I feel so bad even typing this out, like it's the stupidest problem in the world and I should just shut up but I literally cannot sleep and my head feels like it's gonna explode. Okay so like, I do art, right? I draw stuff, mostly little animals and fantasy things, just for fun, been doing it since I was tiny. And sometimes I post it online, like on that one site with all the colorful squares. It's just a thing I do, super chill. I live out in the middle of nowhere, like, cows are my neighbors, basically. Everyone here knows everyone else's business before they even do. So my drawing thing, it's just *my* thing. My quiet thing. It doesn't like, involve other people, ya know? I just sit in my room with my sketchbook and my cat and it's perfect. But then... this HUGE publisher, like a REALLY big one, they saw my stuff online. And they want me to sign a contract to illustrate a whole series of books. Like, real books. That people will actually buy. And read. And like, my mom is so excited, she's telling everyone in town, which is basically telling the whole world because we don't have secrets here, ever. And everyone's all "OH MY GOD you're gonna be FAMOUS!" and "You're gonna be RICH!" and I just wanna throw up, honestly. Like, I get it, it's a huge opportunity. It's what people dream of, right? But I just... I don't want it. And that makes me feel like such a total loser. Like, what kind of idiot turns down something like this? Me, apparently. The contract is just sitting there on my desk, all official looking, and it feels like a giant scary monster. Because if I sign it, everything changes. No more just drawing for me and my cat. It'll be for them, for deadlines, for millions of people to look at and decide if they like it or not. And what if they hate it? What if I mess it up? What if I can't do it? And then everyone in town will know I failed. And I'll have to go to like, book signings and stuff, probably. Talk to strangers. About MY art. And people will expect me to be some kind of artist-person, you know? Like, I'll have to *be* that person. And I'm not. I'm just me. The quiet one who lives out in the sticks and likes drawing fluffy dragons and just wants to be left alone. It's so stupid, I know. I should be jumping for joy. But I just feel like I'm gonna suffocate.