I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“Where do you want to go first, Sony?” Hikari asks, holding her face
as they touch noses.
“Let’s get tattoos. No! Let’s go star watching! No! Let’s go to the
beach! To the sea! I adore the sea!”
“We’re gonna need a bus for that,” Neo says, pointing with his thumb
over his shoulder.
C looks at the postings on the bus stop schedule.
“There’s one that comes in 20 minutes.”
“Why don’t we walk a little through the city while we wait, hm?” Hikari
suggests, taking Sony’s hand so she can lean on her. “We have all
the time in the world.”
“You’re right,” Sony says, inhaling deeply, relaxing into Hikari’s side.
She gives her body a moment of silence, its customary intermission.
“Let’s go,” Hikari says after a while, mimicking Sony’s excitement,
keeping it alive. “Let’s go get your everything.”
The crosswalk, our stepping stones over the river, welcomes us back
beneath the shadow of the hospital building. C and Neo take the
lead in a pair.
At this time of day, people flood the streets like schools of fish. We
become the few among the many, following their lead. There’s
freedom in that anonymity. In being a stranger. At the latter end of
the crosswalk, the crowd
gets thicker, faster too, in a rush to beat the light. Neo reaches for
C’s hand without much thought behind it. C interlaces their fingers,
keeping him close.
Sony and Hikari are right behind. Sony hangs on Hikari’s arm. Hikari
hangs on Sony’s every word. Sony marvels at the city as if she’s
looking at it through an entirely new lens. I can tell from here that