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- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Love stories / Romance
- Subject: Life Experience
- Published: 08/09/2019
David
Born 1993, F, from Franklin/ TN, United StatesWhen I first saw David, he was sitting in front of the apartment complex. He was surrounded by other men.
I was 16 years old at the time I met David, and he was 18. When I first met him, I was walking from the bus stop. It was a chilly afternoon in October. I was listening to music while I walked to my apartment. I was just thinking that it was Friday and we didn’t have school the next day and then I saw him.
I lived on the top level of an apartment complex, there were 8 apartments, 4 on top and 4 on the ground level. Every afternoon my neighbors would be outside drinking or just chilling, and that afternoon David had joined them.
I was a shy girl, so when I saw him for the first time, we locked our eyes for a few seconds and I looked away. I knew all my neighbors, but I had never seen him before. I was nervous walking by them, so I was preparing myself mentally. I was about 200 feet away before I got to the front of my apartment, but it seemed like I was a mile away. When I finally reached my destination everyone said good afternoon, I smiled and said good afternoon, but my eyes were locked with his. He smiled at me and I saw his straight white teeth. There was something about him that I liked so much, but I didn’t even know him. I stood there frozen for a couple of minutes until I snapped out of it and I ran upstairs. I could hear friendly laughter behind me. I got so embarrassed, I felt like a fool. I brushed the feeling off and opened my door. The tiny voice in my head kept screaming “TURN AROUND!!” but I kept fighting it off until I could no longer do it, so I turned. As I turned my head, he had turned his and we locked eyes. I smiled and went inside.
That night I could not go to sleep. I kept turning and tossing around my bed. I decided I would go out for a jog. I usually liked running at night. It would help clear my head. My mother didn’t like the idea, but she was never there during the night since she worked the graveyard shift at the hospital.
I sent her quick text to let her know I would go out and she responded and said to be careful. I changed to my running clothes and glanced at my phone, it was 9:30pm. I thought it was the perfect time, I would just do 30 minutes of cardio, enough to get me tired and go to bed.
I stepped out of my apartment, I put my house key on my left pants pocket and my cellphone on the right pocket. I put on my headphones and I let the music take me away. As soon as I got down the stairs, I saw David across the street. At the time I didn’t know his name until later. He looked at me puzzled and I looked at him. I didn’t want to make it awkward, so I half waved and went for my run. I was so in the moment that I didn’t realize what time it was, so I head back to my house. I got to my apartment complex around 10:30 pm and I sat I front of the stairs to cool off. Out of no where David appeared, he startled me so much that I let out a small scream.
“You scared me!”
“I am so sorry; I didn’t mean to. I just saw you earlier when you left, and I didn’t want to go home until I saw you got back safely.” He said.
At the time I thought that was super sweet, but I didn’t even know him!
“Well thanks for that, but I don’t know you. You do not have to worry about me.”
“Well my name is David what is yours?”
“My name is Jysell, nice to meet you.” As I smiled at him. I didn’t know this man, but I felt like I did. He sat next to me and we talked for hours.
*****
The next morning all I could think about was David. I couldn’t help myself; I wanted to go outside and look for him and talk some more. My mother interrupted my daydream, and I came back to reality. My mother would never approve of him, she would never approve of anyone, especially my age.
It was hard to have a boyfriend because she didn’t allow it. I chuckled at myself, I was already thinking of David being my boyfriend and I just had met him! I thought I was being silly, so I continued my day.
*****
David woke up with a smile. He had never met a girl that he liked so much. He wanted to run out and find her again and tell her that she meant a lot to him even though they met 24 hours ago. So many thoughts were racing in his head and then finally he told him self “calm down. we do not want to scare her away.”
He felt like an idiot because he did not ask for her phone number. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and changed his clothes. He ran out to his balcony. From his balcony he had a perfect view of Jysell’s apartment complex. He became sadden because he did not see her. He looked down at his watch and it showed 7:34 am. “of course she is not outside it is to early! I guess I will try to see her this afternoon” he said to himself. He quickly made it back into his apartment to go on with his day.
