Recently, my friend Sharon sent me a heartfelt time capsule. Actually, it was a video recording that offered an intimate glimpse into her life from the previous year. In the video, she appeared noticeably obese, and while she sounded confident as if she had everything under control, her eyes told a different story. They were puffy and red, suggesting that she had spent several nights shedding tears in silence. As she spoke to her future self in the video, I could sense the overwhelming weight of her emotions.
“Hi there, future self,” she began, her voice trembling slightly despite her efforts to mask her fears from filtering through. “I hope things are better for you because right now, life is hell for me. My rent is almost due, and I’m terrified because I have no money saved anywhere. I am broke and have no job. I’ve applied for jobs and attended interviews, but nobody will hire me. I am so exhausted, and it feels like the world is crumbling around me. I’m almost giving up, but at the same time, I’m holding on to hope. I'm hoping that by this time next year, things would have changed for the better and your life would have improved greatly."
As I watched, her vulnerable state struck me and despite it being a glimpse into the past, I had wished I could reach through the screen to offer her solace. Fast forward to the present: after sharing the video from the past, she called me on a video call, and I couldn't help but notice that she was glowing and radiating positivity, while exuding a comforting aura.
“See how fat I was back then, and see me now!” she exclaimed, bursting into playful laughter. “Can you believe the difference? Boy, I was such a hot mess!” She laughed some more.
“Well, it’s not just about being fat,” I replied, fascinated by her evident transformation and vibrant energy. “You look genuinely happy! It’s amazing to see you this way, babe.” I added
“You know last year was tough for us,” she said, as her gaze drifted momentarily. “I don't know if it was quitting those toxic jobs or dealing with all that uncertainty, but I felt lost and hopeless. Thankfully there was us—the thought that we always had each other to lean on was a crucial coping mechanism.”
I nodded in agreement, immediately recalling all the conversations back then, which were often filled with frustration. “Yeah, we were both rolling on the same boat, and every time we talked about our challenges, it felt like we were struggling to hold on to a dangling rope.”
“Do you get babe? It was torture,” she agreed, her eyes lit with nostalgia. “Regardless, we always concluded our conversations with high hopes. ‘See you at the top,’ we’d always tell ourselves before ending each call. Those words kept me going because I believed we would succeed.”
“Same here,” I responded, a smile spreading across my lips as I took a trip down memory lane again. “It was like therapy—our little mantra navigating through the stormy waters, but look at us now. We succeeded!” I reaffirmed.
“We sure did" Sharon responded chuckling. "Here’s to the top!” she gave a toast, raising an imaginary glass in celebration. Those words felt like a distant echo. An echo of our struggles and a reminder of the resilience we built together in our darkest night.
As we reminisced about our worst days, we couldn't help but acknowledge the miraculous turn of event that had brought us to where we are.
For me, the hope that I had left was hanging on a thin thread. I can still remember that day when Sharon and I were applying for jobs. At a point, I felt maybe I didn't have enough working experience; probably that's why no employer was calling me for an interview. Along the line, I had thought about calling a few friends to seek their permission to enable me to use their businesses as part of my work experience, despite never having worked for them.
I discussed it with Sharon, and she immediately applauded the idea as a great one. I do believe in miracles, but never did I expect it to happen the way it did for Sharon and me.
After concluding with her, I drafted a list of all my friends whom I had visited at their workplaces and witnessed their operations. I called the first one on the list, but he didn't pick up, so I sent him a voice note with a distressed hint.
As I was about to call the next person on the list, my phone rang, and it was my friend I had just sent a voice note to. "Hey, what's happening?" he asked, sounding concerned. "You sounded really down in your voice note. Are you alright?" He inquired.
At that point, I couldn't start deciding if I was ok or not. I just explained my situation to him, and he listened attentively. "Send me your résumé," he requested after my narration and I sent it to him. After he went through it, he called back, quite impressed, saying he never knew I was a professional in my field.
It was at that moment he opened up that he wasn't employing, but he would reach out to his friends. True to his words, he did, and just like a hint of magic, my story changed. While I became employed, I was worried for my friend; for a journey that we started together, I didn't want to be the only one advancing to the top, so I kept wishing her luck would shine and it did.
It was a Saturday morning, nearing her birthday, and she sent me several screenshots from Twitter, followed by a voice note of her squealing. Apparently, she had tweeted that she wanted a Nintendo Switch for her birthday, and a man from the US, who had been following her for quite a while, sent her a DM with a DHL tracking code and pictures of a Nintendo Switch, attaching a message wishing her a happy birthday in advance.
I finished listening to the voice note and called her, and we squealed together. "She was like, 'Babe, is this a dream? Do you know how expensive a Nintendo Switch is, and someone just got it for me, someone I don't even know, never spoken to? Ha! Babe, pinch me, I must be dreaming.'"
Truly, the whole experience felt like a dream and a lie. We thought it was all a scam until they started chatting, and the man sent her some funds via Western Union. It was still too good to be true, and we felt maybe the Nintendo Switch was a bait, but it wasn't. It was only a gateway to the good life and a ladder to the top we had always spoken about being.
