I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

owed. But this story was never about the hope that arises in
catastrophic moments. That hope is passive, not a being, but a state
of being.
There is another kind of hope. The kind that is eternal, a scenery you
don’t quite notice until you glance a second time. It is not a wish, it is
an appreciation, a grateful desire for life as it is.
Everything has a soul. Even books, broken things, and hope have a
soul.
Hope chased Despair down the street that day. It caught her by the
waist, and it saved her just as she had saved it from the unbearable
brightness of their own making. After all, suns cannot see their own
light.
So Hope and Despair held each other close until the shadows were
gone.
after
It takes time.
But over the course of winter’s coldest months, Hikari begins to heal.
Her body, and thanks to time’s grace, her mind too.
Her parents agreed to go to therapy with her, a recommendation
from her doctors. They learn to listen as Hikari learns to
communicate. I see her mom hugging her more often, and reading
with her. Her father looks at her drawings and talks to her about
them. Their relationships, however wounded, mend with every
subtle, contagious smile.
Every day, when the broken clock above the door should strike noon,
Hikari takes me by the hand, her notebook in the other, and together
we make our way to the library, the gardens, all of our places. She
begins to meet other patients close to her age. At first, Hikari is