365 Days

A Different Story

Welcome to yet another new story. This one is different, will be different.

One year ago, not today, but this month, this story began. The familiarity of everyday life vanished in thin air in a single moment, the one I decided to turn around and face Jesse Aarons, head on, as he sat helplessly on the concrete in view of the park we had come from.

This story begins in April 2016. Mid-April to be exact. But I'm going to start it here. April 1st 2016. One year ago today.

To be honest, my mind has not comprehended the idea that today is April. That everything that happened all happened so fast and was gone before I could get over it.

Hours into this day, I did what I was obligated to do 11 months ago. In May 2016, June maybe even, I should have put a stop to this nonsense.

I should have made it clear that if Jess wasn't going to pick himself up again, we were all going to leave him on the ground, by himself.

But instead, I moped around beside him. I stood in front of him, as he sat helplessly on the cold hard concrete and waited for him to get up again. For an entire year, I stood there. I stood in front of the park we had come from. I stood beside his motionless figure, waiting and waiting for him to get up again, shake it off, and continue down the road we both knew.

It never happened.

For an entire year, 365 days, I stood beside Jess. I stood beside him on April 17th for the rest of the year. He didn't get up again. And no matter how much time passed, I always believed someday, he would. Someday he'd decide to stand up again, off the cold, hard concrete below him and get on his merry way.

He never did. And for the longest time, neither did I. I stood there waiting for him, depending on him, to do the simple act of standing up again.

He never did. And this year, I'm not standing beside him, waiting for him to get up anymore.