With Faith There Can be Hope

The story begins with our first character

I looked out of my water pelted window staring down at the streets below me remembering a world in which I used to live. A world that I tell myself I can reach if only I had the strength.

            “A lake the morning rainbow sinks into flowers that give sweet honey. The water is cold, but oh so gentle. Swimming... Let's cross the upside-down rainbow... Swimming... to that closeness we so want to reach. Linking to the future that lies within the depths of those translucent eyes, the atmosphere quietly...echoes only the sound of jumping fish. The flame of water within my pale fingers will someday envelop me so much it hurts. Swimming... Ripples that can dissolve even a heartbeat. Swimming...Within those arms, I see a rainbow.”

            I quietly sang the mellow song that seemed to fit the atmosphere of the gloomy whether so well. The original song was in Japanese but I learned to sing it in English. The artist songs always put me in a dreamy state as I listened to her songs. After I finished the room was silent again. I sighed and the window I faced instantly fogged up. It slowly faded reminding me of the cold autumn weather outside. The only sound that disrupts the silence in my room is the occasional pattering of the raindrops against the glass. My mind once again drifts away on an invisible cloud. I think of the raindrops as tears from a goddess that is sad for being forgotten by the very people she loves.

            A knock on the door jolts me from my dreamlike state.

            “Who is it?” I ask.

            “It’s me.” ‘Me’ was referring to my only friend here. Catherine Parsley was also one of the nurses that were in charge of me. I turned away from the window, my hands unconsciously finding the rail formed around both wheels of my chair. Kate had already walked in with a tray in her hands. “Breakfast is ready.” She held the tray up showing me the freshly prepared pancakes and eggs. The aroma drifted into my nose but failed to pull at my appetite. Catherine frowned and set the tray down on the stand next to my bed.

            “Thank you, Kate.” I said trying to reassure her. I call her Kate because it seems like a sign that we truly are friends. Her smile returned. I tried to return her smile but I found this to be a difficult task. Kate made it one of her personal goals to get me to smile with emotion ever since I first checked into this hospital. I try to feel thankful for what Kate has done for me but I can’t get myself to smile for her…naturally. I just couldn’t find any reason to be happy for. Not besides my friend but she was only a fragment of the broken glass to try to be put back together.

            The most I could manage was an uncertain grin that quickly faded. Kate put her hands on her hips.

            "Still no smile from you yet?" She asked. I let out yet another long sigh and shook my head.

            "Sorry." I apologized. Kate's eyebrow twitched. Yet another goal on Kate's list of changes for me. I don't know why but I feel like everything is my fault and I'm always trying to apologize for everything. It's pretty bad because even I know it is a problem but I still do it.

            "Faith, you need to stop apalogizing for everything."

            "I'm--" I quickly slapped my hands over my mouth to stop myself from uttering the dreaded phrase. Kate giggled at the scene and I gave her a stern look.

            "Anyway, how are you feeling today?" Catherine asked, a standard question for patients.

            "About as gloomy as this weather we're having today." I aimed my thumb towards my eigth floor window. The wind from the storm had picked up and was ripping the colored leaves off of a large tree below. Kate walked behind me and gripped the handles on my wheel chair.

            "Well, then let me cheer you up." My chair wheeled forward towards my opened door. "How does some ice cream sound?"

            "But what about breakfast?" I asked pointing towards the tray of food.

            "That can be your dessert."