Chapter 416- Alone
"Sangua City," Lisa thought for a moment, tapping her chin, "If that sounds familiar, how about we head to my place after the shift ends? We can ..." She wiggled her brows, but Aniya could still feel the stinging of Valerie’s slap on her cheek.
"I don’t think so I can..." she hesitated, "last time when I stayed, Mom didn’t like it."
She could feel Lisa’s eyes on her face but thankfully she didn’t interrogate her further, nor she tried to push her for any explanations.
"If you want freedom," Lisa’s voice dropped to a whisper, "then you have to do something about it, Aniya," she went to the bathroom mirror and grabbed a comb. She needed to start working on the ends of her braided hair-tail, "Ever seen a frog left to die in boiling water?" Lisa asked her casually without looking at her, "You know what it does?"
Aniya didn’t reply, not certain where this was going.
Lisa at last turned to meet Aniya’s eyes, "It fights. It keeps fighting for its freedom. You need to do the same. That’s what you have to do. You can’t just sit there and take it."
Aniya couldn’t hold her gaze and looked away. Her friend was right, and it stung.
Lisa sighed and pressed on, "Do you want freedom, Aniya? Or do you want to rot in that hell forever?"
Oh, that struck a nerve. Aniya’s eyes snapped up to her face, "Don’t stop struggling. Don’t stop fighting."
Aniya balled her hand into a fist and held it up to Aniya, "You can’t give up now when you are so close to victory."
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