Once upon a time, there was a boy who was different from all the other boys. Whereas all the boys in town had their fears of snakebites, bee stings, and the occasional boogeyman in the closet, this one boy in particular felt a fear that no other boy pondered. Loneliness. Heartbreak. Never feeling the love that he had in him reciprocated the same. Time heals all, they say, but this boy had spent nothing but time on others that his little heart would beat for. Some of these loved ones had long dark brown hair that flowed whenever a gentle breeze blew in the wind; others had sun-kissed hair in a ponytail that sat on the shoulders in comfort. Some eyes were blue, and a few others were green. A smile here, a hint of laughter sprinkled there. Beauty in all shapes and forms, from the way that they thought to the way that they preferred to eat their Oreos. They boy would notice them, and for a spell would there be a tranquility and the illusion of yearning for one another… And one by one, they came. And one by one, they left. With each break would the boy’s heart shrink, as a piece of his heart would be lost forevermore. Some would be left behind as he devoted so much love to a person that it was no longer his to call his own. Sadly, there were other times he was so hurt from the aftermath and loss of a loved one that he simply left the piece of himself behind, for he was too pained to pick it up. After so many times of the boy’s heart being reduced, he only had one piece left, and feared to give it away…for if that one piece was broken once again, he would lose all of himself. The days passed and became long stretches of time. No matter the day, however, the boy refused to allow anyone to accept his heart. There were times he felt he should give it a chance, and a few other moments where others seemed to be willing to tend to his loving heart, but each time did the boy remember the hopelessness and grieving; this led to him sheltering himself from the world. Along with this misery that the boy was putting himself through, the days became reflections of how he felt. The skies grew grey and cloudy, and the sun that once rolled happily in heaven was instead compelled to take an extended vacation. The trees became leafless, and the fun forest dwelling animals had to go into hiding, and hope that one day the warm weather would return. The boy chose to preoccupy himself by working in solitude by way of writing. He wrote about the simple pains of living and emotions that everyone tends to miss because they were so involved in making life easier to themselves, instead of cherishing the beautiful journey that comes with the pursuits. By working in solitary, he would no longer have that fear of losing his heart. This would go on for some time, you see, and every day became routine: wake up to a grey morning, work for prolonged time and pay no attention to anyone, return home, and fall asleep. The boy had forgotten about the beauty that existed beyond his seclusion, and instead slowly began to forget how to write about the very emotions he no longer remembered. Then the most marvelous thing happened one day. The boy woke up to a blinding light outside his window. The sun was shining magnificently, and the boy looked with wonder as this brilliant light then faded slowly away, returning back the gloomy skies of cold silver. For the first time in such a long time, the boy felt sad. He readied himself to venture outside, not to work or to perform anything more than just wander into the world. Sauntering throughout the wilderness, the boy came to an area in the forest from where there was a light. A light refusing to go out. As he roamed closer and closer to the light, he saw the source of such a wonderful illumination: before him sat an angel. The beauty of this angel mesmerized the boy, and a quiet thumping of his heartbeat could be heard. She could hear the heartbeat, too, and turned to face the boy. Their eyes met, and the boy’s rapidly raising heartbeat did something new. There was a beat…then a silence…then another beat. Even the boy was caught by surprise, as he pinched himself to make sure this was not a trick in the form of a dream. In retrospect, however, the boy completely forgot about the angel looking at him as he winced from the pinch. As his little face began to turn red, the angel began to laugh. Not a laugh derived from cruelty or falsity. Rather, this laugh was a genuine expression of happiness. The boy fell back into his dreamy thoughts, as she was so beautiful that she had to be an angel. Surely, there was no other explanation. Her eyes were the color of the richest coffee. Her hair, though short, was wavy, elegant and poofed up in the most eye-catching way he never even knew existed. Her smile, beyond the shadow of a doubt, was the most dazzling feature about her, as the boy was the most wordy and articulate speaker he knew, and with that smile was he rendered speechless. This angel glowed in radiance, and the boy felt love. That little remaining piece of his heart was at this point fuller than any other heart of anyone in the world. The birds and baby bears could not see that light, though, for the light was only visible to the boy. Quite an amusing sight, if one stops to think about it. The fact that this boy stood with a smile that stretched from ear to ear and an everlasting shine stayed in his eyes, whereas the other woodland creatures saw nothing quite captivating in this angel. The angora rabbits squinted very hard about this angel but could not find any kind of halo dangling above her lovely, poofy hair. The golden fish peeked their heads above the flowing stream of water and despite their most effortful effort, they could not find any wings that belonged on her. The penguins waddled their way towards her and saw that this angel was not hovering above the ground, but instead found that she was actually grounded to the floor. The few platypus that were strangely hanging around saw her as nothing more than a girl. And if one takes the time to wonder why such a collection of head-scratching animals were around, back to the story at hand. That and the platypus rarely, if ever, gets recognized in fairy tales, so…there you go. Back to the story in progress! The boy stretched his hand toward the angel, and to his amazement did she take his hand. They roamed together throughout the forest in merriment and telling each other tales from their past. Some stories left the two rolling on the grass from such side-splitting laughter, while others left an echoing atmosphere as they were rooted in melancholy. Regardless of their truths they were letting each other hear, they became less of what anyone else would hear. They told each other things no one else knew, slowly letting one another more and more into who they truly were. What began as social interaction morphed into heart-to-heart conversation, all this coming to light because they wanted each other there. That yearning one tries to capture through film and storybook was here, between the angel and this boy. As the day was winding to an end, the boy asked what was the name of the angel, to which she responded her name. The boy also revealed his name to her, too. The important thing to remember here, dear reader, is that the names were not something long and difficult to spell nor were the names unlike any you have heard before. In fact, the names were somewhat common. The significance was what those names now meant to the boy and the angel, and the love that was, also now, attached to the name. The boy and the angel began to part ways, and the boy called out to her, and asked her if she would do him the honor and see him tomorrow. The angel smiled warmly and replied that she would be there for him. The boy then asked if she could return the next day and the day after, for he never wanted another day to pass without her in it. The angel blushed and said she would love that. The boy softly grabbed her hand and gently kissed it, and bid the angel goodnight. The angel held something in her hand as she walked away; something the boy had also placed as he kissed her hand. She held onto his heart with all her affection and never wanted to let it go. That night when the boy went to sleep was he anticipating the next day so much that he had trouble succumbing to his dreams, for he now knew that there was not a single thing in the whole wide world that he he could dream up that would be better than his reality, now that this breathtaking angel was part of his life. Morning came, and as the boy rushed outside to greet the angel who was patiently waiting outside. The boy held her close upon coming up to her, and the two together gazed at the blossoming flowers and trees turning green. The boy was still so entranced by her beauty that he had just barely noticed the sun had returned to the land, and all was illuminated. Nothing but sunshine. Angel Adrian Hernandez © 2013-2014
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