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“Look alive, Caelus,” one boy spoke to his friend on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
“I’m ready, Dan Heng,” the other boy responded, tightening his grip on his bat.
The two fourteen year old boys were best friends growing up. Caelus had dreams of growing up to be a professional baseball player, and enlisted Dan Heng’s help to get some practice in. Their school would be holding tryouts in roughly one week’s time, and any practice would be beneficial as far as Caelus was concerned.
The two of them were currently at their middle school’s baseball field. It was currently unoccupied, as school was out for the weekend. Where better to practice for tryouts than the place they would be held?
With a nod of his head, Dan Heng pitched the ball towards Caelus. The gray haired boy kept his eyes trained on the ball as it travelled towards him. When the time came, he swung his bat with all of his might.
To his surprise, the ball soared through the sky after making contact with the bat.
“Home run!” Caelus cheered, feeling incredibly joyful about his swing.
“Don’t get too excited. You need to go get the ball back. That’s the only one you brought to the pitch, right?” Dan Heng reminded him.
“Oh yeah, you’re right. I should’ve brought more than one with me. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to even get close to a home run,” Caelus admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Well, not much else you can do. Just go get the ball back. Don’t worry, I’ll wait here,” Dan Heng said in response.
Caelus nodded, and set off in the direction the ball flew without another word.
The ball had flown incredibly far, flying over the fence surrounding the school grounds. Caelus quickly hopped over the fence and resumed his search. He was pretty athletic for a middle schooler, so he didn’t really break a sweat.
After climbing over the fence, Caelus searched through the surrounding woods to find the ball. Yet no matter where he searched, he couldn’t find it. The plants around him were making it incredibly difficult to spot a white ball.
Eventually, Caelus’s search led him to a place that he quickly recognized as someone’s backyard. He decided he should turn back before the owner of the house called the police on him. However, he quickly noticed something off about the house.
One of the windows had a hole in it that conveniently looked around the size of a baseball.
“Oh no…” Caelus quickly put two and two together.
The house that he had found was incredibly close to his school.
In the span of one day, Caelus had gone from thinking he wouldn’t hit a home run to breaking the window of someone’s house.
But all of a sudden, a devious idea popped into Caelus’s head. The owner of the house hadn’t stepped outside yet. If he sneakily approached the house, he could maybe take the ball and leave before the homeowner realized he was the one who caused their window to break. If he did that, he could return to where Dan Heng was and forget that this ever even happened.
Caelus decided he would approach the house and listen for voices, and if he heard any, immediately get out of there and give up on getting the ball back.
He successfully managed to approach the window without getting caught. After he was right next to the window, he crouched underneath it and listened for voices. He waited for roughly twenty seconds before making his move.
Fortunately for him, the house itself wasn’t that tall, meaning the windows weren’t high up at all. The windows were low enough that he could reach through the hole and pick the ball back up. He wouldn’t even need to go into the house to get it, and he could get out of his mess scot free.
Caelus quickly stood up and looked through the window. He needed to act fast. Getting caught would be the worst thing that could happen to him right now.
He quickly noticed that the ball was on the floor in front of the window, and was just within his reach.
He also noticed that the window he broke was one belonging to the bedroom of a girl. She happened to be sleeping peacefully in her bed. Judging by her appearance, she appeared to be around his age. He would need to be careful about how much noise he made.
Caelus snaked his arm through the hole in the window, reaching for the ball. He held his breath the entire time, being incredibly careful to not make any noise. He also moved slowly, being wary of the broken glass he was reaching through. It was now or never.
“WE’VE MADE A CHOICE, GO FIGHT AGAINST YOUR FATE!” A sound suddenly came from Caelus’s pocket.
As his fingers made contact with the ball, his cellphone suddenly went off, presumably Dan Heng calling him because he was taking so long to get back.
The girl’s eyes slowly fluttered open, as the sound of Caelus’s ringtone was loud enough to wake her up.
Caelus froze in place upon making eye contact with her.
“Oh, hello there,” the girl spoke calmly despite what she was currently witnessing.
