the end.
She will only succeed without him.
This is their goodbye.

She cries. And she drinks
She waits for him to return
She fails. She’s lost.
She needs help.
She replays his words. Over and over.
It hits her.
She must prevail.

With a bounce in her step and a smile on her face
She proudly walks to the stage.
Accepting the diploma she had spent 12 years to earn.
7 hours a day. 5 days a week.
She studied, she read, she did her work.
She prevailed.

Her first step through the doors of her new college.
People everywhere. Filling the hallways and the lawns.
She shoves her way to her classes. Avoiding boy’s who catch her.. No distractions.
Staying in at night to do her work instead of going to parties.
She sits in the rusty desk to take her final tests.
She walks to the stage, accepting the diploma she had spent 6 years earning.
She studied, she stayed in.
She prevailed.

She walks in to the office, with her head held high.
Hands him her résumé and sits across for him.
Accepting the job she doesn’t want, for the lack of money.
She works, everyday.
Advancing further and further.
When she gets the call.
She drives to the airport, accepting the job she had only dreamed off.
She worked hard, she listened.
She prevailed.

She steps off the plane into the dimming light of Africa.
Makes the way to her new home.
Taking in sights she had only seen on television.
he was patient. She knew what she wanted. She waited.
She prevailed.

She lays on the boat in the Mediterranean Sea
Searching for the new species of shark
Machines beep. Day after day. Trip and trip.
No where to be found.
She waits, until the day, they catch it swimming by, blue and slender.
She sets foot upon the sandy land, accepting her new reward, that she had spent so long to receive.
She stuck to it. She waited. She watched.
She prevailed.

She travels the world.
Hiking to Machu Pichu.
Exploring the rainforest.
Watching the sunsets of Portugal.
Laying in the fields of Ireland.
She is happy.
Her life of work helped her make dreams reality. The dreams she had her whole life.
She didn’t give up. She knew things would go her way eventually.
She prevailed.

To the place her work first took her.
It was her turn to give back to the people who had helped her.
She gives them food.
Teaching them, playing with them, helping them live.
Donating all her money to them.
She answered the phone with a full smile, accepting the grant to create a school for the children.
She gave up everything. She came back.
She prevailed.

She returns home, the place she had spent 20 years away from.
An empty apartment, collected with dust.
She sleeps, she works down the street, a place she wants to spend no time in.
She sees him. She loves him.
She waited. She watched.
She prevailed.

She walks down the aisle, her white smile spreading across her sunken cheeks.
Happiness in both their eyes.
She grabs his hand, and says her I do’s.
Starting her life over again with that kiss.
She didn’t search, she waited for the one. She found happiness.
She prevailed.

She lays in bed, staring out the window to the night sky.
Thinking of the one who pushed her. Who made her work so hard.
She has everything she could ever want out of life.
She still only dreams of him.
The boy who tore her down, who made her life hell.
The reason she made herself known.
So there was no way he couldn’t see her.
She closes her eyes.
She’s back in high school. With him.
Care free and happy. Laying in the grass kissing.
She listens to him. To the promise forever.
She opens her eyes. Hoping its his warmth next to her.
Only to find the man she hardly knew.