Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

matching finger to finger. He ran his palm across the glass and I followed every movement, frame by frame.
    "Can I come in?" he asked.
    I stared, dumbfounded. No one had ever asked for my permission to come in. They just did.
    "It's open," I said when I found my voice, and he gave me a lopsided smile before walking over to the door.
    He peeked his head in, first glancing around before walking in. He stopped in front of me and offered his hand, "I'm Lukas. I'm going to move to that room over there." He pointed to Twenty-Six's old room where men in uniforms shuffled things around.
    I stared at his hand longer than I should have before sliding my fingers against his palm. "You are like me."
    He scuffed, let go of my hand and walked over to the blue chair where he sat down.
    "At least you know you are different, that's a good start. Mom was worried you would be confused and disoriented."
    "Mom?"
    "Dr. Mercier. She's my mother."
    "You have a mother?"
    Lukas didn't seem willing to answer that. He stood and walked over the line of buckets by the wall. "What color do you want to paint your room?"
    "Is that what that is?" I felt instantly comfortable with him, just because I knew he was like me. I wasn't even thinking about the open door anymore. I stood next to him and checked each of the buckets. The different colors were pasted on the side labels. A pale green one caught my eye and I pointed to it.
    "Interesting," Lukas commented. "I picked the same one."
    That made me smile. Someone knocked. "Can I come in?"
    Dr. Mercier was at the door and panic instantly rolled over me. Lukas must have seen me stiffen, because he put his hand on my shoulder. "It's ok," he said. "She's not going to hurt you. We are not going to hurt you."
    I wanted to believe him so much. But he wasn't the first one to make me that promise. The fear was still there, subdued, but there. They hadn't tried to take me out of the room. Dr. Mercier gave a slow nod of her head and walked away.
    "We could leave you know," Lukas spoke out. I turned to look at him. "The door's open."
    "Leave where?"
    "This room. When was the last time you stepped out of it?" Lukas started pushing buttons on the new video screen near the blue chair. It showed him only static.
    I stared because he had to be trying to ruse me. He was like me. Didn't he spend his life in a room as well?
    "Never," I answered. Lukas stopped fidgeting with the screen. His eyes flew to mine.
    "Never?" He repeated and his face sunk into some sort of horror that just made me feel wrong. Like it had been my fault that the only world I knew was among these four walls. Without saying another word Lukas turned off the static screen. "No television then. I think I saw a park on the way here. Let's go there."
    Park? Television? Those words meant nothing to me, but they seemed to mean something to Lukas. Something good. He stood just on the threshold of the open door and nudged me forward. I stayed put so he closed the distance between us in three quick strides and took my hand. "We're getting out of this room okay? And if you want, you never have to come back to it ever again. I'll talk to my mom. We can be roommates." My fear decreased with his words and for the first time I thought I could leave this room and continue living.
    "I can come back then?" I asked.
    Lukas nodded and gave my hand a little pull. "We'll go to the park. Have some fun. Then come back."
    I stared at the open doorway and took a deep breath. I gave one step forward, then another. Slowly I made my way forward to the door, lingering at every moment of doubt. Lukas never let go of my hand. When I stopped, he stopped with me and waited until I was ready to try again. When I finally gave that step that went beyond any other step I had ever taken, Lukas cheered, patted me on the back and gave me a smile I would never forget.
    ****
    I wake up. Warmth spreading through my body, the leftovers of a smile still on my face as I remember that day. The day I met Lukas is still the happiest day of my life. It was the day my life went from pointless to enjoyable. I remember Lukas trying to get me out of the facility the same way he had come in, only to be stopped by security clearance. It took almost a year to get that lifted for me, but eventually the outside world became less of a mystery and more a part of my life. I actually got to enjoy the few years that were left of my childhood.
    My fifteenth birthday took place outside the facility, under the sun