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Eske put the mop aside when he heard the knock on his door. He opened the door: 'Hey, bestie!'

'Hi Penny, come in.' Eske's voice was a little hoarse with weariness, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes as usual.

'Oh my god, the place is immaculate!' She entered quickly: 'I was expecting a man cave.' Her voice betrayed her surprise at seeing everything, books, comics, VHS and taps stacked neatly along one wall. She spied around while she spoke to him. 'Are you expecting someone?'

'Nona likes the place clean and tidy, so that is how she'll find it.' Eske smiled, then turned away, preparing some tea that Penny would usually request when she came to visit him. His manner had changed suddenly since their last meeting. He seemed more reserved than ever before.

'Eske, are you still waiting for her?'

He nodded, stirring water into a kettle over the gas ring. 'Of course, I am.' The kettle began whistling insistently, but instead of turning off or answering the whistle, Eske just continued staring down at the floor in thought until, finally, the kettle stopped its clamour. Then he stirred again and said quietly, almost sadly, 'Penny...'

'It has been more than a year now. You need to move forward, Eske. She is not coming back.'

She saw tears glistening on his cheeks, the first time she could remember him shedding any real emotion since Nona left. But though they hurt to see, Penny did not want to embarrass him by saying anything about them. 'It is okay for you to go on with your life. It is okay to be happy without her.'

'Happy? How?' There was anguish in his tone. 'How? I can't even..., I don't..., she will come back, I can't do this. She must...'

'You're doing fine,' said Penny. 'We all love you here. We will help you if you need us. We won't abandon you. Never forget that.'

The kettle started to sing again, and Eske answered it briskly. 'I can't hear them anymore.'

'What?'; Penny asked, even though she knew what he meant. But didn't want to believe it.

'The numbers, I can't hear them. They went silent. No matter what I say to myself, no number answers me.' He shook his head slowly as he finished speaking, trying to rid himself of an intolerable burden.

Penny couldn't hide her deception: 'So, the map...'

'I can't do it without her. I'm stuck with the little data we were able to gather but besides that... I'm useless.'; he laughed bitterly. 'I never in my life felt so small. I feel completely lost. I have literally no idea what the fuck am I doing.'

'You are not just the boy who hears numbers.'; Penny said gently. 'And you aren't alone either. None of us knows why things happen the way they do, but we try our best to make sense of everything. That's called hope. And I know you've got enough of it to keep going, right?'

'Penny, I can't give you and Robert a map. I can't. I promised you, but I can't.' He prepared two mugs with teabags and sugar for Penny. He didn't like sugar on his.

Penny had her eyes locked on the wall doodled with numbers and strange graphics she couldn't understand: 'But would you still be Bobby's best man?'; she asked, giving him an ornated envelope with Roberts and her name written in golden cursive.

'Already?'

'Time waits for no one. We want to get married, and we want you to witness it.'

'What about Nona?'

'Eske.'; she held his hands: 'Eske, Nona is gone. She is not coming back.'

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

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'So, no luggage, huh?'; Eske looked at Penny and Robert standing in the middle of the living room.

'No luggage does are the rules.'; Penny said, clearing her throat. 'Eske, we...'

Robert interrupted her: 'Buddy, you can still change your mind and come with us.'

Penny turned back from Robert's side and faced them both holding both men's hands: 'You don't need to be alone. Please, Eske, come with us.'

'I can't leave her behind.'; Eske shook his head.

Robert clicked his tongue: 'That woman will be the end of you. She is not coming back, Eske. It has been too many years!'

Eske smiled sadly: 'I can't go. I can't.' He was silent for a moment looking around them, gathering up his thoughts: 'I wish you both all the luck of the world and that you might finally find a place to call home. And…, and…, huh… I'm really sorry I failed you guys. I really tried.'

'You owe us nothing, Eske. We know how much it meant to you too. And who knows, maybe one day the solution will just light up from nothing. But it pains me to leave you here. I don't think you'll be okay alone.'; Penny put her hand on his chest as she spoke.

'It's time for me to grow up anyway. Don't worry, Penny, I'll be fine. From now on, only good things can happen! What could possibly happen that is worst than.. than... this.'

He paused again, but they didn't say anything more. The silence between them seemed unbroken by any other sound. They were quiet like everything else had suddenly ceased to exist. There was nothing left except him, and he felt intense loneliness growing inside.

'Honey, we should go.'; Robert whispered to his wife.

'But..., I..., look at him, Bobby, we can't leave him like this!'; Penny was on the verge of crying.

'Come on, Penny, I'm fine. Seriously, I'm okay. It's time, and you have stayed long enough because of me.'

She nodded slowly, wiping away her tears with a sleeve. Then she kissed him lightly on the cheek and took his hands in hers: 'Goodbye, my friend. My fucking stubborn best friend'; she hugged him and whispered: 'I want so badly to be wrong. I want her back so badly.

'Me too.'

She broke the embrace stepping back. It was Robert's time to hug his friends, tapping his back: 'You better find us! You are too... peculiar for your own good! Do you hear me?'

'Thank you for taking care of me.'; Eske managed a smile through the tears.

'Don't make me return to this timeline, Schrodinger. I would be fucking pissed. And if she returns, she better say yes this time. She has no idea what she is missing out!'; Robert added.

Robert held Penny's hand and kicked the door softly with random numbers. A sound that will remain echoing into's Eske memories. His friends open the door whiteout looking back, disappearing to a new unknown timeline. Leaving Eske behind, stuck when time tasted like paper.

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There was a small arcade shop where Eske liked to spend his weekend afternoon. He really had nowhere else to go, and it was a good reason as any other to get out of the apartment. While reaching the front gate of the store, a cleaning lady was wiping the floor with a mop. Eske stopped just ahead and turned to enter the other side door to the shop. The cleaning lady said he could go through and even insisted. Still, Eske would rather not be dirtying what was already clean, but only some people think that way.

While both were making small talk conversation, a random guy came up from behind her, stepping on the clean floor with mudded boots and rushing between them that even bumped Eske's shoulder. Eske looked at the white tile stained with giant footprints of mud, and a wave of rage swept over him: 'Hey asshole!' The man turned his head over his shoulder but was still walking. Eske walked behind him: 'Come back here!'

'What the fuck, leave me alone, dude!'

Eske's pace was faster than the stranger, and he grabbed him by his coat from behind, forcing him to follow. 'You are going to say to that lady that you are sorry and an idiot who doesn't respect other's people jobs!'

'What the fuck is wrong with you! Let me go!’; the man tried pushing away. Eske hold him even tighter, forcing him to face it: 'Am I clear?'

With no other words, the man's head pumped Eske's forehead, which was responded with a punch on his left. Eske has a temper and a very bad habit of using his fist as words. This time Nona was not there to stop him. Nona was not there to soothe him with her voice. No one was. And when he realised his hands were held by a police officer: 'Sir, you have the right to remain silent.'

'Fuck.'

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