The balloons had begun to wither and shrivel over the television like a physical manifestation of a curdled wish. The shiny metallic things with inspirational phrases like “here’s to remission!” and “hope springs eternal!” were now illegible between the faux metallic folds as the orbs shrank toward an inevitable death to gravity and loss of gas. The banner on the wall with a similar phrase had cobwebs on a corner and sagged in the middle more noticeably. Hope had always been an abstract concept, but these cousins of birthday cakes and new years party hats never quite held it in their ballast or belly but the bright colors and thought behind had for a time lit the room like a shard cut as from a high floating ball of cheese as sun brought cheer in.