*****
I had run a few errands for my mom that day. Since she worked at night, she slept in the day. I was eager to run the errands that Saturday morning, I wanted to see David so bad. I wanted to ask him for his phone number last night, but I didn’t want to be to forward. “is he thinking about me, as I am” I asked myself.
When I went down to my car, I quickly scanned the parking lot and his apartment complex but no sign of him. With disappointment I drove away. I left my house around 7:36 am and got back around lunch time. I didn’t think of David on my way back home. So, when I got home, I went inside to my apartment without looking for him. My mom was up, and she had cooked us lunch. We ate and she got ready to leave for work.
I did some cleaning and I was waiting until it got dark enough to go outside for my run. David had made his way out of my head by that time.
I got ready and headed out the door. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, he was standing a few feet in front of me. I had the biggest smile on my face and so did he. Out of nowhere I got flooded with a feeling of joy, I didn’t know what to do with so much feelings. So, I ran to him and I hugged him, and he hugged me back tightly.
When I realized what I had done, I let him go and I jumped back.
“I am sorry, I do not know why I did that.” I said.
“Don’t be sorry! If you had not done that, I would have done the same thing. I kept looking for you all day, but I didn’t see you. I have been out here waiting for you. I wanted to knock on your door, but I didn’t want to be to forward.” He said.
“so you thought waiting outside for me was not too forward? Haha, thank you for doing that because I really wanted to see you!”
He let out a awkward chuckle,’ I hope she doesn’t think I am a wierdo stalker’ he thought to himself.
“where are you going?” he said.
“well I am going for my nightly run… do you want to join me,” I asked shyly. I was hoping he said yes.
“it would be an honor, let me go home and change.” I nodded and he took off.
While he was gone, I was so nervous I was shaking. I didn’t know why I felt this way. What was so special about ‘David’. Whatever it was, I thought to myself, I really enjoy his company.
David was so nervous he didn’t know what to wear! ‘what does one wear for a jog?’ he asked himself. He felt like he was gone for an hour but every time he glanced at his watch on his wrist only a few seconds had passed.
He finally decided on what to wear. He wore some white Nike shorts and a gray Nike t-shirt and his black Nike shoes. He was so nervous, but he knew he wanted to spend time with Jysell. He finally rushed out the door and met Jysell outside.
*****
Jysell saw David running towards her. She thought he was so cute, you could tell he was nervous, she wondered if he could tell she was nervous. When David finally made his way out of no where they hugged again. It was a feeling they both had, like it was necessary for them to hug each other. It was the best hug they had in their whole lives they thought.
*****
After getting to know each other David finally asked Jysell to be his girlfriend. They had to keep it a secret because of her mom but they didn’t care. What mattered was that they were together. They would spend the majority of their time together in the afternoons and on weekends. Jysell would get so excited to get home from school, they would talk for hours, go out to eat, hang out together. They felt like they were made for one another. They were together for 2 years until that tragic night.
It was a hot Saturday. Both David and Jysell planned to go to the pool to cool off. They ate lunch together and they went back to their apartments to change. While Jysell was changing she stopped and glanced at a photo she had hidden of both of them in her drawer. This man really made her happy. He understood her, he cared for her, he was always there no matter what. She wanted to marry this guy, she wanted to have his kids, she wanted to grow old with him.
*****
Back at David’s apartment, it may have been a coincidence, but David was looking at the same picture he had on top of his night table.
He sat down and looked at it and sighed deeply. He was so happy he had found her, she made him a better person. David was in love with Jysell and he knew Jysell was in love with him. As he sat on the edge of his bed, he took his hand and went inside his pocket. He took out a small red and black box and opened it. Inside was an engagement ring. He had been carrying it around ever since they met that night in October.
He had carried it around for two years! Ever since he met Jysell he knew she was the one, he was just waiting for the right time. He thought that day would be perfect. His plan was to take her out for dinner and propose. His heart fluttered with love, and he knew this would be the right decision. He quickly put the ring back in his pocket and put the photo down. He went to get ready for the pool.
