I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

Neo and C together in school, writing their book together. Neo is
bruise-less, the torments of his father no more. C’s skin is scarless,
stormless. He takes Neo to the beach for swims on the weekends
and takes Sony along. Sony has her children in her arms, a husband
or wife, or anyone in the world she desires. She carries them across
the sand into the water, making grimaces and kissing them as the
waves gently wash in. Their disease, their stolen time, their deaths
are all a thing of the past. They survive, and they are happy, and
they live.
But it’s a lie. It’s all a lie, and Hikari made me believe it could be true.
With her one day and her constant game of pretend that she plays
with the future as if it’s set in stone. She made them all think it could
be true.
“Sam?”
I flinch. Hikari stands in the doorway, alone. My anger rises like
smoke from the place she touched.
“Are you okay?” Her voice is edgeless. She’s worried about me. “I’m
sorry I grabbed you like that.” She walks to me without caution as my
jaw works on its hinges. “I just couldn’t let you fall–”
“Why did you say that to Sony?” I ask. My fists clench at my sides.
Hikari halts, our distance the same as the day we met.
“What?”
“You said, you’re going to make it. Why did you say that to her?”
Hikari shakes her head like she’s been hit.
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re acting like a motivational poster. Like those tapes, they
remake every ten years telling sick kids to keep fighting as if any of it
is in their control.”