Hope

She walked into the nearly empty diner with long strides. Flaming red hair, eyes an icy blue. Her confidence radiating from her aura, leaving behind a trail of ‘she makes we want to conquer the world then kill myself’.

“Thank you for meeting me, I hope the coffee is strong. You might need it.” She said as she slid into the seat, looking at the worn out counter and stained jugs filling with percolating black tarry coffee.

“You were looking for a sign? Researching and questioning my existence? Well here I am. Call me Hope. Everyone does. I’m so bloody tired of hearing my names millions of times a day but … Yeah. Hope. That’s me.” Hope rolled her eyes dramatically and lit a cigarette. “So are you going to stare at me the whole time or do you just want me to get things rolling until you stop gawking or get over the brain pain that’s got you incapacitated?” She stubbed the cigarette and signalled for three coffees.

“I can’t tell you how old I am. I was never born. I’ve just always existed. But to put it into perspective, as old as the mountains. Mount Olympus, give or take a few millennia, but you get the idea.” Hope paused, glancing at the black pool of coffee that was placed before her and lit another cigarette. “Not like these things can kill me, right?”

“From the beginning I guess?” She inhaled, exhaled and took a sip of her coffee. “Pandora kept me prisoner. Not that she was all that bad. She was beautiful. Her beauty gave her power. Wish I could say she had it all, but you know, a girl can’t have it all. For an intelligent woman she lacked in the common sense department, to speak bluntly.”

“When she opened that jar and unleashed all suffering on humanity, I was kept behind. Sweet innocent doe eyed Hope. Too soft and naïve for the pain and destruction that would forever follow her moment of stupidity. Not that I’d wish anyone a moment of the hell that I’d endured in that jar before she’d let all that pain and suffering out. I can't remember anything before the jar. Not that it would have made any difference on how it all played out at the end of the day.” 

Her eyes turned cold and sad as she stared at the two people sitting across from her. “I was a pet. Hope, give the mortals something good. Show them that there’s still something to look forward to in the world, I'm feeling mean today, don't give them any hope.  I could hear them, every second of every minute. ‘I hope the crops will be good. I hope it will be a boy. I hope she falls on her face’ blah blah blah. It can drive you insane and it nearly did.”

“And then Pandora died. Finally opening the jar bit her in the ass, she lost her mortality when she opened that thing. Hard to believe that it was the only thing that came for her after being the keeper for so long. I can tell you, We can be grateful that most of the dreams of revenge stayed behind in that jar when the jailbreak happened.” Hope signalled for more coffee, wondering if the putrid liquid could be worse than what she’d endured. “I don’t know how long it took before anyone realized I was still trapped in that jar, or if it fell by accident, but eventually I was released. Lost, nothing but a pawn without a purpose.” She stared at the weathered table for a second before lighting another cigarette. Her lungs were immune to the effects, but one could hope. She chuckled at her own joke.

“No one ever came looking for me, though they knew I was out there. They could feel me, you see? I was like a beacon on light in the dark. Not always welcome or wanted, but never able to be dismissed for too long. Guess they decided it wasn’t worth it. In a jar, or outside among the mortals. It didn’t make a difference.” Hope lit another cigarette. Swirling the last cold coffee in the cup, she looked at her company expectantly, arching one perfect dark eyebrow in expectation of any questions. Questions which didn’t come. “Rightey, I guess I’ll be continuing as before.”

“Being immortal, literally sucks the life right out of you. I’m so damn tired of wars. Droughts. Famine. You wouldn’t believe the millions of hopes that have come through during the difficult times. I’m eternally grateful for the mortals who still pray and don’t hope for every little thing otherwise … yeah you get the idea.” She took a deep drag of her cigarette, watching the fiery ember glowing. “So I guess you’d want to know why not everything hoped for happens? It’s easy. I’m not a genie. Existing in this realm, my duty is to be something to hold on to when it feels like there’s nothing left. I hear and feel every hope that has ever been whispered, thought, or felt.” Hope sighed. This was harder than she’d expected it to be. Thousands and thousands of years of pent up emotions. Excitement, disappointment, despair.

“I don’t know how long I’ll still be here. A shadow among the living. People are changing. They don’t believe like they used to. They’ve grown cold and hard, my hope is with the one’s who still have a little spirit and a bit of faith even when it gets difficult. I guess someday I’ll just cease to exist. Wouldn’t that be a thing!” Hope smiled devilishly, looking expectantly at the two people who sat across the table. Yeah it was a hell lot to swallow. She felt bad for crushing whatever expectations they might have had about meeting her.

“With that, my dear audience, I must conclude our little monotone meeting. I trust you have found what you were seeking, and if not, perhaps we will meet again, someday. Maybe not. We'll leave that one to my sister, Fate. I'm the nice one. You wouldn't ... but anyway.  I will leave you with one final thought. Remember me when you hear the phrase Hope is lost. No she isn’t. She’s taking a much needed vacation, enjoying a Pina Colada on a deserted tropical island.” Hope winked, laughing as she strode out of the diner, disappearing into the crowd on the sidewalk.