******
They hung out that afternoon. It felt perfect. It felt like a dream, it felt like they were meant to be. After the pool he asked her if it was alright to take her our to eat. Jysell nodded. They went to get changed. While they were changing it started to thunderstorm. Jysell hated storms, it would scare her. She had not gotten ready yet when she heard a knock on the door. She wasn’t sure if it was a knock or thunder, so she hurriedly went to open the door. It was David. He knew how much Jysell hated storms and he went to be with her so she would not be scared. Jysell hugged him and she started to cry. This man was the one, she thought. “I don’t ever want to lose you David, you are my other half” she said as tears ran down her cheek. David replied. ”I don’t want to lose you either.” he hugged her tightly and they stayed in this moment and enjoyed it.
As she finished getting ready, she could still hear the storm outside. It was a strong one, she thought.
“Do you want to cook something here instead. Then we can watch a movie.” She said to David.
“No I'd rather go out, do you not want to anymore?”
“I do! But it is storming pretty bad.” Jysell said.
“It is ok. I will never let anything happen to you. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes I am.” She smiled at him.
“You look beautiful today Jysell. You are always so beautiful.”
She went to him and kissed him.
They went out the door and down the stairs. David opened the umbrella and they quickly got into the car. As they started to drive off, they could see the storm was bad. The drove down the road and then David slammed on his brakes. They both let out a grunt, there was something in front of their car.
“what is that?!” he said.
“Are you ok? I don’t know. We should just go around it David. I have a bad feeling; I can feel the hair on the back of my neck stand. Please” Jysell pleased to him.
“hey its ok baby. I am just going to check it out and then we will leave ok?”
“Please don’t David. Don’t leave lets just go!” She raised her voice a little.
David ignored her plead and got out of the car and opened the umbrella. Jysell was scared, she didn’t know why. All she knew is that something bad was going to happen. She glued her eyes towards David. he walked in front of the car and she saw him kneel. He turned back to her and smiled. The same smile she saw two years ago. The same smile that she fell in love with. It eased her. He got up and started to walk to the car. Out of nowhere a car came speeding down the road and hit David. David’s eyes locked with Jysell’s. It happened in slow motion. She saw how the car hit his left side and he flew up on the air and hit the ground.
“DAVID!!!” Jysell yelled.
She ran out of the car and ran to her love. He was on the ground; his legs were broken and blood gushing out of his head.
“David listen to me! Do not leave me ok!!” She quickly took out her phone and called for help. The operator advised they would be at the scene in 5-6 minutes. She hung up and picked David’s body off the ground.
“Jysell.” He weakly said.
“STOP, save your strength David. Help is on the way. Stay with me David. Stay with me!“ she felt her tears running down her face.
David was not going to make it; he was for sure about that. He could feel his soul leaving his body. His heart was shattered, he was going to lose Jysell.
He reached to his pocket and took out the ring and gave it slowly to Jysell.
Jysell started to cry so hard she couldn’t even breathe.
“Yes I want to marry you!! you are the love of my life David! Stay with me baby, you must. You cannot leave me!!” She yelled. Jysell put the ring on.
As soon as the ring was on David said his final words.
“Jysell, ever since I met you, I knew you were the one. I will always take care of you.” he said weakly and then his soul left his body.
Jysell yelled at his lifeless body. The ambulance came but couldn’t do anything. David had passed away.
To this day Jysell wears her engagement ring. She knew she would never love anyone else like David.
David(Jysell Garcia- Alvarez)
When I first saw David, he was sitting in front of the apartment complex. He was surrounded by other men.
I was 16 years old at the time I met David, and he was 18. When I first met him, I was walking from the bus stop. It was a chilly afternoon in October. I was listening to music while I walked to my apartment. I was just thinking that it was Friday and we didn’t have school the next day and then I saw him.
I lived on the top level of an apartment complex, there were 8 apartments, 4 on top and 4 on the ground level. Every afternoon my neighbors would be outside drinking or just chilling, and that afternoon David had joined them.
