Sunlight-Chapter 2- "Sunrise"

Acknowledgement: Credit goes to my dear friend Leah for letting me steal borrow her character, and for influencing many of the events in this story.

Chapter 2: Sunrise

Three years earlier…

It had been months since he'd seen any of his friends. The beings themselves and everything they stood for seemed quite foreign to him now.

"A graduation party?" he had said, doubtfully over his long-neglected cellphone. He was so lost to the world that texting simply wasn't enough, even as a part of his communication-starved, technologically-dependent generation.

"Yeah. I mean, it's only a couple of hours. And we haven't seen you in ages," the other young man replied. That person was so distant to Damir, someone from another life. A life where appearances and actions and strategies on fields and courts and people's crowded, dark, parentless, beer-slathered houses mattered. Damir could hear the sound of movement, of a cracked window in a car, letting in late May air. He glanced outside, saw the tree leaves moving slightly, as clouds blocked the sun.

"I'll think about it," Damir replied.

"Well... it starts at 6, ends at 8:30. You don't have to stay the whole time..."

The sound of a car passing the young man came through quite clearly on Damir’s line. He was driving, for God’s sake.

"Just... call me back when you get home, okay?" he said, too quickly.

"Alright, alright. Talk to you then."

He hit the end button quickly, hoping that he wouldn't keep driving on the phone.

If his friend had done so, he'd still made it home alright because he managed to call back at Damir's request.

Damir accepted the invitation. The stifling emptiness of the house drove him out of it. He'd spent so much time there since the accident, and he needed to get out. No matter what the occasion, he just had to leave.

The boxes in the basement had only begun to turn into endless stacks of an abandoned life.

Now the young man stood by the window as long as he could, leaning heavily on the cane that had been the sign of his most recent advancement in recovery. But every grasp of that handle, the memories of all the work it took to get there, was another reminder of how far his parents would never be again.

After what felt like hours, his friend pulled up, phone still attached to his ear. The vehicle his friend drove was unfamiliar. As Damir approached the passenger's side, he advised to the open window: "You really shouldn't be on the phone while you drive."

"Yeah, it's him. Aw, alright. I'll see you soon," his friend said, as he finished his conversation with the female voice on the other line.

"Yeah, it's nice seeing you too, Damir," his friend replied, trying to smile.

"No problem, Dan," he said, entering the car. Damir's friend focused on the road again, but he couldn't keep from observing him. His friend now looked so young, yet he was older now than he'd seen him before. He had a look about him, after graduation earlier that day... Nervous, but hopeful. Excited. Already in transition.

"So... How was graduation?" Damir asked, turning his gaze to the Windex-clear window.

"Ah, you know. Like graduation. Really sappy, sentimental band and choir music. Our fellow students of significance gave some vaguely inspiring speeches, all of us walked up and received our glorified pieces of paper. People threw their caps in the air. It was just like the end of a cheesy high school movie."

"Wow. Sounds pretty awesome," Damir replied, hoping he had conveyed the socially appropriate amount of sarcasm. The truth was, he would have much rather been at graduation today than anywhere else he'd usually gone. And his absence from this supposedly important event also represented something quite obvious.

"Hey... I'm sorry, man."

"It's fine."

But it wasn't fine, and the two of them knew it. The circumstances which drove those words out of Damir's friend's mouth had made un-fine. For the past several months, his entire life had taken place either in the hospital, therapy, home, and on a few rare occasions, school, and mostly to pick up homework that he hadn't already received. On rare nights, he would fall asleep, and escape it all, when he wasn't remembering in his nightmares. And then he would wake up, and realize that his life had been permanently altered. Every morning, he would realize that his parents weren't home. That he likely wouldn't run again, let alone participate in the majority of team athletics. Every morning, he would come to these and a few other less pleasant conclusions, and either felt like breaking everything in the house, or never getting out of bed.

And then he'd force himself out and get on with another day he wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of. He was likely to spend his entire summer catching up so he could "graduate".

Damir could tell Dan was uncomfortable, as the driver switched through radio stations nervously.

"So... um, whose party is this again?" he asked his friend, hoping he'd put his hand back on the wheel.

"Liv's. You remember her right?"

"Oh yeah... she was on..."

"Volleyball captain?"

"Right, yeah, I remember her."

How many times had Dan dragged Damir and their friends out to the girls' volleyball games, for less-than-noble reasons?

"Yeah. We've been dating for about a half a year now."

Six months. It would have been a couple of months after the accident then.

"Congratulations."

Damir glanced out the windshield. They'd entered someone's neighborhood now. A sign with an address and "Livvie's Grad Party!" was stuck in the ground at the end of a block.

