Inside a bush in a forest not known, a boy of about seventeen sat alone in what he knew as the dark, unforgiving night. On his back, he carried an oversized bag that looked to weigh about as much as your mom.
"Fuck!" I screamed to no one. I was tired—really fucking tired. My hands were calloused and blistered. My skin, like jeans after recess flag football, was green and blue. My feet, which had long since forgotten me, were a bloody mess. And the headache—oh, the headache—made me dream about the times I could smile.
"Just a little more," I muttered, throwing myself back onto my stomach. I began crawling once more. If I couldn't use my feet, to hell with it—I'd use my hands. Dragging myself forward, I began to forget the hellish pain I was in. By the time I came out of my trance, the sun was rising. And, just like clockwork, in the not-so-far distance, I heard the quiet, predatory hum of a vehicle getting closer.
So I lay there, unable to crawl any longer, as my mind realized again all the pain I was in.
My eyes drooped and twitched. "I'm really fucking tired," I said again—this time softly—as the tears, snot, and sweat drowned me to sleep.
Time Passed
I found myself in a hospital room.
As I lay in the cold bed and watched the ceiling fan above me rotate, I began noticing things that had felt absent to me before: the sparks of electricity flowing through the machinery keeping me alive; my heart, still pushing blood through my body, feeling tight and sharp, leaving me with a euphoric sensation. The sharp, empty air traveling through my nostrils, down my throat, into my lungs gave me a blissful vibration.
The bright, happy smile never left my face, even though I knew my time in this world was coming to an end. I didn't get to live long, but that fact made me look back on it—short as it was—as the best life anyone could have asked for.
By the time I closed my eyes, I felt the need to open them again. Looking around, I was on top of a mountain, surrounded by what seemed like endless forest.
Oh, and the sky—it was something. It almost pulled me into its serene beauty, calling for my return.
While I stared into it, I noticed a speck slowly growing in size as it floated toward me. As it came closer, I was finally able to make out the light. The speck's shape shifted, and the light it was made of circled around itself before whipping and collapsing inward.
I felt myself lift off the ground as I continued staring at it. My body neared its center. I stopped floating, and it descended.
Even without eyes, we saw each other. Without lips, we smiled at each other. Then we danced—danced with all the love in the universe. Our dance carried us upward into the sky, as the little speck of light carried me home.