Shatter-Me-PDF-Shatter-Me-Series-Shatter-Me-Shatter-Me-1-Tahereh-Mafi (1)

haven’t felt natural light on my skin in so long I don’t know
if I’ll be able to handle it. I have no choice.
The air hits me first.
Our atmosphere has little to boast of, but after so many
months in a concrete corner even the wasted oxygen of our
dying Earth tastes like heaven. I can’t inhale fast enough. I
fill my lungs with the feeling; I step into the slight breeze
and clutch a fistful of wind as it weaves its way through my
fingers.
Bliss unlike anything I’ve ever known.
The air is crisp and cool. A refreshing bath of tangible
nothing that stings my eyes and snaps at my skin. The sun
is high today, blinding as it reflects the small patches of
snow keeping the earth frozen. My eyes are pressed down
by the weight of the bright light and I can’t see through
more than two slits, but the warm rays wash over my body
like a jacket fitted to my form, like the hug of something
greater than a human. I could stand still in this moment
forever. For one infinite second I feel free.
Adam’s touch shocks me back to reality. I nearly jump out
of my skin and he catches my waist. I have to beg my bones
to stop shaking. “Are you okay?” His eyes surprise me.
They’re the same ones I remember, blue and bottomless like
the deepest part of the ocean. His hands are gentle so
gentle around me.
“I don’t want you to touch me,” I lie.
“You don’t have a choice.” He won’t look at me.
“I always have a choice.”
He runs a hand through his hair and swallows the nothing
in his throat. “Follow me.”
We’re in a blank space, an empty acre filled with dead
leaves and dying trees taking small sips from melted snow
in the soil. The landscape has been ravaged by war and
neglect and it’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in so
long. The stomping soldiers stop to watch as Adam opens a
car door for me.