“Uh… hi,” Caelus awkwardly responded back after shutting off his phone, “You’re not at all freaked out by the fact that there’s a random guy reaching through your window?”
“I normally would. I just don’t have the energy to react that way right now,” the girl responded with a chuckle. Her saying that made Caelus notice just how tired she looked. It quickly became apparent to him that she had been asleep for a reason.
“I’m really sorry about this. My friend and I were playing baseball together at our school’s pitch, and I hit the ball all the way over here and through your window,” Caelus said, quickly picking up his baseball from her bedroom floor, “Um… here, I can leave you all of the money I have on me. That way, you can hopefully get your window fixed.”
After retrieving his baseball, Caelus reached into the wallet his father gave him. He took out all of his allowance money and tossed it through the window. But to his surprise, the girl made no move to accept it.
A couple seconds of silence passed before Caelus cleared his throat.
“You aren’t going to pick up my money?” He asked, confused as to why the girl wasn’t moving.
“Oh, I can’t. I appreciate that you want to make up for breaking my window, but I can’t accept your money,” the girl spoke in response.
“Oh…” Caelus responded awkwardly, “Well, I can’t really take it back. With how far I tossed it in there, I’d have to go into your house to get it.”
The girl’s eyes slightly widened in realization.
“Oh, sorry I didn’t explain what I meant by that. I meant that I physically can’t accept your money. I would, but I’m paralyzed from the waist down,” she clarified. At that moment, Caelus felt like a massive jerk.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. First I break your window, and then I force you to talk about something you probably don’t like talking about. I’m really sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you today,” Caelus apologized with a lot of sincerity in his voice. He felt like a massive idiot for ending up in the situation he was in.
“It’s fine. I’m kind of glad you spoke to me, to be honest. It’s not everyday that I get to speak with people besides my family. I don’t ever get to go out,” the girl reassured. Despite her efforts to reassure him, Caelus couldn’t help but feel even worse for inconveniencing someone like her.
“Really? But I’m a complete stranger to you. I’m surprised you haven’t already called the police on me, to be honest,” Caelus admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Then let’s not be strangers. That should ease your worries. Nice to meet you. My name is Firefly,” the girl introduced herself. Caelus really didn’t understand this girl, but he decided to go with the flow.
“I’m Caelus. Nice to meet you as well, Firefly,” he introduced himself, “It really was nice meeting you, but I should probably get going. My friend has probably been waiting for me for a while now.”
Caelus turned around to leave, but was called back by the sound of her voice.
“Wait!” Firefly slightly raised her voice for the first time in their entire conversation, “This may be a strange request, but will you come back? I don’t ever get to interact with someone around my age. If I’m being honest, it would be really nice to get to know someone my age.”
It was at that moment that Caelus looked Firefly in the eyes for the first time that day. The only word he could use to describe the look in her eyes was pleading. The way she looked at him tugged at his heartstrings, as if he had just found a lost and abandoned puppy.
“I can come back after I finish my tryouts for my school’s baseball team,” Caelus offered, “I owe you for breaking your window.”
Firefly smiled for the first time in a while that day.
“Okay, I’ll hold you to that.”
“I made it onto the team!” Caelus proudly announced one week later.
As he promised, he came to visit Firefly again as soon as his tryouts had concluded. This time, he was inside the house. The conversation with Firefly’s parents about her window was an awkward one, but they were willing to accept his apology.
He now found himself inside of her bedroom, sitting in a chair across the room from her bed. She was still sitting in her bed, just as she was the day he first met her. Her window had since been fixed, much to his relief.
“Congrats!” Firefly had much more energy that day than she did one week ago, “Although, considering you managed to break my window with a baseball, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised by the fact that you made the team.”
“Can we forget that that happened?” Caelus said, his face turning a bit red from embarrassment. Firefly chuckled at his expense.
“I’m joking, don’t worry,” she said with a smile on her face, “Say, Caelus? I’m a bit curious about something. You mentioned the other day that you were practicing with one of your friends. What are you friends like?”
