You met Hope on a summer night and it took 5 dollars to get her to have a meal with you by a vending machine.

You didn't remember anything.
Amnesia, perhaps.
Either way, the moment you raised your head, Hope was already in front of you, smiling.
You felt dazed.

The two of you stayed quiet for what seemed like an eternity before she tilted her head back, chins raised up, daringly. You gazed down, only to be greeted with an upward curl of her lips and baring fangs. The grinned rested stiffly on her face and you felt an inexplicable urge to just reached out and smoothen it.
In the end, your fingers twitched a bit and you settled for:

"Want something to drink?"

She let out a soft giggle. It rang like a wind bell and you found yourself swamped once again with the dizziness.

"You are bad at conversations, mister."

A pause. You did not know how to reply, your eyes casted downward. She bounced in her own spot for a bit, then swirled around you before looking up with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you looked sad. What's wrong?"

The question took you aback.
Another moment of awkward silence. She squinted her eyes, then took your hands into her own small ones.

"Aw, it's ok. How about we have dinner together? It's your treat though, I don't have any money. Hope is a concept after all. I'm dirt poor."

Sure enough, there was a vending machine right where she was pointing. You chuckled at the absurdism of it all, and allowed yourself to lean into the warmth of her palm. Her delicate hold lingered and fluttered something inside your chest, like a long bath, or sun-dried blanket, or the rare days when your cat snuggled and curled up again your side.

And then, out of no where, you started longing.

To be honest, in the end, it didn't matter. Who they were. Why.

If you were here then it meant you have discarded the rest or they have you. There was no hope on your own. Maybe in that shitshow, somehow you got lucky. You had wished long and desperately enough that Hope was bestowed upon you.

This was enough.

So no more words were exchanged as you two munched on a sandwich bought with some wrinkled bills you had fished out of your pocket. The bread tasted like cardboard and suddenly you wanted to cry.
You probably did because Hope had stooped down beside you and was wrapping you in her own embrace. Her hands caressed your nape for a minute before turned to scratch your scalp absent-mindedly. You barely made out the tune she was humming. It sounded so very far away.

"We could stay like this forever."

She laughed at your childish mumble. All the while, her hands never stopped the motion.

"I don't think that's how it works Mister."

"Hope cannot exist on its own"

You felt a ghost of a kiss on your tear streak. The touch was fleeting as it was warm, and your skin tingled in the aftermath.

"Let me stay within you a bit longer"

So you did.
You closed your eyes.
Woke up.
And the day started anew.

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Pub: 05 Oct 2021 19:29 UTC
Views: 125