"We're actually going to the same school, on athletic scholarships. We're both pretty happy about it, I think."

"That's great."

"Yeah, it is."

He took a deep breath. Life just kept on moving, outside of those thick new walls that had grown out over the past eight months. Just speeding on. Passing him by.

"We're here," Dan announced as they arrived at his girlfriend's house. Cars lined the block, and balloons were attached to the idyllic mailbox out front. The door seemed obnoxiously far away from their parking spot. But it didn't make a difference. Dan had practically bolted to the door, and basically straight into Liv's arms, their tight embrace holding back any other displays of affection in the presence of her family.

When Damir arrived, Dan's girlfriend, tanned and toned as ever, released one arm from her boyfriend, offering Damir a far-too-gentle, halfway embrace, and pulling away with Those Words, directly in his ear.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"It's fine," he repeated again. He couldn't prevent his voice from rising, just slightly, when he continued. "I mean, It's not like we're dead, right?"

Liv swallowed. "Yeah... Yeah, that's good."

An attractive family of four stepped up and the Liv/Dan contraption took this as an opportunity to walk away. Stranded. By himself. Now this was something Damir could handle. He wandered inside, eventually, occasionally being greeted by vaguely familiar faces, and silent, suffocating sympathy. He wanted to leave, but Dan had driven him there, he was not walking home, and he most definitely could not ask any of these people for a ride. Damir had never been one to snoop through people's houses at parties. But this, to him, was a rather desperate situation. Thus began his search for a place to hide. Somewhere, anywhere, just to be away from all these people. He'd learned that if he isolated himself, others would also dispense such "courtesy".

Down the hall from the first sitting room, which was filled with people, and three doors from the bathroom, he discovered a library. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just fairly average shelves stuffed with books one often sees on readings lists, a table with more books upon them, and a desk with a dusty laptop and open standardized test-prep books upon it, a couple of wheeled office chairs, and one lounge chair facing a window at the back of the room. Damir sunk into the office chair by the desk, caring more about privacy than comfort at this point. He was about to lay his head down on the rather comfortable looking and very thick literary anthology, when he heard a sudden gasp.

Startled, he straightened up in the chair, glancing toward the source.

"Uh... Um... I... I'm sorry," he said, to the breathing being on the armchair by the window.

The person peered around the back, revealing herself, before standing up quickly.

"No, I... I'm sorry," she said, swiftly shifting her gaze to the floor.

He didn't get a good look at the girl until she began to walk toward the door. He hadn't seen her around very often in school; she had to be younger. She had dark, honey-tinged, blonde hair, and light blue eyes. At a distance, she was not someone that one would look at twice, but seeing her up close, there was just something oddly exceptional about her.

"You... You don't have to leave," Damir started, as the girl paused by the door.

"N-No, I_" she replied, as Damir spoke simultaneously.

"No really, I can leave."

"You don't have to..."

"I'll go, it's no problem..."

"Really, it's alright..."

"No, you were here first."

"It's okay, I..."

"Really, it's fine, I can go..."

The two paused, trying to let the other start.

"You don't have... you don't have to go..."

"Alright... Well... you can stay too."

"Okay."

Damir swallowed as he looked at the girl, her gaze fixing upon something else in the room.

"So... I guess hiding out in libraries isn't exactly original, huh?" he said.

The girl smiled slightly. Damir felt all tension leave the room with that expression on her face. 

"Yeah... it's in all the books," she replied.

He felt his own lips curl into a similar expression.

"I'm Damir," he said, offering his hand. She took a step closer to reach it, a gentle, swift shake, but her hand was warm in his for the brief moment.

"I'm Amira."

"Nice to meet you, Amira."

"You too."

She was still standing by the door.

"So... um... How do you know Liv?"

"Actually... I don't really know her. A friend brought me..."

"A friend brought me here as well."

Damir glanced at the window in the back of the room. It was clearing up outside. Less clouds. More sun.

Another pause.

"What... brings you to the library?" Damir asked.

"I... I was reading a book," Amira replied, quietly.

"Ah. I... I'm not a huge fan of... big social gatherings," he replied.

Amira nodded.

"Yeah... neither am I."

Her voice was still just as quiet. She tentatively took a seat by the table across from him, still reserved, observant.

"So... were you at graduation today?" he carefully inquired.

"No... I just finished my sophomore year," she explained.

"Oh... How come I haven't seen you much before?" he continued.

"I... I um, I got sick a lot," she said, her voice quieter than ever. He could tell she wasn't telling the entire truth. And he knew why he hadn't seen her much this year. 

Damir could easily hear the sounds of laughing, story-passing, pleasantly conversing, social beings just down the hall.

