Discouraging words

Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Lily who loved solving crossword puzzles. Every day, Lily would spend hours poring over the latest crossword puzzle from her local newspaper. However, there was one clue that always seemed to stump her – “Discouraging words.”

Lily had tried everything to figure out the answer, but nothing seemed to fit. One day, she decided to take a break from the puzzle and go for a walk. As she strolled down the street, she overheard two friends having a conversation.

“I really wanted to go to the concert tonight, but I don’t have enough money,” said one friend.

“Well, that’s too bad,” replied the other friend. “Looks like you’ll have to say ‘NOS’ to that one.”

Suddenly, it hit Lily – ‘NOS‘ was the answer to the crossword clue she had been struggling with! ‘NOS‘ was a common abbreviation for “No’s” or “No’s” in Latin. And those two friends had unknowingly given her the missing piece to her crossword puzzle.

From that day on, Lily felt inspired to keep solving crossword puzzles, knowing that even something as simple as an overheard conversation could provide the answer she was looking for. And every time she saw the clue ‘Discouraging words,‘ she smiled to herself, grateful for the little nudge she had received from the universe.