Caelus put a hand on his chin and pondered on Firefly’s question for a split second.
“I only really have two friends at school. The one I was practicing with is named Dan Heng. It’s kind of a miracle that we became friends, considering we aren’t really that similar. He’s a lot more quiet and serious than I am. My other friend is a girl named March 7th. I guess it’s similar with her. I’m not that much like her, either. She’s incredibly outgoing and bubbly, essentially the complete opposite of Dan Heng. I guess it really was a miracle that the three of us became best friends, considering we’re so different,” Caelus summarized his two best friends to Firefly.
“A miracle, huh,” Firefly considered his words, “Then perhaps I can call you breaking my window a miracle. It let me meet you, after all.”
“Really?” Caelus found himself surprised by her words, “Do you mean that? We only met one week ago.”
Firefly quickly nodded.
“Yeah, I’m being genuine about that. The fact that you kept your promise means a lot to me, you know. I meant what I said last week. It’s really nice to be able to talk to someone my own age,” Firefly spoke sincerely. Caelus couldn’t hear any lies or disingenuous things in her words.
“That’s nice of you to say. I felt really bad about breaking your window, you know. I’m honestly relieved that you didn’t call the police when you saw me standing outside your window that day. I looked like a real creep that day,” Caelus said, making the girl across the room from him giggle.
After that, the room grew silent for a few seconds, until Firefly spoke up again.
“Hey…” she said, “Are you going to come back again in the future?”
Caelus found himself surprised by her question. On one hand, he was surprised by himself. When he first broke her window, he felt really bad about it. He originally intended to leave without making up for his actions. But after Firefly caught him, he began to feel even worse for thinking about doing that to someone in her situation. After he learned about her paralysis, he decided he should atone for his mistakes and not cause her any more trouble.
But to his surprise, she asked to see him again. And now, she was doing it again. He would think that someone he had inconvenienced so much wouldn’t want much to do with him, but Firefly was defying all of his expectations. And what was even more surprising was that he felt himself not wanting to turn her down.
“I can. When works best for you?” He asked.
“You should be asking when doesn’t work for me. All jokes aside, why don’t you just give me your contact information? You can come whenever you want as long as you let me know beforehand. That is, unless I’m not feeling well or need to go to the hospital that day,” Firefly said, reaching for her phone on her nightstand.
From that moment on, the two of them began to solidify their friendship. Caelus would do his best to maintain his promise, and Firefly would wait for his visits. The two of them were quickly becoming friends.
“Hey, Firefly,” Caelus asked one day, “What happened to your body, anyway?”
The look on Firefly’s face immediately turned into a frown, suggesting to Caelus that he may have brought up a sore subject.
It had been a month since the two teenagers first met each other. Since that day, Caelus did his best to visit Firefly, working around his school schedule and practice with the baseball team to make time to visit. It was a bit harder than he would like, but he did his best nonetheless.
“Actually, forget I asked that. Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought up a sore topic,” Caelus apologized, internally chastising himself for being an idiot.
“No, it’s alright. I was going to have to tell you some time or another,” Firefly reassured, taking a deep breath, “I was born with some condition that doctors couldn’t even diagnose. To this day, they still don’t even know exactly what it is. The only thing I can say about it is what it does to my body. As I said before, I’m paralyzed from the waist down, and the condition occasionally flares up. That’s why I was so tired when we first met. I was recovering from a flare.”
Caelus felt his heart sink in his chest.
The ability to walk was something he took for granted. Knowing that there were people out there who weren’t as lucky as he was was disheartening to think about, especially now that he had gotten to know someone like that. He couldn’t help but admire her strength to keep on going, and to do the best she could considering the circumstances she had been put in. Firefly possessed a strength greater than any of the athletes at his school, he was sure about that.
“I’m really sorry that you have to live that way. I couldn’t begin to imagine what it feels like. The fact that you persevere through all of that is really admirable,” Caelus said earnestly. A small smile appeared on Firefly’s face.
