I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“Oh.” Sam blinks for a while, his cheeks and lips puffed out. “Okay.
I’ll tell you some.”
We tiptoe through the hall, Sam giggling under his breath the whole
time, bread rolls stuffed up his sleeves. He runs once we’re out of
sight, up, up, up till we reach a stairwell.
Sam opens the window at the very top and ushers me through it. We
emerge, and there, I meet the sky. It’s cold and gray, the ground
harsh, and the
wind harsher.
“This is the roof,” Sam says. I shiver, hunching and rubbing my
hands up and down my arms. Sam seems to like it, though. He takes
the bread rolls from his sleeves, gives me one, and sits.
“Look.” He points up. Against a layer of darkness, the sky wears
lights.
They’re dull, yet they flare like candle flames about to go out.
“Those are my stars,” Sam whispers like it’s a secret he trusts me to
keep.
“They’re the most beautiful things in the world.”
Stars, I think, the word playing voicelessly on my tongue.
“Are you a star?” I ask.
Sam’s mouth opens, a surprised sound stuttered from his throat.
Then, he laughs, the eruption cracky and full.
“You’re silly,” he says, and when his laughter ceases, “We can share
my stars if you want.”
It’s a breath. A promise. The first promise he ever makes me.