Spring

Blurry. That is how the world seemed. Things twirled and danced in front of his face, and he snatched at the images, trying to form a whole. Nothing. 1

He stood, above all the haze, gazing down with his arms spread. Trying to embrace the colorful swirl of sorrow. He wanted to swallow up all his pain. Make it go away. A shuddering breath escaped his lips and a single tear slid down his cheek as he let himself sink forward into the swirling color. Everything went black. 2

~~3

Alexander let out a soft moan as he struggled to open a leaden eyelid. He blinked up into the bright light. He tried to sit up, but a rushing to his head brought him up short. He let out a small cry of pain, and his hand shot to his head. Suddenly, his vision was obscured by a figure. It cast it's shadow over him and enveloped him in the darkness he felt. 4

He looked up. Before him stood a girl....or was it a boy? The hair was was to it's shoulders, cut and styled slightly. Girl. The mouth was sensual, but the nose slightly crooked. Boy. The eyes were large and green, shrouded by thick eyelashes. Girl. His eyes traveled lower, strong, broad shoulders. Boy. The waist was slim, but there was no chest. No hips either. Boy. The legs were slender, and the jeans torn at the knees. His eyes traveled upward once again, slowly. Alexander stared into the face. The person smiled, a sparkle of white. They held out their hand to help up Alexander. 5

"Hi," the voice was soft, and slightly masculine. "I'm Loni." Alexander, in a daze, took the hand that was offered to him. He pulled his own slender frame up. 6

"I'm Alexander. Alex for short." He released Loni's soft hand and stood there awkwardly. After a pause he began to speak, but Loni cut him off.7

"You were falling. Well, in the process of beginning. I pulled you back." He smiled, that quick wildfire smile and a shiver ran through Alex. He smiled back but then quickly frowned. 8

"Why did you pull me back?" He asked wearily. He had wanted to end it all.9

Loni's head cocked to the side. "I wanted to save you. Life is precious, and though bad at sometimes, it will get better. Once you hit bottom the only place to go, is up. I brought you up. Literally. I hauled your ass up from that ledge." Loni smiled again. 10

Alex shrugged and turned to leave. His back was turned when he felt that warm hand on his shoulder. He immediately tensed up. He turned and looked at Loni's smiling face.11

"Come on, I want to show you something." With that, Loni grabbed his hand and hauled him off into the sun.12

~~13

They walked through back alleys, past the homeless and whores. Alex shuddered to himself. He knew this all too well. He had lived on the streets for 3 years, before being taken in by a foster family. Lost in his memories, he didn't notice when Loni stopped, so he bumped into Loni's back. Alex blushed, but Loni took no heed of this. He reached out and knocked on a metal black door. The paint was peeling, and flakes caked off as the door creaked open. A small child, no more then 11 stood in the doorway, framed by the pale light of the alley. Loni turned and beamed at Alex who in turn raised a questioning eyebrow. 14

"This is Sarah. She is one of the greatest people I know. She was abandoned when she was 5 and has lived on the streets ever since. She takes care of herself and her brother. And she's only 11." Alex stared at her. She was smiling....well beaming actually. She nodded vigorously as Loni spoke. 15

Her voice was soft, yet full of pride. "I always try to do my best to hold my head up high. Even in the worst of times.....when things get really bad, I always to my best." Her eyes were soft and brown and they twinkled when she spoke. 16

Her voice danced along his heart and tugged at his strings. It pained him to tears to see people so young like this. He knew know compared to her, what was the suffering he had gone through? What was the suffering of one person. She spoke again.17

"The world doesn't stop for only one person. If you fall down, the Earth won't stop turning. No matter how miserable, you must pick yourself up, or life will continue without you." He could taste the truth of her words. 18

But now, it was Loni's turn to speak.19

"Happiness is like spring. There are times when it goes away, times when sadness or fear take over. And there is a desire to give up. But, through everything, like spring, happiness always come back. It's the cycle of things." He smiled and squeezed Alex's hand. 20

And this time Alex didn't frown. He smiled back.21