I remembered the summer nights, lying under the bridge with him, staring up at the stars. He would sometimes stay up all night, using a rotting cattail leaf fan to swat away the mosquitoes, making sure I could sleep peacefully.
In the winter, he would run over ten kilometers every day, pushing himself to the limit just so he could return to me, sweat-soaked and exhausted, only to climb into bed and warm my cold sheets.
Those were the days when we had nothing, when we were so poor...
I worked at a small restaurant, and the leftovers I brought home were enough to keep us from going hungry.
Every day, he typed away on the old computer, his fingers tapping the keys with a determination that seemed to burn with hope. He would say to me, "Lila, soon, very soon, we’ll be in a big house, and we’ll be living a happy life."
“When the time comes, we’ll have two kids—our girl will look like you, and the boy will look like me. I’ll love you forever, Lila, and I’ll never change my mind...”
The soft breeze blew through the window, carrying with it the hum of life outside. My phone buzzed, a message notification lighting up the screen.
It was from Vivian.