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Awakening
Were still not home
That was Hanks first thought as he awoke. It was the same every day, now. How long had it been? How many chances were gone? How many times had he forced the others to turn away from a portal? How many
His eyes still closed, Hank stopped himself.
This was pointless. What was done was done. But there was a new chance today, if what Dungeonmaster had said was true. And all they had to do was get past some old crone, and everything would be fine. But he knew how it was going to end. It was going to be the same as all the other times before. There was no way out of this terrible place. They were stuck in an eternal Hell searching for a way that didnt exist. He didnt believe it existed; well, almost
But he had to try, though. He was the Leader. He had a duty to try and get them home safely. But none of them, even Bobby, had any doubts any more. They were never gonna get home.
No one had said it. But they all knew. They all felt it.
Why did he do this, then? Every day he would wake up and they would go through it all again. The fighting, the climbing, the searching all for nothing every time. Why did he put the others, and himself, through it?
He couldnt just give up! He couldnt accept that he was never going to see his family again. And he couldnt condemn the others to the same fate. Not Sheila and Bobby, whos parents would never recover from their loss; not Diana, who missed her twin brother terribly (though she would never admit it); or Presto, who missed his dad even though he never said anything; or Eric, even Eric missed his family too, in spite of the snide comments.
As for himself, though his Mom had never seemed to bother much what happened to him before, he knew she did care.
Thinking of them, not knowing what had happened; never knowing what had happened to their children brought tears to his eyes.
But growing in his mind was the knowledge that finding portals was even harder these days. There didnt seem to be that many left. And in spite of the terrible ache every time they saw home snatched from their grasp, there was always the tiniest speck of hope that he was wrong to give up.
That was the heart of the problem. It wasnt loss that hurt so much, it was hope: A deluded hope that it wasnt all in vain. And after all theyd been through, he couldnt shake the hope that they could go home. There was always a chance.
Always.
Always hope
He repeated the words to himself. Always hope.
So, like every other morning before, Hank forced his eyes open and struggled to get up, and made himself smile.
Cmon guys! Lets get going! Weve got a portal to find!