Dustwalker

by Tiffany Roberts

“I think, I reason, I react to the world around me. I question what I know and see, and I wonder what the future might bring, though I know it won’t likely be different than the past. I hope!” His voice dwindled, becoming something raw. “I yearn.”

“What can I do, Lara? To make you happy tonight? To see you smile before I leave?”

My heart!!!!

“I’ll come back as quickly as I can,” he said. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

There was a chance he’d eventually discover the nature of his programming out in the Dust. But with Lara, he might learn how to live.

“Like what it means to be alive.” A shuddering release of breath. “What do you think it means?” She rubbed her cheek against his arm, hiding most of her face from him again. “I’m not sure, yet. But I think I get a little closer, every moment I spend with you.”

“Flattery can be true, if you mean it. Doesn’t hurt to tell a girl something you admire about her. You should try it sometime. Maybe you—” “Everything.” “What?” Lara’s throat was suddenly dry. “Everything I’ve come to know about you, I admire.”

“Let this ring be my vow. To protect you. To provide for you. To give you all you need that’s within my power, and find a way to give you whatever’s not.”

“Then I vow to protect you, too, to the best of my ability. To place my trust in you and never break yours. To remind you, every day, that you are alive.”

“There is only you.”