06/09/2026
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 007 | ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐
When we were children, we believed that dreams were promises, that dreams were meant to come true.
With that belief, she carried a dream close to her heart, a dream that made the future seem beautiful and certain. Back then, everything felt possible. She thought that as she grew older, she would simply walk toward it little by little until, one day, she would finally arrive.
She did not know that growing up would teach her otherwise.
As the years passed, she began to understand things she never had to think about as a child. She learned that wanting something with all her heart did not always mean she would have the chance to reach it. There were hindrances she never saw coming, responsibilities she never imagined, and realizations that slowly changed the way she looked at her future.
The dream that once felt so close began to feel farther away.
So, little by little, she began to let it go.
She told herself that maybe it was only a childhood dream, one of those beautiful things that were never meant to leave the imagination.
Sometimes, in moments when the thought of it hurt too much, she would tell herself, โMaybe in another life, another chance, I could become who I once dreamed of becoming.โ
It was easier to imagine another life than to accept that this one might not be enough.
Yet despite everything, the dream never truly disappeared.
It remained.
Quietly.
Patiently.
Somewhere between all the doubts and disappointments, there was still a small part of her that hoped. A voice she tried to silence but could never completely forget.
โMaybe.โ
Maybe it is not too late.
Maybe there is still a way.
Maybe what seems impossible today will not always be impossible tomorrow.
But every time hope begins to grow, reality finds a way to remind her of all the reasons why she cannot. And so, she finds herself standing between two choices: to continue holding on to a dream that feels almost impossible or to finally let it go and accept that some dreams are only meant to remain dreams.
Perhaps that is the hardest partโnot knowing which one is right.
She still wonders if the little girl she once was would be disappointed in the person she has become. Or perhaps that child would simply sit beside her, look at her with the same hopeful eyes, and ask,
โDid we ever make it?โ
She does not know what she would answer.
Maybe she would say no.
Maybe she would say not yet.
Or maybe she would simply smile because, somewhere deep inside, that dream is still there.
Not as loud as it once was. Not as certain, but still alive.
And perhaps that is what makes dreams so difficult to leave behind.
Sometimes, we do not stop dreaming.
We simply learn how to live while carrying a dream we are no longer sure we can reach.
And maybe, someday, she will find a way.
Or maybe she won't.
For now, she is still here, carrying that little piece of her childhood, still wondering whether the dream will one day become a life...
or remain a dream that never left.
๐ป A. Arabang | An Batingaw Creatives