“I appreciate the kind words. Having people around me definitely makes it a lot easier, that’s for certain,” Firefly responded just as earnestly.
Only a month had passed, yet it was impossible to deny that Caelus breaking Firefly’s window had led into the blossoming of a friendship between two teenagers who were once strangers.
“Plus,” Firefly continued, “I haven’t given up hope yet. Maybe one day, the doctors will be able to figure out what’s wrong with me. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to walk just like you do. If my condition is curable, then I think that should be something I look forward to.”
Caelus found himself in awe of her optimism. She had been crippled her entire life, yet didn’t let that stop her from staying hopeful. Caelus felt like if he were in her situation, he would be the complete opposite. He would be miserable if he couldn’t go visit his friends whenever he wanted, or if he couldn’t play baseball whenever he wanted.
Firefly refused to let her condition stop her from living her life to the best of her ability.
“Yeah, you’re right. You have a lot to look forward to. I’ll remain hopeful for you as well, Firefly,” Caelus made another promise. Firefly smiled graciously.
All her life, she wanted nothing more than to make a friend who was roughly the same age as her. Not only had she done that, but she had met someone who inspired her to push for more. Hearing Caelus talk about his friends and his hobbies made her want to be able to live like he did some day.
“Alright, then. I’ll hold you to that,” Firefly responded.
“Hey, Caelus,” Caelus’s good friend March 7th asked him while they were at lunch, “Are you going to be busy after practice today?”
“Sorry, today’s not a good day for me. I’m going to Firefly’s house after practice today,” Caelus apologized, taking a sip from his water bottle after.
Six months had passed since the day he broke Firefly’s window. Since that day, the two of them had only gotten closer as friends. Caelus went to visit her fairly often nowadays.
What they did when he went over varied. Some times, Firefly would show him new music from her favorite artist, Robin. Other times, Caelus would tell her stories from his time at school, or talk about how he was doing with the baseball team. The two even spent New Year’s Eve together.
“Oh, I see. I guess there’s always next time,” March always tried to see the bright side of things.
“Yeah, maybe next time. I’ll see you guys in class later. I’m gonna go to the library for a bit,” Caelus said, picking up his mostly empty tray of food and leaving the table without another word.
“He’s been going to visit her a lot, hasn’t he?” Dan Heng spoke up for the first time in a while that day.
“Yeah, he has. It’s a bit strange. I’ve never seen him that passionate about anything besides baseball. Do you know why that is?” March asked Dan Heng. The raven haired boy shook his head.
“I can’t say I do. I’m just as perplexed as you are about all of this. But I guess he’s allowed to do whatever he wants,” Dan Heng said.
“But even still, it’s like he’s become an almost entirely new person. He’s seriously considering what he wants to do in the future. From what you’ve said, he puts a hundred and ten percent into baseball. I’ve never seen him so motivated in my life,” March observed. Dan Heng felt like she made a good point.
“Then maybe whatever it is is something good. Maybe we should let him do what he wants,” he responded.
Dan Heng and March 7th didn’t personally know Firefly, but it was apparent that she had only done good in Caelus’s life. He had changed in a good way since meeting her. In a strange way, she was almost living up to her name.
She was just like a firefly, being the light that would lead their friend out of a dark forest.
“Firefly!” Caelus excitedly barged into her room on one of his visits, “I made the varsity baseball team!”
An entire year had passed since the day the two of them first met. Caelus was now in high school, and had just tried out for the baseball team yet again. All of his hard work in middle school had paid off. He was the only first year to successfully make it on to the varsity team.
“You did?! Congratulations, Caelus! I’m really happy for you!” Firefly responded happily, feeling nothing but joy for her friend of one year now.
“Thanks,” Caelus responded, “You know, I don’t think I could’ve done it without your support and encouragement. When I was trying out, I was reminding myself of the fact that I wanted to be able to have more stories to tell you. That motivated me to give it my all in that tryout.”
“You’re exaggerating. You would’ve been just fine even without me,” Firefly responded despite the blush forming on her face. Caelus shook his head.
