When he was just eleven years old, he got sick, and was forced to stay inside for an entire year. And in that year he began to worry that he hadn't lived enough. So he made up a story, of the great life he thought he wanted to live, which only made him forget the great life he already had. How he had filled a new home with light and joy and promise. How he met a girl, his neighbor, who felt all alone in the world, and made her feel okay again. And how, even when he was sick, he still gave his parents hope. |