The Waterfall in the Sky

The air was cool, the mist spraying him as it ricocheted off the nearby rocks. The sound of rushing water filled his ears. His favorite sound in the world, in his favorite place to be.

The waterfall was so brilliant, especially in the light of the rising sun. It was transparent until it met the stream below, where it all meshed into a rich blue that sucked in its color from the sky. When the sun was at the right angle its rays gave the water an orange tint. It was absolutely beautiful.

His legs swung over the rough surface of the rock he was sitting on, his feet just skimming the top of the water. It was pretty warm considering the morning had just barely begun. Careful not to bump into anything, he stretched and laid back on the rock, staring up at the few clouds scattered in the otherwise bright blue sky.

He'd been there for years now, all by himself. He survived off the land, which was not a hard thing to do. It seemed that whatever he had need for appeared without question, and there were no real signs of life apart from himself. A part of him hated that.

The silence and serenity was wonderful. Everyday he could be alone with his thoughts, and that was actually how he lived. But sometimes his thoughts reminded him of how lonely he was. He would close his eyes and see that image, the one single image from his past that he missed. The rest he had left behind and he didn't care about that, but this one thing, this one person had meant everything to him, and he wanted that back.

He told himself it wouldn't be much longer now. One day they would meet up again, and he could finally be completely happy. And it must be coming up soon, because his dreams about it had been more frequent as of late...

Before long his eyes closed, and he drifted off into a mid-morning nap. His greatest fantasy played in his mind once more, the missing half of his soul laying beside him in a patch of grass not far from where he actually lay, the cool breeze gliding past them. They held hands for a while, then stared at each other for a while, then went swimming in the beautiful stream for a while.

It was at the perfect temperature. The water was not so deep that their feet wouldn't touch the bottom, and so they were standing with their arms wrapped around each other, their unclad bodies pressed together...

And just like that he was awake again, but the feeling in his gut gave him the impression that his waiting was done. Before the sun went down that day, they would be reunited.

He climbed off the rock with a smile on his face. The happiness had already set in, and if he was still living the life he had lived before he would have been apprehensive about being so hopeful, but he knew that here there could be no disappointments. Here, things only happened for a reason.

Here, he would meet up with Chris again.

He walked around for a long time, zigzagging through the trees that surrounded the area. He tried to take in the awe-inspiring beauty of it all as quickly as he could, because he knew that once Chris came to him he would never find any of this as amazing as he did now.

When the sun was directly above him, he stood by the water's edge. He rather fancied some fish for lunch, so he was on the lookout for movement in the water. He thought he saw something flash by, and he went to move, but he soon realized that what he had seen was not anything in the water.

“JONNY!”

He recognized the voice instantly, and the feeling of Chris's arms wrapped around him was exactly how he had remembered. He tried to breathe, reached his arm up and grabbed one of Chris's hands. They stood like that for what seemed like ages, but it didn't matter; time didn't really exist in this place.

Then Chris finally removed his arms and Jonny turned around.

“Wow,” Chris breathed, lifting his hand and brushing it against Jonny's cheek, “Jonny, you look so young.”

“So do you,” Jonny replied. Chris looked down at his own hands, his eyebrows drawn together.

“I haven't seen myself yet.” Jonny placed his hand on Chris's back and brought him closer to the water so he could see his reflection. Chris knelt down and leaned over the stream, and what he saw shocked him.

His face was smooth, wrinkle and blemish free, and the bags under his eyes had disappeared completely. His eyes had even regained the color they lost when Jonny left. After a while he grew tired of seeing himself, and so he stood and turned back to Jonny.

“It's like when we first met, huh?” he asked, and Jonny nodded.

“I think so, yeah.” Chris smiled and stepped forward, draping his arms around Jonny's shoulders. He looked around for a little bit, just as astonished by the natural beauty as Jonny had first been.

“This place is so beautiful,” Chris said in awe.

“No, it's not.” Chris looked to Jonny in confusion, though he was still smiling a little. “You're beautiful.”

Chris blushed and his smile grew wider. “You're beautiful, too. Jonny, I've missed you so much.”

“We won't have to miss each other anymore,” Jonny said, and he rested his forehead against Chris's. He brushed his fingers through Chris's hair, tucking back some of his curls behind his ear. “It's just you and me now. Forever.”

Chris leaned into Jonny and placed a soft kiss on his lips. They both felt the overwhelming sense of joy rush over them as their souls finally became whole, one entity that reigned over them both.

The sun began to set as they laid in the patch of grass Jonny had dreamed about. Jonny laid his head on Chris's chest, his hand on Chris's stomach. Chris had his one arm wrapped around Jonny, his other arm at his side and holding Jonny's hand in his own.

“Jonny, did it hurt when you left?” Chris suddenly asked. “Physically, I mean.”

“A little,” Jonny answered. “But I knew it was going to be worth it in the end, so it didn't bother me much.” Jonny tried his best to look up at Chris, his green eyes bright even in the diminishing light. “What about you?”

“No,” Chris said, shaking his head. “I think I was asleep.”

“Good. You don't deserve to be in pain.”

“Neither do you.” Jonny repositioned his head again and looked up to the sky. Chris ran his hand over Jonny's hair and smoothed it down. “I kept that picture of you, you know. Everyday I looked at it. And everyday I cried. I didn't want to be there, but I knew that people needed me to be there, so I stayed for as long as I could for them. Because I also knew that we would never be separated again once I left, and so a few more years with them seemed like nothing.”

“Chris, you are the most wonderful person I have ever met, and probably the sweetest person to ever have existed,” Jonny told him. “It was so lonely here without you, but I'm actually really glad that you stayed behind for those people. It only reinforces what I always thought of you.”

“Which is?”

“That you're much more selfless than everyone thinks you are. Of course, that's not much good anymore, is it, seeing as no one else is around?” Jonny said with a small laugh.

“Remember how you always said that I spent too much time trying to take care of you?” Chris asked, and Jonny could tell from his tone that he was smiling. “Well, now it's going to be worse since I don't have anyone else to steal my time away. From now on everything I do will be solely for you.”

“Fine,” Jonny said, “but everything I do will only be for you. So we're even.”

Jonny felt Chris lean his cheek into the top of his head, and he heard Chris sigh complacently. “I think I'm gonna like this place.”