Our Hope

10 - Hope

Hope plunged her hands into the dirt. It was dry and crumbled easily. She kept planting seeds at twice Ansh's speed. She would never let him win. She was the best. She was clear-headed and felt the cool Earth between her fingertips. Cole handed her a canteen and a bag of seeds. Powerful sun rays beat against her skin.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Her high-pitched alarm sounded. Although, she could not pull herself from this tooth and nail competition. Her alarm sounded again. She sat up in her bed. She did not remember going home or falling asleep. Her mom was asleep next to her. She inspected the alarm it displayed, "5:00 am, Wednesday early study."

She silenced it and rolled out of bed. The skin on her arms and neck was bright red and tender. It reminded her of what occurred yesterday. She pressed her forefinger onto her warm forearm, and it turned white for a second. She entered her bathroom and flipped on the light. Her face looked worse and so did her neck, legs, and ears.

Hope took a quick shower with cool water and tried to recall more from the day before. She was not prepared for Professor Petrov. She recalled the lessons her grandparents had given her about staying cool and covered. Her grandfather said, "I work in this every day. So, my body has adjusted to it." She needed to stop spending time inside in the air conditioning and train outdoors. This morning was too cool to help her acclimate to the heat, but she would tell Cole that they would play outside later. He would not know he was training, and Summer Hope would get credit for spending time with her friend.

She stepped out of the shower and dried off. Her mom had laid out a spray bottle of 100 SPF sunscreen spray. Thanks mom. She placed that in her backpack.

His grandmother told her to stay hydrated, sip cold water often throughout the day, and eat smaller meals more often. Last but not least, wear a wide-brimmed straw hat. It protects your face and neck, but it also keeps the sun off most of your shoulders." The first time she saw the god-awful hat was years ago, and she refused to wear it for half the day out of embarrassment, but after feeling like she did now, she wore it ever since. She saw it on the top of her dresser and placed it in her pack too. If she would have known, she would have brought it yesterday.

She missed her grandmother. Before she died, Hope would have called her for advice, knowing that she would have been ecstatic to help.

Hope searched her closet for her summer clothes. Her mom had packed them away on her closet's top shelf. She also found long and thin pants to cover her legs. She could not find a better shirt, so she put on a t-shirt for now. She would also ask her mom for more tips when she woke.

She ambled to the kitchen, filled her large metal bottle with water, and placed it in her freezer. She also found a cooler and loaded it with ice. Then she marched next door to Cole's house. She took gentle steps because the skin on her body was raw.

Cole's dad returned from a run and met her outside. He was sweating and breathing heavy.

"Good morning, Hope."

"Good morning."

"You look worse than Cole," he told her.

It was humid but cool this morning. They strode up his steps together.

"You should wear these shirts when you're outside." He pointed at the long sleeve shirt he wore and lifted the fabric.

"That looks warm."

"It's thin, wicks the sweat off you, and keeps the sun off your skin. I always use them when I run. The only problem is it releases the odors."

His mom waited for them in the doorway. "We bought some for Cole, but he never used them. I'll get them for you."

"Thanks, mom number two."