Selcouth (noun): unfamiliar and strange, but marvelous

The clock read a clear 3:24 AM.

She had awoken in cold sweat, a strange and uninvited panic clutching her heart.

She knew nothing was wrong. It was a normal Friday night, she enjoyed her usual dinner with her family, and fell asleep after soccer practice.

Yet, her mind was clouded with an unfamiliar sadness.

Probably because she would be graduating in a few months, right?

These ordinary days would vanish in a storm of new friends, new teachers, new classes, and more foreign things that she never saw before.

Breathing in a lungful of cold, fresh air of the night, she welcomed this melancholy taste in her mouth.

It made her more appreciative of her family: her mother’s delicious cooking, her dad’s painfully funny jokes, and maybe even the stinking socks of her little brother.

It made her more accepting of the future that was to come. While some of her favorite moments will become mere memories, there would also be new adventures waiting for her.

In this lighthearted sorrow, she found what appeared to be a part of her own soul.