hopes, dreams, thoughts, prayers
a dimple: an invitation for mischievous thought
a daring comment: pure calculation in the spirit of the game
a crime: dark emotions swirling like thunderheads around the horrific contrast between yesterday and now
a hello: a nugget of warmth, a long-awaited miracle, gratifying, joy-packed, and contained in a few simple words
a heart throb: a tiny ray of hope, tenuous kindling that will become a roaring blaze, defying all loneliness
the perfect state of mind: what normally would be a row of three empty beers is now a lone-bottle row with nothing but a cursory sip removed from its contents
"I rarely drive steamboats, dad!"