"Did you... maybe... want to go somewhere else?" Damir requested, with a certain caution. He didn't think he could stay here for too much longer.

"Sure. I... I'd just have to tell my ride first," she replied, standing again.

"Yeah. Me too," he said, grabbing his cane and standing as well. The pair walked out into the small crowd, parting to find their respective rides.

The buzz of graduation words, of the next parties, of goodbyes, and latecomers greeting and being greeted, went over Damir's head as he approached Dan.

He was still attached arm-to-waist attached to Liv.

"Hey, Damir. You kind of just disappeared there."

"Yeah... Um... I'm going to head out," he replied.

"Are you sure?" Dan asked, looking mildly concerned.

"Yeah. I'm sure. I'll, um, see you around."

Damir scanned the room for Amira, before spotting her walking away from one of the girls from the volleyball team, and shuffling toward the door. He caught up to her after a moment, and they stepped out of the house into the daylight. It was much clearer than earlier.

For a short while, they were silent as they trekked away from the party.

"Are you on the volleyball team?" he questioned.

"No, I'm not," Amira replied.

"Oh... you didn't seem like it," he replied.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, no, it's good..."

"Okay..."

"I'm really sorry. I should... I should've... I... I just shouldn't talk."

"It's fine. So... how do you know Liv?"

"She's my friend's girlfriend," Damir replied, quietly.

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

Damir fixed his gaze ahead, wondering exactly where their destination would turn out to be. They had already exited Liv's neighborhood, gone past the sign with her name on it. When they arrived at the end of another block, he spotted a small grassy park, with a couple of benches, some trees of varying heights, a small swingset and slide, and flowers planted around the trees, and lining the walkways through it. It was fairly unoccupied, for a nice day like this.

"Do you... um... maybe want to go over there?" he asked.

"S-Sure."

They crossed the street, and Damir wandered off to one of the benches. Amira tentatively sat next to him, at the other end of the bench. He sighed.

"Ah. So... there are some nice... flowers... here," he said. The majority of them where brightly colored, and of varying heights like the trees they surrounded.

One in particular stood out, however. A sunflower, leaning against the tree, straight and tall, its bright yellow leaves contrasting against the brown bark which supported it.

"Yeah, there are. I love flowers. All sorts of plants, actually," Amira replied. Damir spotted another faint smile upon her lips.

"Really? That's pretty cool. Do you, uh, have a garden or something?"

"Yes," she replied.

"What do you plant?"

"Just... different flowers, vegetables," she said, shrugging slightly.

Glancing down at his phone, Damir realized he needed to be getting home soon. But for some strange reason, he didn't exactly want to leave yet...

"I have to be going now," he replied, quietly.

"Oh..."

He glanced over at Amira one last time.

"It was nice meeting you... see you around again, sometime."

"Yeah. It was nice meeting you too."

Damir left to find himself sitting on yet another bench, but on his own. It would be an hour before the next bus arrived. Liv's graduation party would have been entirely unendurable had he not stumbled upon that library. And the person in it. As awkward as the conversation had been. She was the first person he'd tried to meet and get to know since the accident.

Meeting Amira was simultaneously an insignificant event and an infinitely significant event. As he boarded the bus, he looked out, and watched the sun set over the buildings in town. And when he was home, and finally climbed into bed that night, for the first time in eight months, without any sleeping aid, Damir had a dreamless, peaceful eight hours of rest.

(758) Days /poem/

Reality vs. Expectations
When they meet,
it won't be in Ikea,
or at work.
What they wanted,
was something else.
Their conflicts,
honesty,
trying to be faithful,
but she's cheatin', cheatin', cheatin'.
At least in her heart, mind...
Deserve, deserve, deserve,
don't deserve, don't deserve, don't deserve,
Watch it all go down,
everything everyone else expected.
Living with the rose-colored glasses on.
Ha, laughing at those written words,
First sign of trouble.
First signs, no laughs when the sinks don't work.
Conversations,
Interrupted.
Let him in,
see the world.
Understand.
But it's not enough,
not for this.
Too messed up to handle it.
There's no hero to this story,
both watch each other suffer,
at different times.
But she wasn't suffering,
she was just a source.
Switch around philosophies,
drive the other to liquor and Twinkies and bathrobes.
What they wanted won't happen,
Not the way they wanted.
Not the way they'll see
each other.
It will be painful and awkward,
laying sights on each other,
It will be fun,
to pretend like they're good friends,
dance at a wedding, invite to a party,
climb the stairs and face reality.
One gets married, the other follows dreams.
And they've left that impression on each other.
Don't assign the ordinary with something cosmic and extraordinary.
Even if it is.
Even if it's not.
Her stupid knobby knees, crooked teeth, licked lips, laugh, and songs in your head.
His incredible potential, ability to be driven, places to go...
Can't lie, they can't lie now.
Every day a reminder.
Climb the stairs, face reality.
Start all over.

