Chapter One: A Name Like Spring
May was born in the rainy season, when the skies broke open and the earth drank deeply. Her mother, Esi, named her after the month everything came to life. Her father, John, said, "She'll grow straight like a cassava stalk—strong and obedient."
They raised her in a house of rules. The walls echoed with church hymns and discipline. Love, in their home, was something you earned by obeying. But May's heart was always a little off-beat. She asked too many questions, read too many books, and never quite fit into the box her parents built for her.
She didn't want to be anyone's wife, not the way they expected. She didn't dream of weddings. She dreamed of cities and poetry, of holding someone's hand in the dark without guilt or shame.
Chapter Two: A Fire in the Library
She met her in the university library. Lydia.
A girl with copper braids, sharp eyes, and a laugh that pulled May out of her quiet. They studied together at first—May was shy, hiding her feelings behind novels and biology notes. But Lydia wasn't afraid of truth.
"I like you," she said one afternoon, between pages.
May's heart raced. She had always known—something deep in her marrow told her who she was—but this was the first time someone had said it out loud.
"I like you too," May whispered.
That night, they kissed under the jacaranda tree near the arts block, petals falling around them like blessings. For the first time in her life, May felt whole.
Chapter Three: The Storm at Home
When May brought Lydia home during semester break, it took only a few days for the truth to crack through the surface.
Her mother found a letter Lydia wrote her. Soft words. Intimate. Beautiful.
John's voice thundered through the house like a war drum. Esi sobbed and clutched her Bible. "We didn't raise you to be like this," they said. "You're confused. This is sin."
They banned her from seeing Lydia. Took away her phone. Threatened to cut off her education.
"You're our only child," her mother cried. "Don't break this family."
But May was already broken—by their rejection, by the way they saw her love as disease instead of devotion
Chapter Four: The Escape Plan
In whispered calls from borrowed phones and brief glances on campus, Lydia and May made a plan.
They would leave.
Not just the house. Not just the city.
They'd take a bus to the coast, where Lydia had an aunt who owned a bookstore. A place where no one knew them. Where no one cared who they loved.
"You'll really do this?" Lydia asked one night, as they sat in a dim café, counting their money.
May nodded. "I want a life where I don't have to apologize for who I am."
They packed light. May left a letter for her parents on her pillow:
*"I love you. But I also love her. And if that makes me unworthy in your eyes, then I must find a place where my love is not a curse.
Chapter Five: The Road to Freedom
The bus left at dawn.
As the city shrank behind them, May rested her head on Lydia's shoulder, feeling for the first time not just safe—but right.
They arrived by afternoon. The sea smelled of salt and promise. The bookstore was small, tucked between a pharmacy and a coffee shop. Lydia's aunt welcomed them without questions.
They began new lives—quiet but free.
May wrote again. Poetry poured from her like breath. Lydia painted. They held hands in public. Smiled without watching who was looking.
Epilogue: Bloom
Years later, May stood at the front of a small book reading. Her second poetry collection was called *"To Love Loudly."* The audience clapped, and Lydia was in the front row, her smile the same as the first day in the library.
May closed the reading with her favorite poem. It ended like this:
*"They called me broken, but I bloomed anyway."*
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