“I’m not, though. You showed me that I should give my all to everything in life, no matter the circumstances. I’m being serious about that,” Caelus spoke with sincerity in his voice, “I really do appreciate having you as a friend, Firefly.”
Firefly could feel herself getting emotional over his words. She could feel happy tears welling up in her eyes. One year ago, she would never have expected that she would even get the chance to make such a wonderful friend.
“I wish I could walk right about now. If I could, I would give you the biggest hug I can,” Firefly said, wiping her eyes a little bit. To her surprise, Caelus suddenly stood up.
The gray haired boy decided to take matters into his own hands. After standing up, he approached the side of Firefly’s bed and extended his arms out a bit. Firefly immediately understood his intentions.
Caelus surrounded her in a warm hug that she returned with just as much enthusiasm.
“It’s alright if you can’t do it yourself,” Caelus spoke while their bodies were still pressed together, “I’ll always be there to help in any way I can.”
“Oh, you just reminded me,” Firefly said some time after they separated, “I also have news to share. Starting next month, I’ll be in the hospital. The doctors want to be able to monitor my condition. They say it’ll hopefully speed up the process of being able to figure out what it is.”
“That sounds like good news! Maybe you’ll be able to walk sooner than expected. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep visiting whenever I can,” Caelus reassured. Firefly smiled again.
“Thanks. I’ll look forward to when you do,” she said earnestly.
“Hey, Firefly,” Caelus greeted one day as he entered her hospital room.
“Hey,” she responded, sounding a bit dejected for some reason.
At this point, it had now been two years since Caelus and Firefly met by chance. Caelus was now in his second year of high school. Meanwhile, Firefly was still hospitalized, waiting for the day the doctors would be able to diagnose what was wrong with her.
“I’ll be attending university in not too long now. I think I should go ahead and start looking at athletic scholarships. I know there’s no chance I get in on just my grades… oh, is something wrong, Firefly?!” Caelus asked. He intended to just start a conversation with her, and didn’t expect what happened next.
While he was speaking, Firefly suddenly began crying.
Caelus moved closer to her hospital bed.
“I’m sorry! Did I say something wrong?” He apologized, internally panicking a little bit.
“No… It’s not your fault,” Firefly spoke in between sobs, “Earlier this morning, one of the doctors came to see me… I was told that my condition is most likely incurable…”
After saying it out loud, Firefly completely broke down, reaching for Caelus’s jacket and sobbing into it.
The boy’s eyes widened in shock.
The words of that doctor were enough to completely and utterly destroy Firefly’s dreams of walking some time in the future. If it was really true, Firefly would have to live the rest of her life being unable to walk. She would go right back to spending the remainder of her days alone in her room, unable to step outside and feel the warmth of the sun. She would forever live like a bird in a birdcage, unable to spread her wings and fly away.
Caelus could feel his heart breaking at the sight of Firefly sobbing into his jacket. She sounded defeated, and all of the hope she carried before had vanished. But even despite that, Caelus wasn’t ready to give up. This girl had done so much for him, even despite her disability.
It would be wrong of him to give up on her after all she had done for him.
But for now, he opted to be there for her while she sobbed into his clothes.
Six months later, Caelus was ready to carry out his plan.
He did a lot of pleading with Firefly’s doctor. He needed to see her a lot earlier than visiting hours would permit. He felt a great sense of relief when her doctor allowed him to carry out his plan.
“Where are you taking me, Caelus?” Firefly asked groggily, still not fully awake yet.
She was currently in a wheelchair that Caelus was pushing. Her eyes were closed, as Caelus told her to close them. According to him, he had a surprise he wanted to show her.
It was very early in the morning, and Caelus had barged into her hospital room, saying he needed to take her somewhere. He had to do a bit of explaining about how he got her doctor’s permission to see her before visiting hours. After some time, she finally agreed to go with him and see what he needed her for.
“You’ll see when we get there. I’ll tell you when to open your eyes,” Caelus reassured. Firefly let out a hum that sounded like one of uncertainty.
Eventually, Caelus led Firefly to the elevator, pressing the highest button possible.
