You know how they say
that sea otters hold hands when they sleep, so they don’t
drift away from each other? Humans are a little like that too. We
just want someone who will knot their fingers through ours and
stay there. We want someone to show up on our doorstep at
midnight, holding Chinese takeout, all because they sensed
somehow that you were starving. We want someone to call us in the
morning to wake us up, so we can pretend that we’re mad at
them, when really hearing them first thing makes getting up
worthwhile. We want someone to spend hours thinking about, to
lose sleep over, to not actually be able to sleep until
they’ve said good night. We want someone to go to the
movies with, buy popcorn for, sit and watch not even five minutes
of the movie before you end up spending the rest of it kissing
them. We want someone to call at 3am, just to say, hey you, I
miss you. We want someone to capture our attention, make us
laugh, make our heart do that weird thing where it beats slow and
fast at the same time. We want someone to push up against a wall,
grab onto, pull closer, be infatuated with, and love so
intensely, and just know that it’s still not nearly enough.
We want someone to bring us coffee in the morning. Someone to
fall asleep next to. Someone to spend all day with, and then call
as soon as you get home. Someone to drive anywhere with. Humans
just want someone, who will return everything. So I guess
I’m just asking if you’ll be my sea otter. I’ll
hold your hand when you sleep. I won’t drift away. Even if
you tell me to, I’ll try and swim back.