I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

she’s talking about her kids. She tells Hikari about the seashells
she’ll bring back to them, the tattoo she’ll show off, adding to her list
of crazy stories that they can’t get enough off.
Sony’s fire is eternal. If I reach, I can see her passing it on to
children of her own, maybe a classroom full. She’ll brag about her
famous writer friend and her tall, pretty friend and her funny thief
friend. She’ll tell them all her adventures at the hospital, and they
wouldn’t realize it was a hospital at all.
Sony’s step falters for a moment when we reach the sidewalk on the
other side. She catches her breath again, adjusting the backpack.
“Sorry.” She tries to laugh it off. “Needed a second there.”
“I’m sure your cat will forgive us if we’re late home,” Hikari says. She
holds Sony steady, pretending the falter was just a clumsy trip.
“You like Hee, right, Hikari?”
“Of course.”
“Good, good. I’m gonna need somebody to take care of her.”
“What do you mean?” Hikari asks. When Sony doesn’t answer for a
moment, Hikari frowns, slowing their pace. “Sony, don’t talk like that.”
She caresses the red framing Sony’s face. “You’re gonna make it.”
Neo and C glance back at the conversation. It’s a half a second, a
few words, but it’s enough to cause a shift among them. One of our
unsaid rules is not broken, but poked at.
“You’re such a kid,” Sony says, nudging Hikari along.
It’s when we start to near a place I’m too familiar with that I start to
slow down.
The river surges beneath the bridge. It dares me to look. It takes a
shovel to my memories. My friends walk along its edge. I recoil,