17

“The sky’s the limit, darling”

She said, taking a pull from her cigarette.

I coughed, wondering if that’s true,

Why she of all people stayed so firmly 

On the ground.

She reached out to me, 

One leather gloved hand 

Cold and uninviting against my skin. 

I felt myself shiver, at the hint of her proximity

“Maybe this was her dream?”

I thought, faking a smile,

But mine was somewhere farther. 

Mine was something else.

I let her kiss my cheeks,

Wondering if she believed it,

Truly,

That she’d made it.

I hoped so.

Even if I’d never understand.