"Ain't No Reason", "Laughing With", "Cry Out to Jesus", "A Bad Dream" (the songs I listened to while writing this)

(Artists of four-song playlist [in order]: Brett Dennen, Regina Spektor, Third Day, and Keane)

Is it more mature
To reflect
on self
or bigger concepts?
Is it more important
to learn from personal experience
or from the history all around you?
A look in the mirror
or the sound of gunfire from every generation.
What meaning can we extract
from everything
our senses perceive?
The private tragedy,
The public outrage,
a friend's rebellious word,
a world leader's command?
Who are we
what right have we
to judge
or to question?
What right have we not,
to judge
or to question?
Right and wrong
are different.
Depending on where you are.
Black and white,
a muddled gray.
Left is right,
right is left,
up is down,
down is up.
Distracted by aesthetics.
Distracted by the trivial.
Slam our faces in reality,
Escape into fantasy.
Defense mechanism.
What is real
what is not?
no.
direction.
But
there is.
even if that Direction
is often
denied.

Doubt comes easy
with all that's around us,
but there's the beauty
rising from ashes.
The Constant
that keeps us,
from going insane.
when everything else
threatens to topple us
all
to the ground.

How do we grow?
What makes us grow the most?
the fires that burn and make the soil fertile.

Related Items

"What are you talking about?" he said. This couldn't possibly be happening. It simply was not possible. All this time, he'd wanted to ignore the signs.

"I'm sorry," she replied, her tone of voice contrary and strong. She'd been planning this for quite a while. This had been going on for quite a while, and he knew it, he just didn't want to believe it.

"But... It's been... We've been together so... So long," he said, struggling to keep under control.

"I know. But... We just can't go on like this. Or, I just can't go on like this."

"What do you even mean?"

"You know what I mean... That... this just isn't going to work out."

"No, no, we've... it's been..."

He wanted to ignore the signs. He wanted his waves of denial back. It was so much easier, thinking that everything was fine, that they would last until they died.

"I know, I know, we've been together a long time. But... I just... This isn't sustainable for us anymore."

"What do you mean? Is there..." Could he say it? "Is there someone else?"

His wife sighed.

"No, no, there's no one else... Not like you think..."

"Well, what do I think then?" he said, unable to keep the anger and panic from his voice.

"You think... It was... I've never cheated on you."

"But you've thought of other people..."

This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. They'd been together for over ten years. This couldn't be happening... not now... He knew they'd been young when they'd gotten together, but...

"Yes, I have. I can't keep being in a relationship like this one."

All he could do was stare. That voice he'd once found so sweet, was now the knife twisting in his stomach.

"I... I mean, I love you. I always will. But I just can't do this anymore..."

He swallowed.

"Why didn't you... Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why did you take so long?" he said, his trembling fingers gripping a counter, fighting tears.

"I'm sorry," she replied softly. "I just... I knew you would be upset."

He wanted to scream. He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs, "Well of course I'm upset, it's been over ten years! What are you thinking? We've been married for more than a decade! Everything's been fine! I don't even know where this came from! How could you do this to us?!"

But he didn't. He gripped the counter harder.

"Well... Yeah, I am. But... If you just would have... If you would have said..." he choked out.

"Look..." his wife replied, placing her hand on his shoulder, as if it would comfort him now. "You know... things have been... difficult lately."

The pitying hand on his shoulder. He thought back to her previous relationships... so many boyfriends before him, she was already divorced once. Why would she do this? Everything had seemed great...

He shook off her hand.

"I know that they have. I know! But you could've at least told me sooner! I know you haven't been thinking this for just... for a few weeks or something. You wouldn't just... You wouldn't... I can't believe you, I really can't!" He said, launching off the counter and passed his wife.

He could hardly see her, as she stood there biting her lip.

"How could you do this? Why? Why are you doing this?!"

"Because! You know why! You know it hasn't been working out. How could you possibly delude yourself enough to think we were doing fine? I told you almost everything I could..."

He eyed the proverbial suitcase-in-her-hand. It was light blue, stuffed with all she thought she'd need.

"But the fact that you wanted to leave me for years never crossed your mind as something to tell me? You just decide to spring it on me?" With every word, he stepped closer to her. Her eyes widened, presumably with fear. But he couldn't stay angry... He couldn't... He stumbled back from her, as if he had been punched in the gut, taking his face in hands, as he stumbled to the floor. "I... I just don't understand... What did I do? What did I do to... What did I do to deserve... I... I'm sorry," he choked his words through uncontrollable sobs. Once more, he felt her hand on his shoulder, but didn't pull away.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "You didn't do anything wrong... this... this isn't your fault."

