The Space Between Us

Where It All Began

The first time I saw Matthew I was five. I was in the middle of drawing a big flower on the sidewalk with one of the pink chalks my mom had just bought me. He and his parents were getting out of their car, which was parked in the driveway of the house right across from ours. I saw this little boy around my age running around the front yard with a toy airplane and he had the biggest smile on his face, the kind of smile someone gets when there isn't anywhere else in the world they would rather be. He then disappeared around the corner of the house, but a few seconds later he came back, running to his dad screaming "Daddy guess what! There's a tree in the backyard! Can we build a tree house? Please, daddy I really, really want one." His dad picked him up and said "Of course Matty, but first we have to unpack and settle down." Then he put him back down and continued to unload the car.

I turned back to my drawing and began to add petals to my flower. I didn't really have a favorite color so I decided to make each one different. I was just finishing up when a shadow appeared over me.

"I think it's missing something" he said while picking up the purple chalk and crouching down next to me. Then he began to draw something, when he finally moved away I could see a big happy face right in the middle of the flower.

"It looks better, right." He said to me.

And I looked at him. I had no idea who this boy was or why he was here, but something about the way his blue eyes shined made me feel like I could trust him.

So I said, "Yeah, it does."

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Hey! So this is my first story, I hope you like it so far. I promise it won't be like those cliche stories! Please let me know what you think. Any feed back would be appreciated just don't be so negative. But I am open to any advice on how to improve.

Thanks!

- R