Once upon a time, there was a small village in a forest. The inhabitants of the village never believed in a brighter tomorrow. The days were the same and the village was forever locked in time.
One day, a boy named Hope was born in the village. From the very beginning, he was a strange one. The mundane existence of his home never impinged on him and he always had a reason to believe in a brighter tomorrow. "A day waits for me.", he would say.
When Hope grew up, he bid his friends and family goodbye to venture out into the world in search of his reason. He met many different people and experienced many wondrous things, but he still didn't seem to find what he was looking for. Every day, he would wake up and believe that the day that waits for him had arrived, but it was not to be.
Eventually, he reached the other side of the world and over there, he saw a large cave. The cave seemed to extend deep into the ground with no end in sight. As he wandered inside, he eventually lost his way in the darkness. After a few hours, overcome with thirst and exhaustion, he fell to the ground. It seemed there was not enough time to find a way back. It seemed that Hope would never find his reason. It seemed Hope had lost hope.
However, out of the black expanse before him, a light flickered. It was so faint that it may have even been his imagination. Hope rubbed his eyes and squinted into the darkness, and he saw it again. His hope renewed; he slowly made his way to the light.
As he neared, the light grew clearer and he could see that it escaped from within a small entrance. The light was a curiously unnatural colour. He inched closer until he was upon it and peered inside. He was awestruck.
A dazzling blue stream flowed across, glowing from within like magic. It splayed the walls of the small room with innumerable shimmering sparkles. The crystals that studded the walls refracted the light and were like magnificent lanterns. But it was none of this that commanded Hope's attention.
It was the girl. There was a beautiful girl knelt by the stream and drinking water. It was a beauty the likes of which he'd never seen. His heart grew weak. Neither the water nor wonder enticed him as she did.
As he entered the room, the girl saw him and startled but Hope placated her.
"I saw the light and followed. I'm sorry if I startled you."
The girl was hesitant but she nodded and sat back down and looked at him curiously. "I did the same. I was wandering lost until I chanced upon this stream." She looked back at the stream and touched the flowing water, her reflection fading in the ripples.
Hope knelt by the stream and drank the refreshing water, but he could not look away from her. He wondered how strange it was that her fate led her to him.
She looked at him and he averted his eyes. "I beg your pardon, but I've never seen someone as beautiful."
She smiled. It was more radiant than all the lights in the world. "Thank you. What is your name?"
"Hope. What is yours?"
"Promise."
The sound of her name struck a chord within Hope's heart, the tune that he'd been looking for his whole life.
"It feels as though the day that waits for me is here."
Surprise flashed across Promise' face. "How strange. I have always waited for a day."
"Perhaps the day you wait for and the day that waits for me is the same."
Promise blushed and smiled a smile that promised a brighter tomorrow that Hope hoped he would see for as long as he lived.
"Perhaps. But we are still lost in this cave.", she laughed.
To that, he replied, "I am lost, but I am found."
That's how Hope met Promise.
