10 Brave Novels & Stories

Peter nodded slowly but I could see he was still worried. "And you know what else?" John continued. "You're pretty smart. You stayed calm when that man took you. You didn't panic. That takes a lot of courage." "I was scared though," Peter admitted. "Being brave doesn't mean you're not scared," John said. "It means you stay strong even when you are scared. And that's exactly what you did." Peter seemed to consider this. "Okay. I can be brave." "I know you can," John said.

Just anything. I closed my eyes. There was this one time. I must have been seven or eight. I fell off my bike and scraped my knee really badly. I was crying and Dad picked me up and carried me all the way home. But instead of taking me straight inside he sat with me on the porch steps. What did he say. He told me that brave people are not the ones who never fall. They are the ones who get back up even when it hurts. A sad smile tugged at my lips. Then he kissed my knee and said he had kissed the pain away. And I believed him.

He was always so tough and so calm. "Of course. Especially when someone threatens my favorite niece." He smiled as she unconsciously created magical stars around them – her comfort mechanism. "Being brave isn't about not being scared. It's about facing those fears to protect what matters." "Like you did with the blade?" He would take that blade over and over to save her. Hell, he would die for any of them because he loved his family. "Like we both did," he corrected gently. "You were so scared, but you stayed. You fought. You healed." She sniffles again and hugged him.

I think I got that from my father. You said he was brave. I've been thinking about that word since I read your letter. People say brave like it's a simple thing, like it just means not being afraid. But I don't think that's right. I think brave means being afraid and doing it anyway because the thing that needs doing is more important than the fear. That's what I think my father did. And that's what I try to do with the newspaper.

Not from the video, not from the gene, not from the man standing in front of her whose worst self was playing on a screen thirty seconds ago. She looks at all of it, and she stays defiant against the instinct to flee. She is brave, in every way that matters. “Okay,” I say. “Let’s kill it.”

AYA‌NA: “I’m sc⁠ared, Daddy. I⁠’m trying to b⁠e brave like you and Mama want, but I⁠’m really scared.” AMO‌N: (p⁠ulling her close)‍ “Being scared doesn’t mean you’re not brave‍. Brave m‌eans doing hard thin⁠gs‌ even when you​’re terrified. You’re the​ b‌ravest perso‍n I know.” AYANA: “Braver than Mama when s⁠h‍e we⁠nt to Kigali?”

"I'm not brave. I was desperate." "Bravery is doing what needs to be done even when you're terrified. Especially when you're terrified. "Your children are lucky to have you as their mother." "I'm lucky to have them. They're what kept me fighting

I could always tell. “No, sweetheart,” she said. “Not today. But you know why, don’t you?” “Because she’s being brave,” I said. “That’s right.” Bianca went back to brushing, gentle through my curls. “Your mummy is the bravest woman I know. She’s out there doing something very important. Something good, for a lot of people. Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s scary. That’s what brave people do.” Her voice wobbled a little at the end. “You should be very proud of her.”

"Mary, I need to ask you something. About the sacrifice the First Born mentioned. Are you truly prepared to give up your life and soul if it comes to that?" "I do not know. I want to say yes. I want to believe I am brave enough to make that sacrifice. But honestly, I am terrified. The idea of not existing anymore, of losing everything and everyone I love, it is almost too much to bear." "Then let me tell you something I learned over three hundred years of life. Bravery is not the absence of fear. It is doing what needs to be done despite the fear. You do not have to want to sacrifice yourself. You just have to be willing to do it if necessary."

I turned to all of them at the end of my statement. “We won't tell you anything! You could go fuck yourself,” he resounded, making me turn my attention back to him. I wasn't sure what his name was, but if I were to give him one, it would definitely be Brave. He had the guts, he had so much guts to speak up to me that way. “You amaze me, Brave… you know, there's this saying…” I crouched down to his level as he knelt on the floor. His hands were tied and so were his legs.