I was a shy girl, so when I saw him for the first time, we locked our eyes for a few seconds and I looked away. I knew all my neighbors, but I had never seen him before. I was nervous walking by them, so I was preparing myself mentally. I was about 200 feet away before I got to the front of my apartment, but it seemed like I was a mile away. When I finally reached my destination everyone said good afternoon, I smiled and said good afternoon, but my eyes were locked with his. He smiled at me and I saw his straight white teeth. There was something about him that I liked so much, but I didn’t even know him. I stood there frozen for a couple of minutes until I snapped out of it and I ran upstairs. I could hear friendly laughter behind me. I got so embarrassed, I felt like a fool. I brushed the feeling off and opened my door. The tiny voice in my head kept screaming “TURN AROUND!!” but I kept fighting it off until I could no longer do it, so I turned. As I turned my head, he had turned his and we locked eyes. I smiled and went inside.
That night I could not go to sleep. I kept turning and tossing around my bed. I decided I would go out for a jog. I usually liked running at night. It would help clear my head. My mother didn’t like the idea, but she was never there during the night since she worked the graveyard shift at the hospital.
I sent her quick text to let her know I would go out and she responded and said to be careful. I changed to my running clothes and glanced at my phone, it was 9:30pm. I thought it was the perfect time, I would just do 30 minutes of cardio, enough to get me tired and go to bed.
I stepped out of my apartment, I put my house key on my left pants pocket and my cellphone on the right pocket. I put on my headphones and I let the music take me away. As soon as I got down the stairs, I saw David across the street. At the time I didn’t know his name until later. He looked at me puzzled and I looked at him. I didn’t want to make it awkward, so I half waved and went for my run. I was so in the moment that I didn’t realize what time it was, so I head back to my house. I got to my apartment complex around 10:30 pm and I sat I front of the stairs to cool off. Out of no where David appeared, he startled me so much that I let out a small scream.
“You scared me!”
“I am so sorry; I didn’t mean to. I just saw you earlier when you left, and I didn’t want to go home until I saw you got back safely.” He said.
At the time I thought that was super sweet, but I didn’t even know him!
“Well thanks for that, but I don’t know you. You do not have to worry about me.”
“Well my name is David what is yours?”
“My name is Jysell, nice to meet you.” As I smiled at him. I didn’t know this man, but I felt like I did. He sat next to me and we talked for hours.
*****
The next morning all I could think about was David. I couldn’t help myself; I wanted to go outside and look for him and talk some more. My mother interrupted my daydream, and I came back to reality. My mother would never approve of him, she would never approve of anyone, especially my age.
It was hard to have a boyfriend because she didn’t allow it. I chuckled at myself, I was already thinking of David being my boyfriend and I just had met him! I thought I was being silly, so I continued my day.
*****
David woke up with a smile. He had never met a girl that he liked so much. He wanted to run out and find her again and tell her that she meant a lot to him even though they met 24 hours ago. So many thoughts were racing in his head and then finally he told him self “calm down. we do not want to scare her away.”
He felt like an idiot because he did not ask for her phone number. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and changed his clothes. He ran out to his balcony. From his balcony he had a perfect view of Jysell’s apartment complex. He became sadden because he did not see her. He looked down at his watch and it showed 7:34 am. “of course she is not outside it is to early! I guess I will try to see her this afternoon” he said to himself. He quickly made it back into his apartment to go on with his day.
*****
I had run a few errands for my mom that day. Since she worked at night, she slept in the day. I was eager to run the errands that Saturday morning, I wanted to see David so bad. I wanted to ask him for his phone number last night, but I didn’t want to be to forward. “is he thinking about me, as I am” I asked myself.
When I went down to my car, I quickly scanned the parking lot and his apartment complex but no sign of him. With disappointment I drove away. I left my house around 7:36 am and got back around lunch time. I didn’t think of David on my way back home. So, when I got home, I went inside to my apartment without looking for him. My mom was up, and she had cooked us lunch. We ate and she got ready to leave for work.
I did some cleaning and I was waiting until it got dark enough to go outside for my run. David had made his way out of my head by that time.
I got ready and headed out the door. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, he was standing a few feet in front of me. I had the biggest smile on my face and so did he. Out of nowhere I got flooded with a feeling of joy, I didn’t know what to do with so much feelings. So, I ran to him and I hugged him, and he hugged me back tightly.
When I realized what I had done, I let him go and I jumped back.
“I am sorry, I do not know why I did that.” I said.
