Map of Hearts: a Multiple Author Project

➸ "𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕋𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤 𝕌𝕤"

♡𝙱𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝙲𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚛- 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚢𝚜

𝓦𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓫𝔂:
@xoxoconstellations

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"I've been thinking," I hummed, fingers absently tracing circles on the beaten wood table in front of me. In the distance, the train whistled, its rumbling nothing but a deep hum and the occasional click-clack of its wheels on the tracks soothing in some odd, unexplainable way. The diner we sat in buzzed with activity, a usual spot for townsfolk to have breakfast before catching the bus to our larger sister city for work. My eyes followed people in and out, watching them come and go as they did every morning. It was the same routine and I had almost mapped it out in my 18 years of doing this.

"That's a bad habit of yours," Kat replied, pulling me out of my daze. I glanced up and smiled softly, her sipping on a milkshake which had been her usual every time we came here. Of course, I learned not to question her odd taste of breakfast items. "What about this time?"

Ah, there was the kicker. I glanced down, a few brown curls falling into my face. "I was thinking..." I repeated, drawing out the words to buy me some time.

"Henry. Spit it out."

"Okay okay." I glanced out the window to my right, catching the reflection of Kat's long and unruly deep brown hair and her curious expression. "We've lived here for so long. Is it... bad to want to go somewhere new?"

She tilted her head in consideration, having no grasp of where I was going with this.

"Everyone has the same routine. You can map it out and catalogue each day of their lives and it would be the same. I can't- I can't just sit here anymore and become my parents. Or watch you become yours."

Kat met my gaze, blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Okay," she said slowly and carefully. "What's your suggestion then?"

"The train."

"What about it?"

I snickered and shook my head, returning to tap absently on the table. I flinched in surprise when she reached over and took my hand, lacing her fingers with mine. "If... if I wanted to run away... would you come with me?"

Kat, in all her love for me and all my flaws, didn't know how to answer that. She quickly excused herself and I watched her leave the diner and I was left to myself. My hands absently tugged at my hair. I can't stay here. I have to see something new.

But the thing is, I couldn't leave her.

I was busy sweeping the leaves off my front porch when she came and visited. She was wearing one of my sweatshirts and an old baseball cap from when I had played on the team as a kid. These items she had acquired from one of the millions of trips she had made to my house and I had stopped looking for things I lost, knowing that they were probably in her possession.

I gently set the broom down and sat on the porch steps, her coming to sit beside me, leaned on my shoulder. "Fancy seeing you here," she said quietly and I snickered.

"You left me."

At that, Kat fell silent for a few minutes. She drew in a long breath, sitting up which left my shoulder cold from the loss of contact. "You dropped a bomb on me, Henry. What was I supposed to do?"

"In an ideal world? Say yes." I gently took her hand, thumb rubbing circles on the back of it. She frowned and glanced down at our hands, face unsure.

"We have families, you know? We can't just leave them."

"We can. We're not minors anymore so..."

Kat sighed and pulled me into a hug, chin rested on my shoulder. "Would we come back?"

I fiddled with a small piece of her hair as I considered my answer. "Maybe. We'll see where the wind takes us."

Silence fell upon us. Well, of course, the town around us was not. The train sounded its horn and the gentle deep hum returned, a symphony that each townsperson understood.

"What's the plan then?"

I sat beside the tracks the next morning at dawn. There was no train bustling behind me, not yet. My eyes anxiously scanned the sparse line of trees, leaves of orange and red and purple swirling from their branches at the slightest breath of a breeze. As the minutes grew longer past our appointed time, I wondered if she would come.

She had said she would.

And I told her that I was going, even if she was not.

I stood as a rumbling announced the arrival of a train. In the distance, I saw its faint outline which grew and grew as it came closer. It bustled past me, the noise deafening and exhilarating and wild. My heart raced as it slowed, the long line of cargo cars slipping past me until the thing came to a screeching halt. I climbed up, sitting down inside the empty cargo car, the doors on both sides open so that you could see through the car. Men shouted in the distance as I still waited, hoping and praying my love would come.

I was still hoping when the car beneath me gave a small lurch and I heard the growl of the engine start back up. Dropping my bag, I scrambled up and leaned out the car, looking for any sign of Kat.

My heart plummeted when I saw nothing. No trace of her.

The train lurched forward and I grabbed onto the sliding car door so I didn't lose my footing. Panic swelled inside of me when I realized she wasn't coming. She had left me again.

"Henry!"

I snapped my head up at my name and I grinned wide, my eyes catching Kat running rapidly towards the slowly moving train.

"You came!"

The train was picking up speed now and she ran beside it, arms in the air. I snagged her hands, pulling her up slightly, her legs still dangling out the car. She wiggled into the car, breaths fast and weary from running.

"I thought you left me."

Kat shook her head as she flopped on her back beside me. When she had caught her breath, she propped herself up on her elbows, a wicked grin forming on her face.

"Let's see where the wind takes us, then!"

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