I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“No,” Sony shakes her head. “It was just her and I.” The last words
come out in whimpers. Tears spill from her eyes. Neo wraps his arms
around her, hand in her hair, the other gripping the shirt at her back.
“I didn’t get to say goodbye,” she says, sinking into him as she once
did with her mother. I kiss her temple as she sobs with her whole
body. I hold her from the side, my arms overlapping Neo’s.
“I wish I had wings,” she cries.
“It’s okay, Sony,” Neo whispers, caressing red strands of fire lost in
rain. He holds her tight, taking my hand in the process. “We’re not
gonna let you fall.”
Sony learns something that day.
She learns that death isn’t playful.
Death is sudden.
It has no taste for irony or reason.
It doesn’t wait for another tick of the metronome.
It doesn’t wait for goodbyes.
Death is a taker, plain, direct, no tricks up its sleeve. And it will give
you nothing in return but a last endless kiss for those you leave
behind.
—
Sony’s mother had a lot of money. Like a child, Sony puts no value
to it.
Lawyers meet with her about inheritance, wills, and many other
things Sony