i couldn’t sleep,

i could only think of

how little i’d come

since that day.

how i’d probably never move on

never change

why won’t things change?

my phone lay nearby

and i thought of the unthinkable.

would she answer?

papa was asleep across the passage

and i couldn’t bear being alone any longer.

carefully

i picked up my cellphone

and dialed the number.

i waited as it rang

again and again

causing my heart to sink.

it had been stupid to think she’d answer

at this time of night.

“Sora-chan? What’s going on?”

my words entangled themselves when i heard her voice

and i forced them out in a knotted mess

trying to explain my reason for calling.

“don’t apologise, Sora, i understand how you feel.

do you want me to come over?”

i thought it over

“...no. let’s go someplace else. i don’t want to stay in this damned house.”

“ok.”

and before i knew it

i was pulling on a pair of shoes and heading for the door

to meet her at the park

still listening to her breathing on the other side of the phone

as we both walked

towards each other.