Poma

Part 4: Poma’s Walk in the Park

The sky was painted orange and pink, the setting sun was signaling the end of the day, but the two of us still walked silently through the seemingly empty park. After buying Poma new clothes and eating a meal at the mall we had slowly drifted over to the park.

Poma’s arm was interlocked with mine, and her head was on my shoulder letting me guide her as we walked. The clouds were slowly rolling in, causing the world to dim, and a cool wind slowly blew. To me it was a quiet moment of serenity, like there was no one else in the world but us. I looked down at my wife as we walked.

Her long golden hair which sombered out to brown as it filters down to the ends, flowed down my shoulder as it glistened in the dying light. Her large hyena ears on the top of her head twitched at even the slightest sounds, showing even in this relaxed state she was still aware of her surroundings. Her tail swished around rhythmically, slapping into my leg every few steps. At that moment she was as pretty as the day we met, the day I proposed, and the day we were married. No, she was as perfect as she was every day I’d ever seen her.

The Sun’s light slowly faded from the sky and the night chill began to take hold, we turned the next corner of the path and were met with a somber view of the lake. The moon, still low in the sky reflected off the surface of the lake, the world mirrored on its surface.

“You ever wonder,” Poma began with a pause, “If there’s a world out there, another version of us, where we are not together?”

“Then I’m glad that is not me,” I say, “Because that’s no world I would want to live in.” The silence slowly stretched between us, watching the moon slowly rise through the sky. I felt her seem to slowly melt into me. “I don’t think there is a world out there where we aren’t together, I’m sure we’d find each other in every timeline.”

“Yeah, no matter what we’d find each other.” She nodded.

Just then my phone rang, it blared into the quieting night like a siren wailing in warning of an emergency. We both jumped out of our skin as I scrambled to find my phone. It was from my work. “I’m so sorry,” I say to Poma, who only waved me off, her lips moving in a in a soundless ‘take it’

I nodded and turned around answering the phone. As I talked I glanced back to Poma, who stood idly twisting and turning on the balls of her feet. Fidgeting with her loose shirt, and loose sleeves of her bohemian top. She started twisting back and forth at the waist, and began to hum to herself.

“Roger, that will be there soon.” I say before hanging up.

“Work?” She asked 

“Yeah they are asking me to go in, there’s an emergency.”

“You have to go?” her ears dropping and tail sinking, returning to a standstill.

“I mean I can walk you home after all, I need my equipment?” I say patting her on the head.

“You… really need it?” she said, her eyes gleaming with hope.

“They don’t need to know one way or another,” I say, throwing my hand over her shoulder, “For now we have a little longer together.”

I feel Poma melt into me, “Yeah,” she said, “A little longer.”

“A little longer,”  I repeat as we begin the long journey home, neither of us in a hurry for the night to end.