Because she did not only receive the Nintendo Switch and enough money to fund her luxurious lifestyle, she got herself a husband who is currently in Nigeria for the first time to see her and make moves to marry her and have her in America as his wife.
What’s a Nintendo switch?😕
It's a game
I do believe in miracles and magic! But I also believe that good people receive those miracles for all the good things they have done. May abundance always be with them! Greetings
True, you sure got that right 🙂
newsletter from February 2025 to learn how this can happen. Please avoid using grammar checking tools for rephrasing or rewriting, as it will likely give you a high AI score and your story will not be curated.@bipolar95, it appears you either used tools to generate some of your content with AI, or to edit, revise or rephrase your content. Please see our "topic of the month" at the top of our
I do not generate my content with AI, not part nor whole. However, I use grammarly to correct punctuations and grammar. Seems that's where the issue lies correcting for grammar.
This is the drafted piece before editing.
Recently my friend sent me a time capsule. Actually, it was a video from last year. She looked so fat and while she seemed ok like all is well, I could see how depressed she was from the look in her eyes. They were puffy and somewhat red like she's been crying. In the video, she was sending a message to her future self. At the time she made that video, her rent was almost due one year after relocation and she had no source of renewing it. She had lost her job and life was hell. I watched the video and listened to her tell her future self how exhausted she was and how she had no idea of the next outcome but she's hopefully that by same time the following year, things must have changed for the better for her. I listened to how overwhelmed she was from the sound of her voice and despite it being in the pass, I had wished I could just reach out through the screen to console her. Fast forward to the present, it was barely a year after she made the video and when she sent me, the first thing she said was see how fat I was, then see me now lol. But for me, it wasn't all about her appearance but how better she looked glowing and giving off a aura of positivity of which I didn't hesitate so inform her that she looked genuinely happy now and I'm super excited for her. We proceeded to talking about our trying times, how we resigned from our toxic jobs with no hope of anything better waiting for us. We talked about the late nights we discussed about our struggles and how we hoped for a better tomorrow and for every time we spoke we were always ending the conversation with "see you at the top" and indeed we advanced to the top. As challenging as life was, we made it and while we recounted our hard times, we did not forget to acknowledge the miracle how it all happened. For me, the hope that I have left was hanging on a thin thread. I can still remember that day Sharon and I were applying for jobs. At a point, I felt maybe I do not have enough working experience probably that's why no employer is calling me for an interview. I had thought about calling few friends to seek their permission to enable me use their businesses as part of my work experience despite never worked for them. I discussed it with Sharon and she immediately applauded the idea of being a great one.
I do believe in miracles but never did I expected it to happen the way it did for Sharon and I. After concluding with her, I drafted a list of all my friends whom I have been at their place of work and witness their working operations. I called the first one on the list but he didn't pick up so I sent him a voice note of distressed hinting that he was my last hope. As I was about to call the next person on the list, my phone rang and it was my friend I just sent a voice note to. He asked me what happened, how did life get so challenging and I explained everything to him. He asked for my résumé I did and after he went through it, he called back quite impressed sighting he never knew i was a professional in my field. It was at that moment he cleared me that he wasn't employing but he woukd reach out to his friends. True to bis words, he did and just like a hint of magic my story changed. While I became employed, I was worried for my friend for a journey that we started together I didn't want to be the only one advancing to the top so I kept wishing her own luck will shine. And it did. It was a Saturday morning nearing her birthday and she sent me several screenshots from twitter followed by a vn of her squealing. Apparently she had tweeted that she wanted a ninetendo switch for her birthday and a man from the US who has been following her for quite a while sent her a dm with DHL tracking code and pictures of a Nintendo switch attaching a message wishing her a happy birthday in advance. I finished listening to the vn and called her and we squealed together. She eas kike babe is this a dream? Do you know how expensive ninetendo switch is and someone just got it for me, some i do no even know never spoken to? Ha! Babe pinch me i must be dreaming. Truly tge whole experience felt like a dream and a lie. We thought it was all a scam until they started chatting and the man sent her some funds via western union. Itvwas stikk yol gpof to be true abd we felt og maybe the Nintendo switch was a bait but it wasn't. It was only a gateway to the good life and a ladder to the top we've always spoke about being. Because she did not only receive the Nintendo switch and enough money to fund her luxurious lifestyle, she fot herself a husband who is currently in Nigeria for the first time to see her and make move to marry her and have her in America as a wife.
It is very clear in comparing your original draft to the published version, that you have made use of suggested AI rephrasing to improve your text to the extent that, although the story is essentially the same, the published version is significantly different from the unedited draft. This is not just the use of suggested punctuation and grammatical edits as you suggest, such as, for example, using the correct tense of a verb. Instead, the story has been almost completely rephrased, extended, and improved by AI. Unfortunately, unless you cease and desist from this practice, your work will no longer be curated by The Ink Well.
Noted. Thank you for your time.