Hero

Chapter 1

"Ready?!"

"Set!"

"Go!"

He jumped.

For a few seconds Harry was blind, then they cleared just as fast and revealed the world far below, a tapestry of country fields.

The cold air rushed past as he accelerated faster and faster. Then after a time Harry felt like he was floating and not falling at all. But the trees on the ground were getting larger and closer. Harry checked my altimeter, it was time to pull the rip cord. As he tugged at the cord that could save his life, Harry failed repeatedly to deploy the parachute. As he hurtled towards the unforgiving ground in tandem, it occurred to him that maybe parachuting out of that sketchy rig hadn't been safe at all. All of his friends were at the bottom already, safely on the ground.

Harry was still falling. The wind in his face made it impossible to breathe, he felt like he'd suffocate. Squeezing his eyes shut tight and found himself falling in this darkness, hurtling to an invisible floor. A floor that would most likely kill him if he continued to fall at this speed. All he could do is pray and wish that everything will be fine as he waited for the inevitable.

Suddenly water hits his body, and panic started to feel through his body. His head is pounding, every cell in Harry's body was screaming for oxygen. He keep fighting until he felt like his head is about to explode, Harry had to take a breath. So he did. For some reason it doesn't hurt like he thought it would, He's not scared anymore, it's almost peaceful actually. Harry begin to fall. He fell further and further into the darkness until it threatens to swallow him whole. Now he was drifting, drifting, drifting down through a bed of gently swaying strands of seaweed, to be crowned by the vertical green fronds as they wrapped around his head. As his feet touched down on the river floor, Harry exhaled his final breath, which rose in a fascinating stream of bubbles back to the surface from where it came. Watching as a fish swam around him, Harry stood motionless, and let out a yelp once the small coral bluefin fish bit him

The pain that once burned like fire had faded away to an icy numbness. His breath came in ragged, shallow gasps. Seconds passed as Harry lay there, then, he heard the crash of water before he blacked out.

The sunlight shone through the oval window, lying on the tiled floor like sweet honey. Light shone on his closed eyes causing him to wince. He can hear a light beating sound from his right, and he really wishes someone could turn it off. His headache was a crushing pain just on one side of his head that came and went in a pattern. It made him want to pace about, he couldn't sit up from the pain, couldn't lie down or relax. One eye would water on the painful side and his nose would run. He hated it. He couldn't move and he felt almost paralyzed.

"My baby! I knew it..I knew he'd be alright.." Then the familiar sound of his mothers voice could be heard from his side. Turning his head Harry winced but smiled softy at her. "Oh baby...you scared me so much. Don't ever do that to me again." Anne said with tears streaming down both sides of his face.
Giving his mom a few seconds to calm, Harry looked around the room.

There were fruit baskets, flowers, balloons, and a hidden bag of Chinese food tucked inside of a candy basket. The doctors and nurses walked in and out with different charts and medicines. They were all in a rush, and now Harry starteted to notice a acheing pain in his chest. "It hurts Mom.." Harry said looking down at his pale fingers that were interlaced with his mothers warm ones.

"I know baby...I'll get the doctor yeah?"

Harry nodded slighly and watched as Anne left the room to go get his doctor.

Harry took this time to close his eyes and relax. He remembers everything that happened. From the fall to the blacking out. He doesn't remember how he got here, but he's thankful for whoever must have pulled him out of the water. Opening his eyes when he heard the doctor come in. Harry's eyes then shifted to his mother that looked relived but still sad.

"Mr. Styles, how are you feeling?" Dr. Newton asked as he checked over Harry's charts, and added more morphine to one tube. "You feel over 30,000 feet into that water. The nurses told me that your friend Matt had pulled you out."

"You were on flat line Harry...your heart...I-it stopped beating." Anne said as she did her best to hold back her tears. She's fine enough crying in front of people today, she does t need to do anymore.

"The only scar that you have is an odd one that's located on the back of your left shoulder," Dr. Newton said before facing Harry, "You are a very lucky young man." He said before nodding and exiting the room again.

Harry looks at them with wide eyes, that held fear and confusion in them. "I-I was dead...I.." He was at a lost of words, and he could feel his tears brimming his eyes. His mother was by his side in an instnat, to sooth her son. Harry blinked away the tears, and looked at his mom apologeticaly "I'm so sorry mom. I-I should have listened to you."

Anne shushed Harry, and rubbed her thumb over his cheek softly. "It's alright Hazza...Just never do anything like that to me again alright? I wouldn't know what to do without you. I already lost one of my babies, I don't need to lose an-nother..." she said

Harry nodded and looked out the window at his mother's words. His older sister Gemma was in a car accident a few months ago. A drunk driver had went through an intersection hitting Gems from the side, and then causing another car to hit her on the other side as well. He remembers crying until there was nothing left inside but a raw emptiness that nibbles at his insides like a hungry rat. His irises were threaded scarlet and his eyeballs hung heavy in their sockets. His whole body hung limp like each limb weighed twice as much as it had before and just moving it about was a slow, painful effort. The sun still shone in the sky, but not for him, the birds sung in bursts of melody, but not for him, for him there was no beauty left in the world. Things had ended up getting better once he started to date a nice girl named Maddison Henson, who goes to university with him.

"Alright baby, get some rest. The doctor said you'll be ever to leave tomorrow morning." Anne said before pressing a light kiss to Harry's forehead. Fluffing Harry's pillow slightly, Anne kissed Harrys cheek again and pulled the cover more over him. "Love you." She headed to the door, and looked over her shoulder at her son one last time. "Do you want me to shut the lights off?"

"Yes please."

The lights got switched off, and Anne closed the door on her way out. Harry looked up at the now dark ceiling and sighed thougtfully. After todays events Harry wasn't at all surprised when his body dragged him into that shadowy world of dreams in less than a minute from his eyes fully shutting. His mind dragged him into the oblivion of sleep, and he had a dreamless sleep that night.