Page 39 of Don't Let Me Go
RILEY:I don’t need to see it to know it’s garbage!
JACKSON:You can’t have an opinion about something you haven’t seen.
RILEY:I’m gay. I have an opinion about EVERYTHING.
Again, I can’t help laughing. Riley’s intensity would be terrifying if it weren’t hilarious. It reminds me of a video that I saw a couple of days ago on TikTok where a large golden retriever is being terrorized by a tiny, adorable hedgehog. I find the video and send it to Riley.
RILEY:Is this supposed to be us?
JACKSON:Maybe...
RILEY:Let me guess. You’re the big hapless dog and I’m the spiky little monster?
JACKSON:Your words, dude. Not mine.
RILEY:Have you seen the video of the baby pig who gets adopted by a bunch of wild turkeys and then grows up thinking he’s a turkey?
JACKSON:No, but that sounds amazing. Send it now.
He does, and for the next few hours, Riley and I swap our favorite videos back and forth.
He sends me a video about a color-blind kid whose parents surprise him with a special pair of glasses that allow him to see color for the first time; I send him a video about a German shepherd losing its ever-loving mind after being reunited with a soldier who’d been deployed to Afghanistan for a year.
He sends me a video about a flock of ravens that visit a depressed woman’s backyard every day and help her get through the pandemic. I send him a video of a little girl opening a birthday card and learning that the foster family she’d been living with wants to adopt her.
Half the videos have me cracking up with laughter, and the other half have me tearing up with emotion. Which is odd. I’m not a crier. If fact, I spent the past few months deliberately making myself as numb as possible just so I could get through the day.
Then again, maybe that’s why everything is coming out now. Not that I mind. It’s oddly freeing to let myself feel again. And to share those feelings with Riley.
Damn, we’re sappy,I text, wiping a tear from my eye after a particularly moving video about a lion that’s reunited with the zookeeper who rescued it as a cub.
The sappiest, Riley replies.And the sleepiest.
I can’t disagree. Curled up in bed, in the cozy dark of my room, I’m finding it harder and harder to keep my eyes open. Stifling a yawn, I check the clock on my phone and immediately bolt up from my pillow.
Holy crap, I text.Just saw the time. Is it really that late?
Riley’s response is to send me a photo. It’s the ocean again, only instead of a black square like before, the picture shows a sliver of bright orange sun rising over the blue water into a hazy pink sky.
I can’t believe it’s dawn.
JACKSON:Wow.I didn’t mean to keep you up all night.
RILEY:No worries. But I think that video I wanted to send you about the sassy sea lions will have to wait. I should probably get some sleep.
JACKSON:Yeah. Me too.
RILEY:Text you later?
JACKSON:For sure, dude. Get some rest.
RILEY:Will do, bro.
Chuckling to myself, I set my phone down on the nightstand. I can’t believe how late it is. Or, I guess, how early? I don’t even remember the last time I stayed up all night talking to someone. This might be the first.
I lie down and pull the sheet up around my chest. I’m on the verge of drifting off when I hear my phone buzz. I take a look and smile.
RILEY:Okay, ONE more video...
