rain or shine

i run my fingers through her hair and it gives it a different texture. this way, she can't sleep at night. so she calls me, 3am, and asks me to come over. i take 3 books, a picnic basket, the eerie wind in a capsule pill she gave me last autumn to ease the sighs of the decreasing circle of life, and my dear backpack, climb up her window, and knock 5 times, our secret signal. she opens it, winks, and lets me inside. the aroma of freshly printed paper overpowers me and immediately, i ask for a latte. she lays me down on my back, puts a cool fluffy pillow underneath my head, puts one behind my knees, and points up to her moonroof where the stars spin and shoot to our direction, but burn up before they reach us. i smile and sigh.

after a few minutes, i'm completely relaxed, complacent. my eyes grow heavy, heavier, heavier, heavier, but i fight it. i want to savour this moment forever. she pokes my shoulder and signals for me to look at a stack of boxes on the left side of her bed. she picks up 3, they are lighter than feathers, and puts them on my stomach. they are the size of freebie coin purses issued by the bank to customers. they have a familiar and sanitary aroma about them. i smile and she tells me they are filled with emotions. i lay them by my side and put my hands behind my head, looking up at the sky once more.

i tell her that i think it's time we hit the road as her mom will be leaving for work in approx 2 hours. she pulls out a plastic shopping bag from fry's drug store from under her bed and fills it with glass bears in a jar, candles, 50 pound xerox paper, a box of alphabetized reciepts organised by the store from which they were bought, a box of letters, and patterened napkins. "taking any books?" i say. "you know, i've never read my favourite book," she says, "only smelled it." i yawn, sniffle, wipe my teary eyes with the sleeve of my sweater, and get up from my spot on the floor. "such a shame to leave those pillows." i say. she shuts her moonroof, blows out her candles, turns of her buzzing fan, turns off the light, and we climb out her window, stealthly. we climb down the muggy vines leading to the cold and wet grass from her window. i just slide down, fun. she does the same. "where are we going?" she asks. "i dont know."