#tenacitybred

“I wouldn’t say everything is okay. But...it’s fine.” He replied, though not entirely certain how to go about any of this. “I’m fine.”

If I walk far enough I come across a city with a river running through it. There’s never anyone around though, and it’s always burned to the ground. All the buildings are charred and there’s never anything but ash left on the ground. I never know what happened but as I’m walking through, I’ll see more animals just stiff and stuck in place. They’re not hurt or anything, they just kind of stay in one spot and never move. It’s creepy to walk through. I always walk into this one rickety house that still has papers on its black table but I never make it close enough to read it. I always hear dogs barking and people screaming and that’s when I wake up. It’s scared me real bad now and then because those sounds just come so suddenly... I wish I knew what it meant.”

"I can do it." He's frustrated, and he doesn't mean to take it out on his companion. And surely Faye would understand if he brushed her off. His fingers continued to work the fishing line as it coiled and tangled at his feet. The knot kept slipping, his fingers rendered shaky and sloppy. A sigh dripped from him as he handed it off to Faye, not saying a word of his defeat.

     Instead of having a clear path through the open gates, she suddenly had to weave out of the way of oncoming traffic. Well... traffic was just one person. She still weaved though. “Oh shit, sorry, didn’t see you coming there.” She stopped and looked at the woman for a moment, arching an eyebrow. “You must be new. Plenty of women here, plenty of women in armor even, but very few in none-regulated armor.”

“I’m looking for someone- I don’t suppose you could help?”

Which he announced very loudly with a point at her face in excitement. "I KNOW YOU!" He was practically bouncing in place now. "I do know you, right? I'm not mistaking you for someone cool?" He questioned but his excitement did not fade one bit as he waited for her to acknowledge him.

I remember standing in the stream with my old man, leaning down and feeling the water run between my fingers. My father pointed out how a lot of the trees near the water had white patches on them, and he said that it was because the water had minerals in it that sprayed over the trees and dried in layers, turning the outside to stone. I forgot what he called it, but it was the same reason the ground around the river wasn’t actual earth. It was a special kind of stone— I can’t remember what they call it in English. I don’t have many memories of my father that are as clear as that one. Hell, I don’t have that many memories of my father to begin with, but that one always sticks out to me. I remember how happy he was, how he loved to travel and go on adventures with me, even if my mother wasn’t always in agreement with it. If I had the chance, I would love to go back and see it again. I doubt it’s the same as how I remember it, it has been a few decades since I first saw it. I just think maybe if I went and saw it again I could sit by the water, dips my hands in and feel it flowing between my fingers, and maybe— just maybe, I’d feel my father standing next to me again.”

“You are one of the strongest people I know and, more than that, you are a good friend.”