Week 27 [Home Game]: Once Upon a Time
When I woke, the need overwhelmed me. It curled in my chest and brought tears to my eyes. I indulged it, closing my eyes again and clinging to my stuffed bunny rabbit as if it could give me the affection that I yearned for. It couldn’t. No one but my love could drive the tears from my eyes. Perhaps I could conjure him next to me if I only wished hard enough.
There. He slept beside me, his presence physically impossible in my twin bed. I reached out anyway to rub his back and then wrapped my arms around him, hoping he would stir from sleep. Even if my best efforts could not wake him, as so often occurred, the terrible need would still ebb with his presence.
He did stir, opening his eyes slowly, as if he never would have done so without the encouragement of my touch. "Good morning." I heard vestiges of sleep in his voice. He turned on a dime in the twin bed to face me, momentarily breaking the illusion before I forced it back into place. "I love you."
"I love you, too." A smile spread across my face as I cuddled up closer and rested my head just beneath his shoulder.
I put words he had said many times before and would surely say again into the illusion's mouth: "Do you know how much I love you?"
"No," I answered, as always.
"That's right," he responded. "More than you'll ever know."
My smile widened. I wanted nothing more than to rest here with him for the rest of the morning. Now, I could have that. "I love you," I said again as I slipped away into sleep.
I woke up alone a couple of hours later. The illusion had dissipated long before, so my arms only contained a brown stuffed bunny. My need to see my love again had faded as well, although it would never evaporate completely as long as distance separated us. For now, I could handle it. I rose from the small bed, leaving my mind’s magic tricks behind.
There. He slept beside me, his presence physically impossible in my twin bed. I reached out anyway to rub his back and then wrapped my arms around him, hoping he would stir from sleep. Even if my best efforts could not wake him, as so often occurred, the terrible need would still ebb with his presence.
He did stir, opening his eyes slowly, as if he never would have done so without the encouragement of my touch. "Good morning." I heard vestiges of sleep in his voice. He turned on a dime in the twin bed to face me, momentarily breaking the illusion before I forced it back into place. "I love you."
"I love you, too." A smile spread across my face as I cuddled up closer and rested my head just beneath his shoulder.
I put words he had said many times before and would surely say again into the illusion's mouth: "Do you know how much I love you?"
"No," I answered, as always.
"That's right," he responded. "More than you'll ever know."
My smile widened. I wanted nothing more than to rest here with him for the rest of the morning. Now, I could have that. "I love you," I said again as I slipped away into sleep.
I woke up alone a couple of hours later. The illusion had dissipated long before, so my arms only contained a brown stuffed bunny. My need to see my love again had faded as well, although it would never evaporate completely as long as distance separated us. For now, I could handle it. I rose from the small bed, leaving my mind’s magic tricks behind.