After some time of riding the elevator, the door opened to the rooftop of the hospital. Thanks to the many times he visited Firefly in the hospital, Caelus knew that the elevator went all the way to the rooftop. That was integral to his surprise.
He pushed Firefly’s wheelchair onto the roof, waiting for the right moment.
“Alright, now you can open them,” he eventually said. Firefly did as he said, slowly opening her eyes at first, before quickly widening them upon realizing where Caelus had taken her.
Caelus had set up her wheelchair so that she had a perfect view of the city. Furthermore, he took her up to the roof right as the sun was rising. She could see the sunrise perfectly, creating an ethereal view with the cityscape below it.
“Wow…” Firefly said, not sure what else to say in that moment. The only word she could use to describe the view was breathtaking.
“I felt really bad, seeing you crying six months ago,” Caelus suddenly spoke up, “I know that you haven’t been put in a very good position in life. That’s why I want you to know that I’m always here for you. I’ll do whatever I can to see you happy.”
Firefly took a moment to process his words. However, the combination of the beautiful view in front of her and the heartfelt words of her friend proved to be too much for her to process. Tears began to roll down her face again. But this time, they were tears of joy as opposed to tears of despair.
“I don’t understand,” Firefly said while wiping her eyes, “I imagine it took a lot of effort to make this happen. Why go so far for someone who will never be able to make it up to you?”
“You don’t have to repay me for anything. I’m not doing this with any hope that you ever do. I’m doing it because…” Caelus paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing, “I’m doing it because I love you, Firefly, and I want nothing more than to see you smile.”
Firefly’s eyes widened for the second time that morning. However, they only stayed that way for a second or two. They were quickly responded by a heartfelt smile on her face, and even more tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Am I dreaming right now?” Firefly asked, staring deeply into Caelus’s eyes as he shook his head.
“No, this is reality. I meant that with all of my heart,” he was quick to reassure her, gently taking her hands.
“Truth be told, I’ve loved you for some time now. I chose not to say anything about it. In my mind, you would never love someone like me. I would never be able to give you the things that people without disabilities would be able to,” Firefly admitted. Caelus temporarily removed one of his hands from hers, using his thumb to wipe the tears off her cheeks.
“That’s fine with me. I don’t care about any of that. I love you for you. No one else would be able to give me what you could,” Caelus said with a gentle smile on his face. As time passed, this all felt more and more like a dream to Firefly.
“Caelus…” Firefly said, feeling overwhelmed with emotions. She gestured for him to crouch so that he was around her height.
Caelus obliged, kneeling next to her wheelchair. To his surprise, Firefly removed her hands from his. As soon as his head was low enough, Firefly leaned over and pressed their lips together, a gesture that he quickly returned.
Two and a half years ago, Firefly would never have imagined herself in this position. Her younger self just wanted a friend, yet now she found herself with someone more than that. She never expected that she would ever fall in love, yet Caelus defied her expectations.
Some time later that morning, Firefly had one more request.
“Hey, can we take a picture? I want to remember this day for as long as I live,” she requested. Caelus nodded.
“Sure. Here, let me adjust your wheelchair a bit,” he said, standing up to turn her wheelchair around. The rising sun was now behind the two of them.
Firefly reached into her pocket and handed Caelus her phone.
“Say cheese,” Caelus said, with both of them making the peace sign with their hands.
That day, Firefly and Caelus made memories that they would never forget.
Firefly once said that meeting Caelus felt like nothing short of a miracle for her. She still felt that way to this day. In fact, she felt that way right now more than she ever had in her life.
“What do you mean she’s not doing well?!” Caelus said to someone over the phone one day.
It had only been one day since he and Firefly had shown each other their true feelings on the rooftop. He had been on his way to visit Firefly that day, when all of a sudden, he got a phone call from her. But to his surprise, it wasn’t actually her calling. It was her doctor, saying that she had asked them to call him. According to the doctor, Firefly suddenly wasn’t doing very good.
