Sun, Sorrows, and Secrets

Prologue

When you're young, you may find yourself dreaming about life. Dreaming about what the future holds, what life has in store for you. I used to have such dreams when I was a child. All I wanted was a simple life. A life without the chaos and without the drama that always came with living in this crazy world. A life where I could see the future and feel content with where I was and with who I was, accepting that I made the right choices.

A future with someone that would live and stand beside me through thick and thin. A future where our dreams came true, where we were the living proof that life hadn't beaten us down just yet. A future where it was just us against the world. A future with the one I love. In short, I wanted a future with him.

A future with him was supposed to be a dream come true, it was supposed to be like those "happily ever afters" you read about in fairy tales. It was all part of a carefully crafted plan. A plan that was years in the making, full of promises of tomorrow. From tomorrow to forever, at least that's what we said would happen. Life never goes exactly how we want it, does it? No, life is full of surprises. Life loves giving you a wild card just when you think you're about to win the game. And when you fall in love, the game you play depends on the hand you're dealt and you have to decide to play it safe or go all in.

Falling in love with my best friend was supposed to make forever sound easier, more attainable. I mean, what could be better than spending the rest of your life with the one who knew you better than you knew yourself? Spending forever together in the future, that wild uncertainty that we always dreamed about, seemed so much more than just a simple dream. Nothing is ever that simple, though we were so blissful in the ignorance of our youth. When a new person came to stand by my side, I made sure to cherish this one more, but circumstances separated us before our love could fully blossom. Love never knocks three times and if it did, I wouldn't be living with a broken heart

Playing with fire always gets you burned and there was a raging fire that grew within me from the moment I was born; a fire that only got stronger as time went on. This fire could grow quickly like a wildfire or it could be warm and welcoming, like a gentle ray of sunlight. While I couldn't always control the conflagration or know the exact cause, I knew that it was only a matter of time before the world around me would go up in flames. I guess if I want my story to make any kind of sense, I should start from the very beginning. This is the story of the boy, the fire bird and the horror that would unfold before our very eyes and hold onto us with its unyielding grasp.