Page 49 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

“Yep. But it’s perfect. Everything you could want.”

“But then I die?”

“Yep.”

“Jeez, Finn, that took a dark turn.”

I snorted. “Sorry, I didn’t have much time to think. What’s your answer?”

She thought for a moment longer. “Ordinary days.”

“Really? I kinda thought you’d want the perfect day. The happily ever after moment.”

I thought I saw her shrug, but clouds must have drifted across the moon because even the scant window light had gone. Just her voice floated across the expanse to me. “That’s a lot of pressure for one day. Plus, there’s beauty in ordinary days, too. Not every page in a book is a quotable moment.”

We were both quiet, then she said, “Last question? I’m ready for my pillow, please.”

“Give me a sec to think.”

“Okay, but only because I don’t want another morbid question.”

I chuckled, and the room lightened a little with pearly moonlight. “Alright… Would you rather… relive your best day, or get a glimpse into the future?”

“Best day,” she said. “Pillow, please.”

I tossed her a pillow. One of the ones I hadn’t mangled with my elbow or a knee. She immediately stuffed it under her head, shifting down until she was burrowed in the blanket. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Something about this little conversation in the quiet and dark of our own bubble had done something. Moved something. My chest was aching with the desire to keep talking, keep watching each of her small movements, and hear her laugh.

“What was your best day?” I asked.

I saw her blanket rise and fall with a breath. Had she already fallen asleep?

“I don’t know,” she said, her words soft.

“But you answered so quickly.”

She shifted onto her side, her eyes on mine. “I imagine my best day is worth reliving, whatever it was.”

“Better than seeing into the future?”

“What if… what if there aren’t any better days to come? What if the future just depresses me?”

The air in my lungs froze as she put words to feelings I’d had for years. What if the future just depressed me? What if it was bleak and disappointing? But I couldn’t say that. I couldn’t just let her be as pessimistic as I was.

“There has to be good—lots of it. You’ve only been alive twenty-four years, and already you’ve had highs and lows. The future will probably have more lows… but lots more highs too.”

She nodded, tucking her arm under her head.

“Need another pillow?” I asked.

“I don’t think I have it in me to answer three more philosophical would-you-rathers,” she said, her voice smiling.

I tossed a pillow to her, making sure it wouldn’t hit her in the face. “This one’s on the house.”

She grabbed it, bunching it up beside her other one. “Thanks.”

“They are your pillows after all.”

A yawn took over her mouth for a moment before she said, “Weird, I don’t see my name on it.”

---