She kissed him gently on the top of his head, before he heard her footsteps grow distant, her hand turn the front doorknob, the door shutting, car door opening... closing... the sound of her driving away.

And then it was over. But he would never let it be over. As he cried on the floor, he started to figure out ways to bring her back... he needed her... and he'd failed her.

A Poem

Always there
Full of wisdom
Full of everything
needed to be heard.
Always just
A phone call away.
Always
not too far away.
With the right words to say.
So gentle, kind,
Humor at hand.
Exactly who is needed.
Thank you, Lord,
For those you've placed within my life
For those
who are there.

"Mess"

I know what he said was something that would get most people to worry, if he was serious. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was just joking around, as people do. As I, and others around him, as well as my other friends, have been known to do.

Joke about things that aren't funny.

But there was just an edge to it that seemed... real. Too genuine. Too much a real desire to do this.

You don't joke about that. You just don't.

It all started with a conversation about The Things They Carried, the book I was reading. The book was about the Vietnam War, but moreso, a fictional group of soldiers who served in it, told from the perspective of a writer who holds the same name as the actual author of the book. But that wasn't exactly relevant.

I don't remember all the dialogue, but I know the conversation digressed.

My friend, he said he'd serve in a war if he believed in the cause. He said he'd kill someone. The idea of killing people, lately, to me, had caused me to ponder the great distress that those who do kill, those who kill and don't want to kill--whether by war, or through accidents, or even those who think they're in the right by the act of euthanasia, or even those who commit suicide...

I continued asking him about things.

Eventually, he was outright saying it.

That he wants to kill someone. Keep in mind, the tone of conversation had not yet gotten very serious. Of course it hadn't. We were just talking.

I do remember this, however. Essentially, this is what was said:

Me: "Would you kill a child?"

Him: "Yeah."

Me: "An infant?"

Him: "Yeah."

Me: "A friend?"

Him: "Yeah."

Affirmative answers, whether they were "yeah's" or "yes's" or anything of the sort. For once, my friend who once, very often, casually would make a fake gun with his fingers and point it to his head and say "I'm done" after me or someone else being obnoxious, actually scared me. We were always joking. Him, and I, and others. Joking about lots of weird things, lots of sadistic things, gruesome things that, when intergrated with real life, were just plain sad and tragic and disgusting.

He said he just wanted to have the experience of killing someone before he died. Whether it be by an "accident" or war.

"I've got to do one of those murder-suicide things someday."

He says he lives off of anime and video games. That atheism and anime made him stop being depressed and suicidal.

"Would you kill a friend?"

"Yes."

I can never tell if he's being serious or not.

When I told the counselor, I never intended for her to tell the principal. The principal and the counselor didn't want to get the other friend I'd told involved.

The principal told me my friend who wanted to someday experience the feeling of killing someone was at home sick. He told me that he called my friend's mom.

After meeting with both of them, I went straight to the nurse's office. She called my mom. My mom said I could go home. I went back to English, showed my pass to the teacher, spoke quickly to another friend, gathered my things, and walked straight home.

I thought I was going to cry. But I didn't cry. I just walked straight from school, down two streets, through my front door, up the stairs, and into my bedroom. I changed into pajamas, and crawled into bed. I deliberated two hours before eventually falling asleep.

My other friend, the only other person who really knew, he texted me. He told me the school officer had spoken to him.

No. The principal and the counselor hadn't wanted this friend to get involved.

Stupidly, I continued the conversation. Asked him how he knew. The officer had called him into his office.

The next day, rumors were spread, as I watched House and did Geometry at home. I was "sick", after all. I had been coughing, and sniffling and sneezing, and my throat had been at best, scratchy, for the past three weeks.

I thought he was suspended, because my other friend sent me that text. Then he revealed that was a rumor.

Rumors.

Funny how "rumor" is one letter away from "tumor". No matter how little had spread, these rumor-tumors could grow into full-blown cancer, all over the student body... and, after all, my potentially homicidal friend and I had been sick, for at least a day and a half (two days for him).

So then, it turns out he wasn't suspended. But the rumors had already started...

Yesterday, I pondered all about how this would ruin our friendship, at the very LEAST. How he wouldn't trust me with anything ever again if he ever figured out who "reported" him. How this decision would either be a completely unnecessary mess that destroys friendships and trust and drives tragedy, or a mess that does the same, but saves a life.

