Vespa & Awlivv – Oral Encouragement _top_ ✓

“You’ve climbed harder things than this,” Vespa continued, thumb brushing Awlivv’s jaw. “You’ve survived winters that tried to break you. You walked away from people who swore you’d never leave. That path down there? It’s just stone and switchbacks. But you—” she paused, letting the word settle. “You are not ‘just’ anything.”

The Vespa hummed to a stop at the edge of the coastal road, the warm engine ticking as it cooled. Awlivv sat behind the handlebars, knuckles white, breath shallow. Below, the cliff path snaked toward a tiny, impossible beach.

“Good,” Vespa said, and the smile in her voice was a small, warm sun. “Now, let’s go find that water.” vespa & awlivv – oral encouragement

“Say it with me,” Vespa whispered. “ I move because I choose to. ”

“Then I’ll carry you back up,” Vespa said without hesitation. “And we’ll try again tomorrow. But you won’t fall. Not because the path is safe—it isn’t. Because I’ll be right behind you, every step. And every time you look back, I’ll be there. Saying exactly what I’m saying now.” That path down there

Awlivv closed her eyes. She felt Vespa’s hands—calloused, sure—cover her own on the handlebars, then gently pull them away, guiding her to stand.

She leaned in, her forehead pressing gently against Awlivv’s. The Vespa’s side mirror caught the last gold of the afternoon. “You are not ‘just’ anything

“One step,” Vespa breathed. “That’s all. Then another. You don’t need to see the whole beach. Just my voice.”