Hopelessly Hopeful Novels & Stories

I just hope this doesn't escalate into something else. *******

They were just wide, and open, and full of a fragile, blooming hope. Dang, I felt bad.

And you… You deserve to be happy. Amara’s hands shook as she read the words. Tears pricked her eyes, blurring the ink into a watercolor of hope and desperation. She had spent countless nights wrestling with doubt, questioning whether her heart was worth the battles it would bring. And here, in Ada’s simple, earnest words, she found a flicker of affirmation, a small light piercing the oppressive darkness that had shadowed her for so long.

Slowly, my heart also settled into peace. Occasionally, while looking in the mirror, I would wonder just how much time I had wasted. But the next second, as if channeling Ms. Gardner, I would shout, "Live in the moment! Create the future!" Every time I shouted it, I couldn't help but laugh. Life during that period was genuinely joyful. That was until one day after work, I saw Miles standing by the gate. His face was haggard, his beard was unkempt, and his frame was gaunt and frail. Even in his disheveled state, his disdain for the surroundings was evident.

Now when it’s about her. Will I cut that much deeper? Will I try to cut the hope out of myself? See it running down my skin in red rivulets of disappointment and hopelessness. Hopelessness suggests despair and the cessation of effort, which leads to resignation. Resignation of my life? Will I feel that’s the end? She’s my mother. If I get that hopelessness from her, how else will I find hope? Who will pull me out?

They went on to dance for famous companies that toured around the world. My heart aches with desire. I hadn’t let myself go there, and suddenly it all seems like… It’s there again. It’s a possibility. Hope is this dangerous thing. It’s quiet and warm and it stays locked away until we feed it, and then it bursts into flame. It can consume us. It will very well eat me alive.

Or transforms into something I can't predict. I have hours. Just hours. To find the third path. Again. Always. Forever. Until I can't. Until the paths run out. Until Aurora ends. Really ends. Finally ends. Tomorrow. Maybe. Probably. Unless I find something. Anything. The impossible. The unprecedented. The last gamble. I'm running out of time. Running out of options. Running out of everything. Except hope. Desperate. Impossible. Foolish hope. That there's still one more way. One more choice. One more Aurora miracle.

_*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> "I hope you're right."

She clawed at her throat, gasping for air. "I honestly prefer you don't, that would be too boring. That fire in your eyes, that rebellious spirit ... that is what drew me to you. Pray to God to protect you, try and shield your friends. I want you to rebel against me. I want you to keep hope alive and dream of a day when this collar with be broken. Hope is the belief that things will change, that even the most horrible situation will come to an end. People cling to hope because they have no choice but to believe that they can outlast their Hell or that something will happen to change all the rules of the game. But every time the sun rises on their bleak world, every time they feel the strike

For a blissful moment, I thought I could escape. For a moment, I had hope that was bad. Very very bad. I had never felt hopeful since that day. I had forgotten what it was like and will soon never remember. Hope was dangerous. Hope gets me beaten. It gets me killed. It makes that little flame I have in me ignite only to be controlled. I can't go through another breakdown. Not now. Not again. So, I did as I was taught, I gave up. But not for long. * * *