But he'd joked more about killing himself than killing someone else. And he told me how he'd been genuinely depressed and suicidal before. He was still depressed, I'd say. Perhaps. I wasn't sure.

He was so offended when the speaker came to school, and told her story of experience with mental illness, with depression, and suicide... how she'd said one could not handle depression on their own. He was so offended because he believed he'd treated his own depression.

Anime and video games were his cure. It wasn't drugs, or partying, or running away, or avoiding everything in the world, but it was certainly not a long-term treatment. I have nothing against them, but I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept that a serious mental illness could be treated on one's own. That any serious issue could be dealt with solely on one's own, really.

Now you wouldn't think he was depressed, really, if you met him. If you were one of his friends. You might think he had a sick sense of humor, is all. Or you would laugh and joke along with him, as I have for a while now.

And now I've screwed it all up. Unintentionally, things have started to unravel, and both of us have been absent.

No one knows that I was the one who talked. Neither the principal nor I know how those words got out enough to even start rumors.

I'm going back tomorrow. I'm going back tomorrow, and I'm going to talk to the principal and the counselor again. The principal's gonna call his parents again.

I've made a mess. I can only hope it'll do more good than harm.

A Light At The End (Sunlight analysis)

((Note: PLEASE READ "SUNLIGHT" (two posts down) BEFORE READING THIS ESSAY! Forgive me for the lack of indenting. I should really figure out how to do that on here.))

Upon a dark, stormy day, the rain just won't seem to end, and the river's rising, flash flood warnings appear on local television screens, and though some morbid part of the one who views the screens and streets might feel a strange eagerness for the storm, the rest of this such person feels the weight of it; those days seem to never end. "Sunlight", written by A. ****, a very short story of seven digital "Read" pages on Microsoft Word, tells of an evening of such a day, which happens as only one small piece of a young man's tattered life. Opening with his only solace, a musty, neglected basement, then gradually revealing what brings him there (an accident, war, the death of his mother, the illness of his father, and the perceived abandonment of a significant other) as he treks his way to, and then settles in the main level of his home. A sunrise, a sunset, and later just "sunlight" itself represents the former significant other of this young man, his only "sliver of sunlight" in an abandoned, desolate room. Through this, one perceives contrast between darkness and light in a location, isolation and companionship, as well as hopelessness and hopefulness.

The opening scene of "Sunlight" reveals an undeniable darkness, if not at least a pervasive dreariness. The only light in the room appear as a dying lightbulb on bad wires and a tiny window: "There was something wrong with the wiring, he was sure of it... The light bulb kept on swinging... flickering more... losing light with every shift in motion. And then the room turned black. The young man's eyes adjusted, with the bluish light from the small... window at the opposite side of the room" (1). Preceding this quote, the objects in the room have descriptions such as "discarded materials" (1) and "precariously stacked boxes of the past" (1) that appear like "ghosts in the dimness of the chamber" (1). These abandoned objects seem to be the protagonist's only connection to his barely brighter past. This neglected room of his home, a small one underground, becomes the protagonist's solace from all his other difficulties in life. It becomes the place he can escape to, comforting, distracting, and nostalgic in spite of its darkness. But it can only serve him temporarily, as every session in the lonely basement leads him back into his even lonelier present life.

The life the protagonist, frequently referenced to throughout the piece as a "young man", faces reveals itself as one of particular difficulty and isolation. It is implied that the protagonist often finds himself alone with his dying father and a hired caretaker who comes in every so often: "He watched his dad, he watched himself, and the caretaking woman to whom he barely paid enough, watched them both...He found his father sleeping in his room... Alone" (2), and "The young man knew there wasn't much time for the man... though he may have been old enough to take care of himself, he would be an orphan" (4) reveal this to be such. These passages make it all too clear that the protagonist finds himself very aware of his potential loss, and his previous experience with it, and he expresses these things at a distance, revealing himself to be numb. Which, in turn, shows that the protagonist feels deeply alone and hurt.

However, there is no more clear emotion than when he begins to recall his former sweetheart. A girl with shy, gray-blue eyes (3), and golden hair (3). She opens him up like a key to a lock (3), and he appears to have a similar effect on her (4). These passages also reveal possible causes for his pain and loss: car crashes and war (4). But they also talked about other things--high school (3), clouds (3), flowers (4), ice cream (3), and swingsets (4), to name a few. He compares her first to a "sliver of sunlight" (3) in an abandoned hospital room of a patient who has recently died (3), then to a "sunrise" (4), and later to a "sunset" (5). These comparisons clearly represent the girl at different points in her relationship with the protagonist. The sliver indicates her quiet entrance into his life, the sunrise as inspiration in hope for the future, and, finally, the sunset as the conclusion of their relationship.

