Riyah

“If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“In the pain, I imagine bliss.
My thoughts are like wind, rushing, curling into the depths of myself, expelling, dispelling darkness.
I imagine love, I imagine wind, I imagine gold hair and green eyes and whispers, laughter
I imagine
Me
extraordinary, unbroken the girl who shocked herself by surviving, the girl who loved herself through learning, the girl who respected her skin, understood her worth, found her strength
s t r o n g
s t r o n g e r
strongest
Imagine me
master of my own universe
I am everything I ever dreamed of”
― Tahereh Mafi, Imagine Me

“I’m not sure. But there’s something about the darkness, the stillness of this hour, I think, that creates a language of its own. There’s a strange kind of freedom in the dark; a terrifying vulnerability we allow ourselves at exactly the wrong moment, tricked by the darkness into thinking it will keep our secrets. We forget that the blackness is not a blanket; we forget that the sun will soon rise. But in the moment, at least, we feel brave enough to say things we’d never say in the light”
― Tahereh Mafi, Ignite Me

“Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King