UNRELIABLY TOLDㅤ misc

this city, writing

that's the thing about this city; each day is the same.

or maybe that's just a sign of my slipping sanity.

i sit on the rooftop, feet dangling. but i've lost all respect for Fear already, it's been this way for a long time.

the stars are lovely tonight—as lovely as they are every night, actually. this is pathetic.

i stand, ready to go inside and call it a day. maybe i'll actually dream of something tonight (yeah right).

but before i do, i catch a glimpse of someone across from my house, making his way onto his roof.

well. this doesn't happen everyday.

i sit back down. hat's off to him, i guess; he broke up the year's monotony. "you new around here?" i call to him, aware of how my words echo.

he startles. i think he's looking at me now, so i wave.

he hesitates, then waves back. "um.. not really," he says. i can barely hear him, but i don't tell him to speak louder. i've gotten good at listening.

"oh yeah? i've never seen you before."

"i, um, i moved here in like may," he says, his words whispery in the wind.

hm. i was probably indoors then, grateful for my phone as it screwed me over. "you don't come up here often, though," i call.

the boy sits carefully at the top of his roof, unlike me, who sits at the very edge. maybe that says something about the two of us.

"i don't," he admits, and he grows more confident, raising his voice. "there's a full moon tonight, though."

i glance at it. i noticed it earlier but, to me, it meant nothing. "so?" i say. "there was a full moon last month."

his silhouette shifts on the shingle roof. "i know. but for me, a full moon never gets old."

i press my lips together. fair enough, i guess. an odd envy tightens around my heart; i wish i could look forward to things, but quarantine has just driven me mad.

"you're here everyday, aren't you?"

i lean back. "yeah," i say, my voice echoing across the road. "my mom's paranoid of me taking a walk and catching covid, but apparently she trusts me not to fall?"

he chuckles. "with your demeanor, i'd think it's impossible for you to fall."

my lips smile without my consent. "yeah?"

"yeah. you look like you'd fly instead."

i laugh. "you can't even see my face."

"i don't need to," he says, and his voice is honest. "you're on the edge of your roof, and it seems like you have no reason to be scared."

i smile. no, i've just outgrown my fear. but still, i play with his analogies; "so i'm invincible."

his laughter is music. "so you're invincible, a goddess, even. maybe you aren't even real. an illusion, if you will."

"how do i know you're real?"

he scoffs. "i know we're all going crazy, but i don't think either of us are that crazy."

"fair enough." i smile. "what's your name?"

"liam. yours?"

"elori," i reply. "it's nice to meet you, i guess."

the funny thing is that he's the first person since march who i've met in real life—not from behind a screen.

"it's nice to meet you too," he says, then yawns.

i laugh. "weak," i tease. "already tired, liam?"

"maybe so, elori," he says, with a small laugh. "i normally don't go on rooftops at midnight."

i smile, standing from where i sat, walking to my balcony. my feet are used to the rooftop; they walk along its overhang, and my heart doesn't even skip a beat.

"well then," i say, "we should sleep."

"we should," he agrees, edging along his roof. "i'll see you tomorrow night, then."

something in me is excited; quarantine friendships are always like that, though.

i get excited for a friendship, for a new dynamic, but then i get bored, and the cycle repeats.

hopefully he's different.

my lips tilt into a smile, and i glance behind me; "see you."