To Err and to Forgive (Open)

The chaos was bewildering. He could hear but not discern the sound of the words uttered to him, the sound of his own breath and heart drowned everything else out, like the pulling and pushing of an ocean during a storm. His being was a shattered mirror, connected but fractured in the shape of a spiders web. Every word scraped against him, like pieces of chalk against a chalkboard. Maybe he did die, because he felt as if he was being punished using the words of other people. When he was approached by a man dressed as a ranger, his muscles turned to stone. Any movement threatening to make the sound of rashing sliding against each other. He had always been more scared of people than loud noises. If Hope had known the man before he was a priest he would have been tempted to push the hands that just reached for his own. He already was restraining himself from flinching. He could feel caloused hands over his own as his eyes became a well, the black pit of water was far away from the lights touch. The area enclosing his eyes felt warm as a small flame while the rest of his body felt chilled by water and breeze. Hope expected none of this and had no idea how to react. His actions were as slow as his instincts. He took deep breaths, like the waves of the shore. He stared down at the ground as if it was the most stable thing in his existence that he could trust to not change. His heart gradually kept slowing, but for now he wanted to move. The man before him was seen as an intimate stranger, such a notion did not carry well with him. He did not resonate with kindness nor gratitude, he was too cold to resonate with such things. His face was plain, or maybe it was just tired. Instead of finding comfort with the hands on his, his own trembling fingers grabbed those in front of his. Nails uncontrollably pressed into flesh as arms reached toward the ceiling. Eyes became half closed around the expanding iris before he looked up toward his recent …...companions. His eyes widened with what could only be bewilderment, he could see the face of those before him instead of blurs. He almost stared at the face of the man who came before him. A rasped voice broke out before his noodle-like arms. “Please…..Pull up. ......Where .............or Who?” His words were terse. He wasn't sure if he was talking to those around him or himself. He had trouble thinking let alone speaking. Eyes now peered at the man away from him. Narrowing on his features as if he had never seen anything like them before. "Hope" He spoke out to Koel. He could tell that when he calmed down, he was going to be much more tired. H O P E There's a place I go to Where no one knows me It's not lonely It's a necessary thing