“Don’t be sorry! If you had not done that, I would have done the same thing. I kept looking for you all day, but I didn’t see you. I have been out here waiting for you. I wanted to knock on your door, but I didn’t want to be to forward.” He said.
“so you thought waiting outside for me was not too forward? Haha, thank you for doing that because I really wanted to see you!”
He let out a awkward chuckle,’ I hope she doesn’t think I am a wierdo stalker’ he thought to himself.
“where are you going?” he said.
“well I am going for my nightly run… do you want to join me,” I asked shyly. I was hoping he said yes.
“it would be an honor, let me go home and change.” I nodded and he took off.
While he was gone, I was so nervous I was shaking. I didn’t know why I felt this way. What was so special about ‘David’. Whatever it was, I thought to myself, I really enjoy his company.
David was so nervous he didn’t know what to wear! ‘what does one wear for a jog?’ he asked himself. He felt like he was gone for an hour but every time he glanced at his watch on his wrist only a few seconds had passed.
He finally decided on what to wear. He wore some white Nike shorts and a gray Nike t-shirt and his black Nike shoes. He was so nervous, but he knew he wanted to spend time with Jysell. He finally rushed out the door and met Jysell outside.
*****
Jysell saw David running towards her. She thought he was so cute, you could tell he was nervous, she wondered if he could tell she was nervous. When David finally made his way out of no where they hugged again. It was a feeling they both had, like it was necessary for them to hug each other. It was the best hug they had in their whole lives they thought.
*****
After getting to know each other David finally asked Jysell to be his girlfriend. They had to keep it a secret because of her mom but they didn’t care. What mattered was that they were together. They would spend the majority of their time together in the afternoons and on weekends. Jysell would get so excited to get home from school, they would talk for hours, go out to eat, hang out together. They felt like they were made for one another. They were together for 2 years until that tragic night.
It was a hot Saturday. Both David and Jysell planned to go to the pool to cool off. They ate lunch together and they went back to their apartments to change. While Jysell was changing she stopped and glanced at a photo she had hidden of both of them in her drawer. This man really made her happy. He understood her, he cared for her, he was always there no matter what. She wanted to marry this guy, she wanted to have his kids, she wanted to grow old with him.
*****
Back at David’s apartment, it may have been a coincidence, but David was looking at the same picture he had on top of his night table.
He sat down and looked at it and sighed deeply. He was so happy he had found her, she made him a better person. David was in love with Jysell and he knew Jysell was in love with him. As he sat on the edge of his bed, he took his hand and went inside his pocket. He took out a small red and black box and opened it. Inside was an engagement ring. He had been carrying it around ever since they met that night in October.
He had carried it around for two years! Ever since he met Jysell he knew she was the one, he was just waiting for the right time. He thought that day would be perfect. His plan was to take her out for dinner and propose. His heart fluttered with love, and he knew this would be the right decision. He quickly put the ring back in his pocket and put the photo down. He went to get ready for the pool.
******
They hung out that afternoon. It felt perfect. It felt like a dream, it felt like they were meant to be. After the pool he asked her if it was alright to take her our to eat. Jysell nodded. They went to get changed. While they were changing it started to thunderstorm. Jysell hated storms, it would scare her. She had not gotten ready yet when she heard a knock on the door. She wasn’t sure if it was a knock or thunder, so she hurriedly went to open the door. It was David. He knew how much Jysell hated storms and he went to be with her so she would not be scared. Jysell hugged him and she started to cry. This man was the one, she thought. “I don’t ever want to lose you David, you are my other half” she said as tears ran down her cheek. David replied. ”I don’t want to lose you either.” he hugged her tightly and they stayed in this moment and enjoyed it.
As she finished getting ready, she could still hear the storm outside. It was a strong one, she thought.
“Do you want to cook something here instead. Then we can watch a movie.” She said to David.
“No I'd rather go out, do you not want to anymore?”
“I do! But it is storming pretty bad.” Jysell said.
“It is ok. I will never let anything happen to you. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes I am.” She smiled at him.
“You look beautiful today Jysell. You are always so beautiful.”
She went to him and kissed him.
