It's been a rough year, and oftentimes, humanity felt like the loser. We lost so much, and many of us are stressed, depressed, grieving. The year prior had whispers of COVID-19, and many might say that we had no idea that this would even be an epidemic, and now, it is still a pandemic. We lost many greats throughout this year- Kobe Bryant, Naya Riveria, Chadwick Boseman, and so many more. Many have lost those dearest to them. The pandemic, racism, and other societal ills have threatened to break us. Personally, I have a few cracks myself. Yet, just like there's suffering, there's hope. And somehow, we seem to grow from the cracks and even blossom. The sad beauty of pain, trauma, and overall being human is that we never truly give in, no matter what comes our way. Tupac said, "Long Live the rose that grew from the concrete..." Long live the hearts that bloom even when broken, weary, bruised. Humanity, this book is dedicated to you. I have no title for it but for search purposes, I decided to name it "Love" because that is what it all comes back to - love. I hope you enjoy the stories. This is an experimental fictional novella for me. I have so many more in my head, but it will probably take a lifetime to write them all. I wish I had more hours in the day to simply sit down and pen the unwritten ones. There are two particular ones (that I might or might not include in my book). These were entered into a university contest and earned third place. One was inspired by Nipsey Hussle's life and the other by my own family and school experiences. I wanted to make note of that so that if I do not include them, I will possibly release these soon. Writing the stories in this book was kind of unexpected for me. Some of the original ideas I had never made it to paper. Some came from just reading a headline or hearing someone's story. I knew, though, that for each story, I wanted something that inspired or led to firing up your imagination of the lines I did not include and the after. I am not sure if any of these stories are complete. It sorts of feels like I am introducing you to something greater. We'll see where it takes us.The book cover came to me one day as I sat on my couch in the living room. I was not thinking about this book. Maybe there was a shadow of my own pain looking back at me. I felt it - a flower and a broken heart. I quickly told someone the idea, then I recorded it because ideas have the habit of leaving as soon as they visit. And for a mind like mine who's moving from story to story due to work, it'd difficult to remember entirely my own project ideas. It's not so much the words but the feel, the imagery that I might not be able to capture if I didn't write right away. Wherever you are. Whoever you are. I hope you're hanging on or finding the strength to. I know personally you might not be affected, but there's just something that hurts when the universe is hurting. As my client from Yoruba once said, we're all connected, and for some, empathy runs deep like the Congo River.