::Hope::

   I ride on hope the way most people ride roller coasters. Cash in my doubts at the ticket window and jump into my seat. I sit unrestrained as the the motor runs. The chains click, I hold onto the handle bars and close my eyes for a second. As I breathe, I wish upon all the stars that unfold behind my eyes. I can see the future. My carnival trick lays out the webbing of the hope spectrum. I move here and there across the netting. Taking my steps cautiously on the line. Tightrope tap dancing between my ability to believe. To believe in the future I crave. To believe in that prized wishing apple that might have a poison center but I still can't wait to take a bite. If time is the revealer, and if it's truth leads me to whatever prize lies at the end of each turn I will take that time. Time to let the world inside grow. I'll know that things are shifting when I'm tall enough to get on the big kid rides and take a spin. They say everyone is a winner when you spin The Wheel of Fortune. Does fortune favor the blind? I close my eyes and make those wishes on all the twinkling lights inside. I spin that wheel, cross my fingers and toes, and hope.