Hold On I Still Need You

-My Sunshine My Only Sunshine-

Keefe's POV:

It's hard to breathe sometimes. Like my chest is a cage, and the weight of her absence presses down on me until I can barely catch my next breath. I'm walking through the streets again, the same streets I used to walk with Sophie by my side, but now they feel like strangers. My feet know the path, but my heart? My heart is lost.

The wind tugs at my hair, but it doesn't comfort me the way it used to. It's too quiet, too still. I remember when Sophie's laughter would echo through the streets, a sound so full of life. Now all I hear is the emptiness of it all.

I know I've been trying. I've been trying to keep moving, to find a way to survive without her. But some days? Some days, it feels impossible. Like the grief is a heavy cloak I can't shake off. I keep finding myself staring at places where she used to be—her favorite café, the little bookstore down the street—and it's like she's there, and yet, she isn't. It's like I'm walking in her shadow, and I can't catch up.

I stumble into the park, my feet heavy, my mind a mess of tangled thoughts. The breeze, soft and gentle, does nothing to soothe the ache inside me. It's too quiet here, too peaceful. How do you heal from something like this? How do you even begin to?

As I enter the park, I sense a change in the air. It feels like the entire place is on edge, anticipating my recollection. This was Sophie's cherished spot, her refuge, and now it's where I seek her presence - in the small details that evoke memories of her. The trees seem to sway knowingly, the flowers burst with hues that echo her laughter. It's as if the park is softly calling out her name, creating the illusion that she's still close by, just out of reach.

Nostalgia washes over me as I reminisce about a simpler time. I recall the joy we shared in this park, Foster's radiant smile outshining the sun. We held hands, envisioning a future brimming with certainty and hope. Yet, as I gaze around now, that promise seems like a far-off fantasy.

I try to breathe, to steady myself, but the weight of the park—of everything—feels like it's closing in. I close my eyes, wishing I could block out the pain, the ache of missing her. That's when I hear it.

A soft voice, familiar and soothing, singing "You Are My Sunshine."

My heart skips a beat, and for a moment, I freeze. The song was Sophie's favorite, and it's so her—it can't be. I quickly open my eyes, blinking to clear the haze that has clouded my vision.

And there, just at the edge of the park, standing in the sunlight like some kind of vision, is a figure. For a split second, I think my mind is playing tricks on me, twisting my grief into something cruel. But no, there she is.

Sophie.

Alive.

I'm frozen, unable to move, my heart hammering in my chest. My breath catches, and I feel the world tilt beneath me. Could this really be happening? Could it really be her? I thought I'd lost her forever, and yet here she is, standing just a few feet away from me, bathed in light like she's come back from the dead.

I stumble forward, my legs barely holding me up. My vision blurs as disbelief floods my mind. This can't be real. It's too impossible. A dream, maybe. A hallucination. I don't know. I reach out, my hand shaking, terrified that if I touch her, she'll slip away, like sand through my fingers.

"Foster?" My voice cracks as I say her name, and even then, I can't fully believe it.

She turns toward me, and for a moment, it's like time stops. Her eyes meet mine, and everything I thought I knew about reality shatters. The sun catches in her hair, the same way it did all those times we laughed together, and her smile—God, her smile—makes my heart twist painfully.