It Was All Worth It

July 2018

Analisa loved the main street. The main street in her town was where all of the small businesses were. Her favorite spot was the public library. Analisa would go there, find a good James Patterson book, and sit down in one of the big, comfy chairs and read. She had done this since she was nine years old.

Analisa was just walking down main street one morning. Everything was still closed; it was around four in the morning. It was mid-summer, but there had been a terrible storm the night before and it was still cold. Analisa was sporting her spring jacket, black leggings, and hunter's green army boots.

She was walking past the local bar when she saw it. There was one of the old Victorian buildings that was original from when the town was first built. In front of that old Victorian building was a sign. And that sign said For Sale.

Analisa loved jumping at new opportunities and this opportunity was perfect for her. She loved serious books (like James Patterson's), but loved comic books even more. Ever since she was a little girl, Analisa collected comic books. Especially superhero comics. She always dreamed that she would have a good place for them, a place where other people could enjoy and love them just as much as she did. And this was her chance.

She looked left, right, then left again before jogging across the road to the building. Analisa took a closer look at the sign and saw a phone number. She quickly took her phone out of her pocket and opened up the home page with the Superman background. Analisa went to her contacts app and created a new contact with the phone number, titled Best Opportunity Ever!. She pocketed her phone and continued her walk with a slight hop in each step.

When Analisa got home, she immediately ran to her library. It was meant to be an office-for a person who worked from home. For Analisa, it was a space that had bookshelves lining the walls, and three in a triangle in the center. Every single bookshelf was filled with either James Patterson books or any comic books.

Once she was in the room, Analisa walked over to where her Superman books were and grabbed the origin story (her favorite out of all of them) and sat down on the floor, her back up against one of the shelves, and read.

May 2020

Analisa closed the last box and leaned on it with tears streaming down her face. She was leaving main street. She was being forced to leave her home. Forced to leave her life. 

Ninety percent of her boxes were filled with her books; the last ten percent filled with her decor that she scattered around. Upstairs was bare as well; all of those boxes were already loaded to be sent down to Florida where she would live with her sister. 

Analisa had gone through hard times with her little shop, especially when she first opened up. She was almost going to be forced to leave then, but she had faith and hope. And that’s what got her through. But no amount of faith and hope would get her through this. Her shop had to close due to the pandemic, COVID-19. Her shop bank account quickly went bankrupt and she was kicked out. Analisa attempted to pull out a loan and just pay it off with her personal checking account, but the bank wouldn’t let her. She realized what this meant and started to pack.

November 2022

Analisa sat at her little desk in her tiny cubicle. She typed, and she typed, took a drink of water, and typed, and typed. She wasn’t even exactly sure what she was doing; she just knew that she had to type in all of these people’s information and then send it in to the office. 

At the end of the day, Analisa grabbed her things and left work to head to her sister’s house with her aching wrists and hands. Pulling into the driveway, she noticed that Zoe’s (her sister) car was gone. Analisa immediately thought that something was wrong, then remembered that Zoe had told her that she would be working late.

Walking in the door, Analisa was immediately met by Zoe’s aggressive dog, Rowdy. When he jumped on her, he scratched her forearm and she hit his head as hard as she could. Rowdy retreated while Analisa started to bleed. She ignored the smell that the kitchen had and jumped over the trash on the floor as she ran to the sink. She turned the cold water on and stuck her arm under it. It soothed the burn a bit, but she was still in pain.

While Analisa was still keeping her arm under the water, she rolled her eyes at the kitchen. It smelled like rotten food, looked like a junkyard, and it was just uncomfortable in general. Analisa cleaned it almost everyday, but Zoe always found a way to make it just as bad as it was. Analisa was miserable there; she was miserable everywhere.

March 2024

As the red wine touched her lips, Analisa calmed down. It had been a long day unpacking, but it was all going to pay off. She rocked back and forth in the rocking chair she was sitting on; on her mom’s front porch. She hadn’t seen her mom in a long time, so decided that a visit was way overdue. Analisa glanced to her left and saw her mom sitting the same way she was. Analisa smiled and leaned back in the chair.

After years of living in her sister’s house, Analisa finally decided to move back to Michigan and reopen her business. When she got back, she was surprised to find that her old shop was up for sale yet again. She immediately bought it and was excited to open it back up. Most people wondered how she had gotten the money so fast, but Analisa had been saving since the day she got kicked out. She hoped that she would be able to get a new store, and that hope was well worth it. In just a couple of weeks, Analisa’s Library would be back in business. Everything that she had gone through was worth it. It all paid off. It was all worth it.