Ok.. so I wrote some stuff for 2026/04/18, but I kinda lost it hehe (uhhh.. in more ways than one...), and then I didn't write anythin' for 2026/04/19 cuz I was too tired..

Btw this story is a continuation from 2026/04/09

Latenight (Escape, continued)

 The voice was painful to hear, in a way. It reminded Lily of… of things better left in the past. She looked up lazily, that brief burst of energy already fading, returning her to darkness. There stood… a man. Or, a guy. He had black hair that he kept swiping out of his eyes. He was a bit on the taller side, though he seemed like… like he was trying to hide it, shoulders slumped and hood up.

 Lily stared mesmerized for a moment. Another living creature, and it had spoken to her. Huh. He shifted to the other foot, looking awkward, and Lily remembered he had asked her a question.

 “Oh, uh, yeah sure,” she said softly, making some room for him on the bench.

 He sat down awkwardly and started wringing his hands, then cleared his throat. “Um, couldn’t sleep?”

 Lily jolted again, realizing her head had been drooping slightly. “Huh? What do you mean, it’s not that late…”

 “It’s… it’s like, almost 2” he replied.

 “Damn it, I did it again.” Lily muttered to herself. “Idiot, why can’t you just function properly?”

 “It can be tough…” he said wistfully. Had he heard her?

 Lily turned to look at him, and he shrunk slightly under her gaze. She knew that feeling. Instead, she leaned back and looked at the stars. Well, the few that could be seen. Shouldn’t there be more? Maybe in… maybe in another time.

 They sat there, for a while. Lily enjoyed this latenight silence. She hadn’t realized how much she’d craved it—been starved of it—until she immersed herself within it, once again. Or had she ever? Had she been starved of it her whole life? She… couldn’t remember. But that didn’t matter, because she had it now. Lily drifted, finally letting go of her mind. She had been… holding onto it for so, so long. Lily needed to rest, and so she did.

- Lily