[ WP ] Far apart , and under different circumstances , people find themselves thinking or feeling the same thing

School had never been easy for Joshua Dylan. He enjoyed learning but he had a terrible knack for not following through with turning in assignments. He almost had to repeat the fifth and sixth grade. He often needed tutoring during high school to finish assignments and get them in on time. Joshua could n't explain why the dots would n't connect for him but he did try harder as he approached his senior year. While all of his friends were applying to colleges, he was struggling to see his own merit, bogged down by the applications and numerous deadlines. In his mind, he was denied before he even submitted the applications. His ambition was questionable but he had some talent for writing and art. His parents tried to be firm but supportive but to Joshua, he needed to be better for them. As the wave of replies came back from various schools, dread began to pile up and prevent him from sleeping at night. The teenager felt so lost and knew this should be the best time of his life, and yet he felt like crying and yelling at himself for being so stupid. 
 
 - - - 
 
 Anabelle Wilson was a newlywed who had moved from London, to Beijing for her husband. She was pregnant but had n't yet told him. He had told her that they needed to wait to have children. Anabelle agreed and they used contraception but one drunken night out, celebrating the move, they had sex without protection. She was having a stressful time adjusting to the new culture and language, with her husband busy with work. Anabelle felt like her pregnancy on top of her struggle to acclimate would quickly take the polish off their marriage. In her mind, the honeymoon phase was meant to be blissful and fun, but as she sat in the kitchen, declining the offer of beer, she began to feel trapped. In her mind, he was already disappointed in her. She missed her mother back home and she had no idea how to raise a child in such a foreign country. Would her husband accept it or not? She had lost too much sleep and it was wearing her out. She got up from the table and stepped outside, smelling the smoke, it burned her eyes, beckoning another wave of tears.