As previously stated, the sunrise represents hope for the future, and the sunset represents the end. Following the sunset is night. The post-sunset emotions plunge the protagonist into despair, and then a rationalization of his own death: "And then there was night. Endless night. No stars. Only storms like this one. His soul ached" (5), and he lists off possible methods of suicide (5), shudders at the thought of the compassionate caretaker finding him (5), but once more assures himself of his ability to end his own life (5). Earlier on, the protagonist implies that the circumstances which bring the protagonist and his father to this bleak place occurred three years ago (2), and the protagonist repeatedly mentions his feelings of a sort of oldness. These events, also implied to have killed his mother and may have caused his father's debilitating further injury and terminal illness, combined with the abandonment by his understanding girlfriend, who appears to be healing from her circumstances and moving on in life, has driven him to believe there is no hope for a future or fulfilling life left. All the odds seem stacked against him, and there seem to be no options left, in his mind. However, he finds himself pulled from his suicidal thoughts by a knock on the door (6). He does not expect who he sees--the girl from his memories, represented once more as a "sliver of sunlight" (7) as she enters the house. Only a moment ago, the protagonist had been prepared to end his own life, arguably the darkest thoughts one can possess. And then steps in what once represented brightness and a future for him, for the second time, represented as a "sliver" of sunlight--of a tiny bit of hope revived. This may not represent that he is not continuing to think about suicide, but she does provide him a distraction from such thoughts, and her entrance has the potential to once more grow into a sunrise, pure sunlight; that is, hope for the future.

The strong imagery of a rainy, dreary day, in a home of two desolate people evokes emotions of seemingly endless gloom. Such was not always the life for the protagonist, whose evening reveals the meanings of dark and light in his home, his isolation and former companionship, and his eventual despair and return to potential light. A broken young man teetering at the edge of suicide places his hope in a young woman who once shared in his grief. She once gave him inspiration to believe that his future was not hopeless. She is as bright as the sun to him, in his dark life of turbulent storms. In life, there is darkness, and thunderstorms. But at the end of the storm, there is calm, color, and the sun will always eventually return.

Introduction to a "Literary Analysis" of "Sunlight" (because... it's 1:47 AM and I've had too much coffee)

Introduction (not that you read the title or anything): So in English, I've been assigned to write a literary analysis essay on the classic Steinbeck novel, Of Mice and Men, with a choice of four different topics: Isolation and Loneliness (three characters), Curley's Wife Being a "Floozy" vs. Being a Lonely Victim (with the latter being my English teacher's preference for an essay topic), Animal Imagery in OMAM, and Steinbeck's Use of Dark and Light (essentially, how he uses it to convey mood and whether or not a scene should be viewed positively or negatively. Whoa. Shocktastic.).

Anyways, not that it's relevant, but I chose the Curley's Wife topic (she's a lonely victim of male oppression and dream loss and spousal neglect, or at least that's what I'll be "arguing"), though I'm more leaning toward Isolation and Loneliness right now, but that would be the easy route. So would Animal Imagery, as well, actually, but I didn't like that one. Before this gets too ranty, I shall say the purpose of this post, or rather the post it is preceding. I will be writing a very rough practice essay analyzing my own recently blogged work--"Sunlight".

Which is just as depressing as any Steinbeck novel, except the girl/baby/everyone didn't die. I will be attempting to use the "TIQA" format (Topic Sentence-Introduce Quote-Quote-Analysis) in this "essay" (which probably won't be nearly as formal as it should be). I'm striving for five paragraphs long. I've never written an essay for anything other than school, and as previously stated, it won't be as formal as necessary. So take it with a grain of salt, if you do choose to read it.

And tune in for the next post for my SUPEREXCITING analysis of my own writing. I hope it makes me a better writer.

"Sunlight" (Chapter 1- "Return")

Sunlight

Chapter 1: Return

Present

A young man lay on the floor, staring up at the sagging ceiling above him. A lone light bulb swung from side to side, and flickered on and off, on and off, making static noises, as a ladybug mindlessly crashed into it, finding the moving object difficult to navigate.

