[SE] wonder and marvel

// think of the sun that shaped them //

Lena wished it was easy for anyone, everyone, to return to times before traumatic and horrific events. For their mind to not be so warped by the incredible losses or harrowing struggles, bestial trials and tribulations – but none of them were the same people now. Sohalia, innocent and naïve, had unfortunately learned through disaster, mayhem, and terror; and to try and crawl back into anything resembling normalcy or simplicity was brave.

So there they lingered, laughing when they could. The Caretaker watched as the paper flicked back and forth, pondering over pieces she’d pick, when the options came forth again. “Five please,” and she smiled – hoping for something decent as well. Though her hair was less of a concern.

Lena

// the speck of truth that's ours //

Sohalia

This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?

It was nice, this break from reality, this moment that Lena afforded her to simply sit and relax and forget for a while. Even though all of Soh's worries pressed at the back of her mind, for once, they stayed there, lurking past the wall she'd built to contain them to moments when she had the capacity to feel badly. For now, at least, she could spend time with a friend and lose herself in schoolyard fortunes written into the cootie catcher.

So the Luminary lifted the flap to reveal the fortune beneath number five and smiled. "Your smile will be forever contagious." Simple, like the first, but authentic all the same in a way that her own fortune would never be. "The kids that made this are wholesome, indeed."

Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

// think of the sun that shaped them //

She awaited her own fortune with a grin and flicking her fingers through the water, casting little temples with her hands, drifting them along warm ripples and basking in something other than grief and melancholy. Once she did hear Sohalia read it off though, she couldn’t help but laugh, that contagious smile echoing through. “Aww, they are. I’ll be sure to thank them again when I see them next.” Maybe there were far more compelling junctures to lay their worth upon – but Lena preferred these, here and now, simple and true, fair and right.

And from there, they could go back and forth, giggling at the laden potentials, relaxing into the midst – giving in to better times and glories of the innocent.

[FIN]

Lena

// the speck of truth that's ours //