Sunshine
She nudged the huddled mass of human, indistinguishable from the warmth of the blanket he was wrapped in.
"Are you alive?"
The blanket didn't budge, even as the muffled voice filled her ears in the silence of the dark room, "Depends on how you mean it."
"You're breathing, aren't you?"
"If that's how you mean living, you don't really need me to answer, do you?"
Her brow furrowed, she knelt on the floor hesitantly.
"Whatever happened to you?"
The blanket fluttered as a curtain would, when the child hiding behind it tried hardest to not move.
"Whatever happens to those who live, unafraid."
"I don't understand."
"You won't. Run along, now."
She plonked herself on to the cold floor, surer of her decision than she had been in a very long time.
"Why not?"
The sigh that answered her question gave away the exhaustion of a defeated, once indomitable soul.
"You don't give up, do you?"
She grinned proudly and was rewarded by the blanket slipping away to reveal a face creased with battle scars on a face so beautiful, she couldn't help the gasp that followed.
"Now you know."
"But..who? How?...Why?"
"There are no definite answers to that, darling. We choose our battles and sometimes we win them, sometimes we lose and sometimes we just emerge having experienced something that left us breathless with the urgency of wanting to be alive and yet, unafraid of confronting death."
"So if you want to be living so much and faced your fear of death, why are you hiding?"
"Because I am scared of being alive," he whispered
"You're not making any sense."
He looked at her, his eyes understanding but reflecting the sadness of endurance.
"It's easier to stay here than to go out there, be mocked, suffer the hurled abuses and remain stoic to it all."
"You're running away then?"
"I already did."
She grabbed his wrist, thin and lean and stood up, pulling him up with herself. He floundered, panicked and terrified of the change she embodied.
"Come on," she stated and turned around, pulling him and into the striking sunlight that blinded him with the years of his denial.
She looked at him then and whispered, "Let's take a walk around the garden?"
He crumbled for a minute. His face a torn mask of agony and self-preservation. So she let him sit on the grass and sat beside him quietly.
"I'm right here, whenever you're ready."
They watched the sun set in somber understanding, shared silence and immense courage.
"Are you alive?"
The blanket didn't budge, even as the muffled voice filled her ears in the silence of the dark room, "Depends on how you mean it."
"You're breathing, aren't you?"
"If that's how you mean living, you don't really need me to answer, do you?"
Her brow furrowed, she knelt on the floor hesitantly.
"Whatever happened to you?"
The blanket fluttered as a curtain would, when the child hiding behind it tried hardest to not move.
"Whatever happens to those who live, unafraid."
"I don't understand."
"You won't. Run along, now."
She plonked herself on to the cold floor, surer of her decision than she had been in a very long time.
"Why not?"
The sigh that answered her question gave away the exhaustion of a defeated, once indomitable soul.
"You don't give up, do you?"
She grinned proudly and was rewarded by the blanket slipping away to reveal a face creased with battle scars on a face so beautiful, she couldn't help the gasp that followed.
"Now you know."
"But..who? How?...Why?"
"There are no definite answers to that, darling. We choose our battles and sometimes we win them, sometimes we lose and sometimes we just emerge having experienced something that left us breathless with the urgency of wanting to be alive and yet, unafraid of confronting death."
"So if you want to be living so much and faced your fear of death, why are you hiding?"
"Because I am scared of being alive," he whispered
"You're not making any sense."
He looked at her, his eyes understanding but reflecting the sadness of endurance.
"It's easier to stay here than to go out there, be mocked, suffer the hurled abuses and remain stoic to it all."
"You're running away then?"
"I already did."
She grabbed his wrist, thin and lean and stood up, pulling him up with herself. He floundered, panicked and terrified of the change she embodied.
"Come on," she stated and turned around, pulling him and into the striking sunlight that blinded him with the years of his denial.
She looked at him then and whispered, "Let's take a walk around the garden?"
He crumbled for a minute. His face a torn mask of agony and self-preservation. So she let him sit on the grass and sat beside him quietly.
"I'm right here, whenever you're ready."
They watched the sun set in somber understanding, shared silence and immense courage.
Comments
Post a Comment