“I’m afraid she woke up this morning in really bad condition. She told us that you were the person she wanted us to call the most,” the doctor explained. Caelus could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
“I’m on my way over right now,” Caelus quickly said, hanging up the call before the doctor could get another word in.
Caelus rushed over to the hospital as fast as he possibly could.
After some time, he barged into Firefly’s room to see her body hooked up to multiple machines. The room was silent, aside from the beeping of the heart monitor. To Caelus’s relief, her heartbeat was still going.
“Caelus?” Firefly said weakly upon noticing him enter.
“Firefly!” Caelus said. He quickly walked over, kneeling by her bedside.
After doing so, Caelus quickly noticed that something was wrong.
“Wait a minute. Where are your doctors?” He asked. He had been so focused on her that he didn’t notice that the room was empty aside from the two of them.
“I asked them to leave for a moment,” Firefly said, suddenly extending one of her hands to cup his cheek, “I asked them if I could spend a moment in private with you.”
“Firefly…” Caelus said, “The doctor called me from your phone, saying you’re in bad shape. Please don’t tell me it’s true. Please tell me I’m dreaming right now.”
Firefly weakly shook her head.
“I woke up this morning feeling really bad. The doctors ran some tests to see what the issue was. Strangely enough, something good came out of today. They managed to figure out what’s wrong with my body,” Firefly explained. Caelus’s eyes widened.
“They did?! Does that mean you’ll be able to go home in the future?” Caelus asked, some hope returning to him.
“That’s what we were hoping for, wasn’t it?” Firefly asked, her voice sounding defeated for some reason. Caelus felt confusion and anxiety welling up in his chest.
“Huh? What do you mean?” He asked anxiously.
“They’ve dubbed my condition as ‘Entropy Loss Syndrome.’ My body has slowly been fading from the inside out. After running tests and x-rays, they quickly noticed that a lot of my organs have completely faded into thin air. They figured out what’s wrong with me, but it was all too late,” Firefly admitted, a pained smile on her face.
Caelus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Her condition sounded like something made up, yet he could physically see her in pain. On top of that, he could tell where this was going.
It was just yesterday that the two of them poured their hearts out to each other. Yet now, Caelus’s worst nightmare was coming to life. There was only one question on his mind right now.
How did it all come to this?
“Firefly…” Caelus said, feeling tears quickly forming in his eyes, “I don’t want you to leave me. I love you…”
Firefly smiled weakly at him again.
“I love you too, my trailblazer. You showed me that I didn’t have to live my life in solitude. You were the only real friend I ever had. And on top of that, you became so much more to me than that,” Firefly said, now cupping his face with both of her hands and wiping his tears with her thumbs.
Caelus could hear her heart monitor slowing down.
“Live on for me, Caelus. Change the lives of others, just like you did mine. Maybe we’ll meet again some day, and I’ll get to fall in love with you all over again,” Firefly said. By this point, the tears were rushing down Caelus’s cheeks like a river.
“I-I will. I’ll love you forever and always, Firefly,” Caelus said as her heart monitor began to slow down even more.
“As will I, Caelus…” Firefly said in response, “Thank you so much for everything…”
After that, Firefly closed her eyes and lowered her arms.
The room was silent after that, aside from the beeping of a flatlined heart monitor and the cries of a grieving man.
“In breaking news, the Trailblazers are now your baseball world champions! Mr. Caelus, also known as the Galactic Baseballer, announced after the game that he will be starting a nonprofit organization. According to him, it will be known as the Firefly Foundation, and will look to provide funding for research and treatment for people with disabilities…” the television trailed on.
The owner of said television decided to turn it off after that.
“Hopefully that report brings a lot of eyes to the cause. I should go have a shower now,” he said to himself.
On his way to the bathroom, the man passed by multiple notorious objects in his house.
The first one was a framed picture. It was a picture from a few years ago, depicting a boy and a girl taking a picture together on the rooftop of a hospital. The man remembered that day like it was yesterday.
The other object was a speaker in his house playing a particular song.
The name of said song was “If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking” by Robin, her favorite singer.