Joey

“I could listen to his laugh until the day I die and never get sick of it.”
― Erik J. Brown, All That's Left in the World

“It looks like this:
Pink, mostly.
Puffs of orange just below.
The fiercest yellow way ahead, far, far ahead.
Red slashed all across.
All of it fading to blue, getting deeper and deeper as you go out.
Underneath all that is the ocean, reflecting it back. All I can hear are the waves and the seagulls, all this calmness surrounded by an eruption of colors, deep strong colors.
I only saw this once in real life. We stayed up late and walked to Mill Point Beach in the middle of the night. There was no light anywhere and we sat, blind, and we said nothing. We didn’t speak for the longest time, just listened to the ocean.
Then the blackness started melting.
This is what it looked like when the sun finally came up. I was so tired, we both were, but we did it anyway.
We only saw it once because there wasn’t much after that, and now we can’t ever go again.
This is what I see when I want to remember the good parts. This is what I see when I think of him, when I let myself think of him.”
― Rafi Mittlefehldt, It Looks Like This

“He didn't hesitate. He just ran to me, and now the warmth of his body radiates as his arms hold me close, pressing me against him. His hands are trembling as he whispers in to my ear, "I'm so glad I found you."

I laugh from pure joy and whisper back, "Me too. I thought I might not see you again."

He takes a deep breath and draws me in closer. This is the first time Aiden's shown me this much deliberate affection. I don't want this feeling to end.”
― Paul Michael Winters, Together in a Broken World

“I don't know who these people are, but they put us in different rooms on purpose. Sure, there are more than enough available, but they thought we'd want our own rooms. They didn't want two boys sharing a king bed if they didn't have to because that would mean something they probably weren't prepared to think about.”
― Erik J. Brown, All That’s Left in the World