They went out the door and down the stairs. David opened the umbrella and they quickly got into the car. As they started to drive off, they could see the storm was bad. The drove down the road and then David slammed on his brakes. They both let out a grunt, there was something in front of their car.
“what is that?!” he said.
“Are you ok? I don’t know. We should just go around it David. I have a bad feeling; I can feel the hair on the back of my neck stand. Please” Jysell pleased to him.
“hey its ok baby. I am just going to check it out and then we will leave ok?”
“Please don’t David. Don’t leave lets just go!” She raised her voice a little.
David ignored her plead and got out of the car and opened the umbrella. Jysell was scared, she didn’t know why. All she knew is that something bad was going to happen. She glued her eyes towards David. he walked in front of the car and she saw him kneel. He turned back to her and smiled. The same smile she saw two years ago. The same smile that she fell in love with. It eased her. He got up and started to walk to the car. Out of nowhere a car came speeding down the road and hit David. David’s eyes locked with Jysell’s. It happened in slow motion. She saw how the car hit his left side and he flew up on the air and hit the ground.
“DAVID!!!” Jysell yelled.
She ran out of the car and ran to her love. He was on the ground; his legs were broken and blood gushing out of his head.
“David listen to me! Do not leave me ok!!” She quickly took out her phone and called for help. The operator advised they would be at the scene in 5-6 minutes. She hung up and picked David’s body off the ground.
“Jysell.” He weakly said.
“STOP, save your strength David. Help is on the way. Stay with me David. Stay with me!“ she felt her tears running down her face.
David was not going to make it; he was for sure about that. He could feel his soul leaving his body. His heart was shattered, he was going to lose Jysell.
He reached to his pocket and took out the ring and gave it slowly to Jysell.
Jysell started to cry so hard she couldn’t even breathe.
“Yes I want to marry you!! you are the love of my life David! Stay with me baby, you must. You cannot leave me!!” She yelled. Jysell put the ring on.
As soon as the ring was on David said his final words.
“Jysell, ever since I met you, I knew you were the one. I will always take care of you.” he said weakly and then his soul left his body.
Jysell yelled at his lifeless body. The ambulance came but couldn’t do anything. David had passed away.
To this day Jysell wears her engagement ring. She knew she would never love anyone else like David.
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Kevin Hughes
10/26/2019Jysell,
Like everyone else who has posted a comment, the beauty, depth, and loss in this story ripped my heart apart. You will love again...David will make sure of that. I am old Jysell and have seen what the power of a True Love can do - it teaches you love again when the Time comes. Love doesn't understand duration...so the Time you had together will never go away.
I know many stories of loss (long life guarantees that) and folks who loved at the Level of you and your David- the surviving partner eventually loves again. I think it is because the partner that is gone keeps an eye out for them. When you find Love again, talk it over with David- get his blessing, and continue on with your life. It will happen.
Smiles, Kevin
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Gail Moore
10/23/2019So sad, you had me in tears. Your short time together was so precious. You have wonderful memories.
Hold them close to your heart forever Jysell.
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JD
10/21/2019Thank you for sharing your true story of heartbreaking love and loss with us, Jysell. I'm so glad that you were able to experience a wonderful real life romance with David, and the joy of loving and being loved, before he was taken so tragically. Congratulations on being selected as one of the Short Story STARS of the Week! :-)
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Dave Lane
08/09/2019Another great story but very sad. I can pitcher eachscene in my mind and see the rain falling down, both of them on the street, and her crying at the end. Please tell this is fiction!
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Jysell Garcia- Alvarez
08/13/2019No worries Dave.
You are not out of line. I know i will but it will not be what i felt with him.
I know he would want me to be happy again one day.
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Dave Lane
08/09/2019Jysell, I am so sorry. Your love for David (and his love for you) was and still is so genuine. I could sense that when I was reading the your story. David seemed like am amazing person. I do feel that you will find love again, maybe not like you had with David, but you will. I hope I am not out of line? Please forgive me if I am.
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Jysell Garcia- Alvarez
08/09/2019Thank you Dave! And no it is not. This really happened. I am 26 years old right now and I still wear his ring. I have learned to live with it, but I don't believe i could love anyone else like David.
COMMENTS (5)