There was something wrong with the wiring, he was sure of it. The floor he laid upon was slightly damp, a rug on concrete just below ground. The high, uncarpeted wooden staircase, had a history of being the source of many splinters on bare feet. The room was about 12 by 12 and only 8 feet high. There wasn't much in the room; just years of discarded materials, clothes that were too small, old toys, some photographs, long-abandoned sports equipment, precariously

stacked boxes of the past gathering dust. They looked like ghosts in the dimness of the chamber.
                The light bulb kept on swinging, side to side, flickering more and more, losing light with every shift in motion. And then the room turned black. The young man's eyes adjusted, with the bluish light from the small, drafty, rectangular window at the opposite side of the room. He suddenly became aware of the pitter-patter sounds of rain. Slowly, the young man sat up. He was young, but he felt old. Everyday he felt too old. This place was all but forgotten by the two occupants of the home... nobody else came down here anymore. Only he could. Only he did. Every once in a while, when he wanted, needed to get away from things.
                The room smelled vaguely of mold, and other musty scents that were not entirely unpleasant.
                Gradually, he forced himself to stand. Made his way, in the dark, to the stairs. He knew the place well enough. One step at a time, he made his way back to real life, life in the present. He opened the door at the top of the stairs, like he'd done many times before. The house was too clean. It smelled over-sanitary, the opposite of the underground solace the young man had made for himself. He watched his dad, he watched himself, and the caretaking woman to whom he barely paid enough, watched them both. The young man had this day off. A Friday evening. He found his father sleeping in his room. The man was alone in that room, as his wife had been gone for three years.
                They lived together, father and son, but they were more isolated than either cared to confess aloud. They barely spoke, just helped each other with what was necessary. Lately, for quite a while now, actually, the young man had been doing most of such assistance.

The young man stared through the window in the small living room above his hideout. The rain looked like waterfalls from the sky. Thunder rolled quietly in the distance, taking its time to make its way to the town in which he resided in.

As he thought of the rain, he considered one more person who had once had a place in his life. This person made things seem brighter. Like a sliver of sunlight through closed curtains in an abandoned hospital room.
                That person had eyes the color of a clear lake on a cloudy summer day. Shy eyes. That person had hair the color of a wheat field at sunset. Golden. She was just that. And she understood.
                They spoke when they could. They were keys and locks. He meant not to be cliché, but truly, she was the only one who could get him to open up at all. Sometimes they spoke of childish or frivolous things, about the shape of clouds, about ice cream, and chocolate, and music, and the components of high school, which, for him, seemed eons ago, in spite of this young man's age. It hadn't been as long as it felt.
                He felt old, but this was not so, and she reminded him of his youth. She had been a junior in high school when they met, so long ago. Their physical relationship was innocent—accidental naps in her room, a stolen kiss every now and again.

And their conversation could also turn to serious subjects. They would talk about her brother. How she saw him, even though he had been gone for years. How she could see him make expressions, of approval, disapproval. When he was comforting, when he was not, but how she didn't want to lose the vision of him. How it would be like losing him again. They would talk about his mother. How he sometimes saw her too. Particular car crashes and a particular war. His uneven gait. The many towns he lived in before those events.

They spoke of everything beneath the blanket of blue and grey skies.

                And the clouded chamber that the young man had become was would light up.
                She was like a beautiful sunrise. She made him imagine a future. She made it seem tangible... like a future was attainable. That there was life beyond this. That he could keep up with life again.
                But his father’s feeble health further detiorated. The blurs of white coats, collared shirts, and pastel uniforms… they did all that they could. There was no longer anything that could be done. The young man knew there wasn't much time for the man. And soon, though he may have been old enough to take care of himself, he would be an orphan.
                He couldn't see her as much. And he found himself on a piece of driftwood floating away from shore. Off to an unknown location. Things were hard for her too. Eventually, she also drifted. She took her medicine, and her brother went away. Their phone calls grew shorter. She graduated from high school.
                A sunset.

                And then, there was night. Endless night. No stars. Only storms like this one. His soul ached.
                Somewhere in that basement was rope. And he knew there were pills everywhere in this desolate excuse for a house. There were knives and bathtubs and there was rain outside, pouring down... lightning somewhere.
                He could do it. His father was going soon, too. It wouldn't do a thing. The woman who watched the house, watched them, she was a kind, compassionate woman. She did more than what she should. She tried to be a counselor. She talked to them, the young man, and the older one. She might shed a few tears, as she stood in black.
                She would probably be the one to find him. It made the young man shudder a little. But he could do it.

                He could.

                A sound from outside interjected the young man’s thoughts, through the rain. Something harder than sky-water had hit. Gentle fingers in a loose fist, a tentative knock-knock upon the door.
                The young man took a deep breath. It was early. He walked toward the door. And there stood a face that had seared itself in his memory.
                There was sunlight at his door.
                Her voice rang clear and quiet.
                "Hi," she said. Trying to smile. She was sunlight.
                "I was just here visiting my parents for the weekend..."
                Blue eyes glowing.
                "I thought I'd... I wanted to see you."
                Sunlight.
                "Come in," the young man replied in a shaking voice.
                The sliver of sunlight stepped inside.