Tomorrow is another day

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

"I know I'm going to regret this, but..." I said when I felt her crying stop probably from mere exhaustion. "Do you want to come to my place to see if the two of us calm down a little and can put some order to all this?"

She nodded without even opening her mouth and, clutching my shirt as a lost child would, she followed me, more trusting than she should, to the door of my block. I pulled out the keys and, without being sure myself what I was doing, I made sure that, at least, she was.

"This's my home. Do you really want to go up?"

"Are those the keys to your house?"

"Huh? Yeah..."

"So tiny..." she said again on the verge of crying. "I like its jingle," she added, sniffing and with a hint of a smile.

"Okay, I'm getting in. If you want to come, follow me."

And so she did. As we crossed the portal, she released my shirt and focused herself on, once again, observing every detail and every corner, as if she were in a new world.

"Your house is very strange. Where is the furniture?"

"This is not my house, this is the vestibule. We have to take the elevator and go up to the fourth floor."

"Elevator?"

"Unless you prefer to take the stairs up all four floors. I don't care but after today's walk..."

I pressed the elevator call button and she ran over to gawk at the little blue light. Then the door opened and she started at which I couldn't help but laugh.

"What's that little room?! How did the door open?!"

"It's automatic."

"So..."

"So it works with electricity. No need to push it."

"Like with... lightnings?" she asked arching an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Get on the elevator, please."

"Is that the elevator?"

"Uh-huh."

She got in obediently and something scared I'd say.

"We're not going to get struck by lightning or anything, right?"

"No!" I replied laughing again.

The elevator closed and began to move and Anna took refuge strongly in my arm awakening in me the same emotions as that letter that had stirred my insides.

"What's happening?!"

"We're going up home, remember?"

The elevator stopped and opened again providing her another jump and, arm in arm, we got out of it and stood in front of my door. I opened the door wondering what I was going to do when we were finally inside, I turned on the light, and we went in very, very slowly.

Anna stared at the lamp in the hall drawn to it like a moth.

"You're going to burn your retinas if you don't stop looking at the lights like that."

Without answering me and cautiously, she pushed the light switch turning off the only light bulb that illuminated us and I could hear her gasp. Then the light came back on, and turned off, and turned on, and turned off again.

"Anna," I said in the dark. "could you stop playing with the lights? I don't have replacement bulbs."

The light came on and I was surprised to see a more amazed than scared Anna.