Disclaimer: I do not own Bridge to Terabithia (neither the film nor the book), but I think that is obvious… I'm just trying not to get arrested or anything… that'd be a shame wouldn't it? Obviously much more so for me than for you ;)

Waiting for Sunrise

Jess woke from his frightful night of sleep at the sound of his dad slamming the front door. He was glad to be woken; He had been having nightmares again.

Jess crept silently, as to not wake May Belle who was sleeping only a few feet away in her pink girly bed. The old wooden floor creaked as he lowered his weight onto it, but May Belle only sighed softly and then stilled – the only time she was quiet was when she was sleeping. Jess neared the window which was painted shut with white paint that had long since cracked into oblivion, yet still the window would not open. He peered out of the dirty glass at his father who was walking towards the small greenhouse that was located in the rear of their house.

Mr. Aarons reached the greenhouse, and yanking the door open he stumbled inside. Something seemed to be wrong, but Jess wasn't sure what it could be and he wasn't about to find out. Jess' father did not "get" him. His dad was all about hard work, and making sure that the bills were paid. Jess was not opposed to making sure that his family had a stable environment to live in… but there was something to be said for fun, wasn't there? Wasn't there something to be said for actually enjoying the life that he had worked so hard to create?

He was a simple boy, he just liked to have fun
He never wanted to be just like his dad was
He was a dreamer but he had never had none
Who made the most of his life but never had one

Besides his dad he was the only boy in his family, and it was hard. For a whole year he'd even had to wear his sister's shoes, because they did not have enough money to buy new ones, and his older sister was the only person with a spare pair.

After the death of his best friend Leslie Jess had separated his life into three parts: pre-Leslie, Leslie (his happiest part), and post-Leslie (his most unhappy part). Unfortunately he was in the unhappy part right now. Pre-Leslie had been alright. He hadn't been exactly happy, but he hadn't known what happiness even was, so it had been alright. In the short period when Leslie had been part of his life he had been truly, hopelessly happy. Now he feared that happiness like that would never come into his life again. He dreamed often of leaving this small town… but where would he go? He knew he would never do it. He would live, and die in this town… surrounded by the memories of the best friend he would never be able to spend time with again.

He was a single boy he could never slow down
He always wanted to leave but didn't know how
He was a dreamer who seemed to never break ground
Who spent most of his life in a small town

Jess tried to go back to bed, but he couldn't, so he simply lay in his bed until the sun broke over the horizon. It shed a brilliant light on Jess' bedspread turning it into a strange shade of red, yellow, and orange. It looked like fire… Jess remembered when a fire like that had consumed his life… he now lived in a world of icy submission.

He wanted Terabithia… He wanted Leslie… but as he turned and tossed in his bed he realized that the only place he would find those things would be in his dreams.

And he couldn't even figure out how to get to sleep.

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Hey guys! Thanks for reading this! I hope that you liked it. It was my first BTT story, so I hope that it was alright. If you could review it, that would be GREAT. Thanks.

Sincerely,

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