Today Hoik is visiting me. I got lost in my thoughts until I see him climbing through the window, again. 
Although I tell him that my parents wouldn't mind, he is a little shy about meeting them.
I am sure that they know about him coming over every now and then, even though we don't talk about it.
By talking I actually mean using sign language or me reading their lips. 

Hoik and I are sitting on the window ledge. It holds enough space for the both of us.
He could even stretch out his legs if he wanted to, but he is right next to me because I want to ask him about a word.
I open the book he had given me last week and show him the few letters I am curious about. 

It's “destiny”.

A word like “banana” - an easy one I can work out on my own, but words with importance I want to be able to pronounce them properly.
Sometimes Hoik asks me if I would mind letting him hear my voice but I am not ready yet and he understands.
Hoik turns to me so I can see his lips and pronunciation clearly. It's a little ritual that we have.
Other people would find the situation rather silly but when I am with Hoik it doesn't feel silly at all.
I watch his lips move while he says the word I want to know better. Little movements of the jaw, lips and tongue that can breathe life into a word I see on paper.
I can't hear them but I can feel them. When I move closer, I take my hands and lay the tips on his throat.
Gently and light so I will be able to feel subtle movements. When I close my eyes I can feel it more intense and the air he breathes out. 
I imitate the movements of his lips I have memorized and whisper them without relevance.

It's getting really late and I know Hoik will have to leave soon.
We are spending just some little more time looking at the stars, and I ask him using my hands if you can hear the stars twinkling- he gives me a gentle smile.
Maybe that was a silly question.. I guess you can't because they are too far away.

When he climbs down the ladder, that stands in front of my window, I realize how long we must have been friends by now.
He has gotten a lot taller since the first time he used the ladder. So tall that he wouldn't get seriously hurt, if he would fall.
I watch his feet touching the ground and he waves me goodbye before he runs home.
Sitting on the sill I pull my legs to my chest and wrap my arms around them. I let my head rest on my knees.
With my eyes closed I recall the events of the day until my inner watch tells me to open them and look outside.
I can see lights being in a room, which is too far away. They turn on and off.. for three times.

A sign that tells me he is home.