32 Ways to Say Help

Twilight Sees All

A rich, everlasting twilight burst to life over what seemed like all of D.C, bathing the lake in glimmering reds and oranges. People were enthralled by it, wrapping coats tighter around themselves as the winter wind bit them harder like summer would never come. The crisp air carried the scent of beer, like all good parties should. At last, the first term of senior year was over, leaving happy children in its wake.

Sitting on the edge of the peer was Noah. Noah Elliott was usually drunk at these kind of parties, and it was unusual to see him alone.

His friend, Rachel, came and sat next to him, a cup of vodka and orange juice in her hands.

"Well aren't you lonesome," she grinned, putting the drink in his hand. "What's bugging you?"

He took a long gulp, obviously needing a little alcohol in him to answer the question. "This feels strange. My brother is supposed to be here, staring at people, cussing me out when I drink too much and just.... Being Sawyer. But he's not."

Rachel took the cup back from him and drank the remaining liquid down in an instant. She shook of the burning in her throat and responded, "So what, your brother went to college. Don't you have any reminders of him or anything?"

Noah frowned, "I think the school has all his research... So no."

Rachel grinned, "Go with Zoie, I bet she can get some off it back for you. Being head of the student council must give you some pull around there."

Noah nodded. Three days later he and Zoie, Sawyer's best friend, went to Roosevelt Senior High School. After nearly an hour of pushing and pulling strings Zoie emerged victorious with sixteen videos full of Sawyer's research.

"He's getting worried about you, I hope you don't start to distract him from his work," Zoie broke the silence as they walked down the streets of her neighbourhood. Noah blinked. "Well, he didn't say you were distracting him exactly. He said 'if I return home and find my little brother conforming to society I shall be bitterly disappointed'." The two of them smiled. Sawyer studied human behaviour, simply to figure out human patterns and dissect their animal instincts. He was forever curious and trained his brother in his ways.

In the middle of their nostalgic laughter Noah's phone rang. It was Rachel.

"Hey."

"Hi Noah, I know your with Zoie right now, and this is a little spur of the moment, but do you wanna meet me in Monument Park?"

"Yea sure, which monument?"

"Your favourite."

She hung up the call and Zoie grinned. "You're going on a date, how sweet."

Noah rolled his eyes. "So I'll meet back up with you later?"

"Of course."

+++

Rachel was sitting patiently under the Vietnam War Monument. The words glittered in above her head, giving her dark brown curly hair a halo. She beamed at Noah as he approached.

"Hey, I didn't keep you waiting did I?" he asked, helping her up from the ground. She shook her head.

"Nah, you wanna walk or grab a bite to eat?" As Noah had walked all the way there they decided to go to food. They came along to the little café inside the park just as a new bulletin came up on the television screen.

"Today on the M.I.T campus a boy was found dead from several stab wounds. A witness stated he was walking back to his dorm when he was mugged, and then murdered when he resisted. The witness then ran away to get help but the boy was already dead. His name was Sawyer Crawford, age 19. His only living relatives are Dr Joseph Crawford and adopted brother, Noah Elliott." Pictures of Sawyer's body flashed up on the screen. Noah just stood there, his face red. There were no tears, his pain was conveyed only in his face, but he was in agony.

Wordlessly, Rachel wrapped him in a hug. And they stood there, in the middle of the café for almost fifteen minutes before Noah pulled back and started to walk away.

He walked as fast as his legs would carry him out of the huge park into the open streets curling slavishly around the monuments. Then the tears came, streaming down his face at the counter of a pharmacy where he purchased a bottle of Benzos.

His own family abandoned him on the curb, the only person willing to love him unconditionally was Sawyer, even if he didn't follow the importance of the concept. For thirteen years Sawyer was the only true family he had known. But now he was dead... by something as inferior as human greed that he ceaselessly tried to unravel.

Snow crunched under his feet as he downed one pill after another. People walked past him, but they overlooked the fact that he'd thrown his jacket on the ground and he was taking far too many pills to be prescription.

He had emptied more than half of the bottle before he got to the secluded area he wanted. He'd always thought Sawyer was too good to die. He seemed so cunning and sharp that even death would cower at his intellect and the reapers would give him years to live. But he was gone. Dead and buried in snow. That would be the home of Noah's endgame.

He lay in the snow right on the bank of the lake he had been at with Rachel. In the course of three days everything had fallen to ruin. He would never see what his life would amount to, because he had ended it right then and there. The roaring twilight once again bathed the winter lands in a godly glow, but the gorgeous light died out before his eyes as it faded to the blackness of the death he'd quickly forced upon himself.

More snow crunched under people's feet, days later. Noah's body still lay there, a fresh blue in the snow. Zoie rocked back on her heels to stop herself from keeling over in shock. As soon as she'd heard of Sawyer's death she'd gone searching for Noah. And here he was. Dead in the snow around bottles of beer. Half his body floated on the water as he'd slipped down when the snow started to melt a little.

And that twilight returned to morn both Noah and Sawyer. The sky had seen so much pass beneath it, with no hands to reach out and save the lives that could have changed or saved so many others. The twilight became the saddest and most beautiful sky. More sombre than one cloudy, and more soulful than the night. Raindrops fell on Zoie, and the twilight sky began to cry bitterly.

(Guess who ;) )