The rain tumbles silently down into the park, dampening everything in its path. Thunder rumbles in the distance, slowly fading as the rain begins to slow. Nico di Angelo sits under a tree, thankful that the thunder has faded. The thunder scares him, though he would never tell anyone. Nico has been sitting under this tree for hours, watching the park living, something that he doesn't find himself doing very often. He remembers watching the little children playing around the big tree across from him, climbing up it and pushing each other off. They didn't notice him, blending into the shadows as he so often did. He remembers the little bird that he watched in awe as it pecked around the ground, snatching up crumbs and worms. He willed it to come closer to him, but it flew away, sensing his presence.
Slowly the rain ceases to fall. Soon it comes to a stop, leaving the path slick, and the trees dripping. Nico silently observes the forest around him. Glistening drops of water hang from the colourful leaves of the trees, twinkling to the ground with a soft plop. The forest is quiet now. Not silent, just quiet. Nico watches the little animals drawn out by the end of the rain scurry around his feet, only to run away when they get too close. Nico sighs. Once, just once, he wishes that an animal would have enough courage to come closer to him. But they don't. He radiates death, something the animals want to avoid. Because everyone wants to avoid death, and being the son of death, they want to avoid Nico too.
Suddenly, a single cricket breaks the silence, playing its song out into the night. Another cricket joins the song, then another and another. All at once, the entire forest is alive with the music of the crickets. Nico leans back against the tree, closing his eyes and just taking in the song of the crickets. He marvels at how alone, a single cricket is nothing, but together, the crickets can make beautiful melodies. The melody of the night.
Nico looks away from the forest into the rest of the park. As the forest come to and end, a path begins. The path goes on and on, Nico cannot see the end. On one side of the path is the forest, the fall colouring its beautiful leaves. On the other side a river flows slowly and quietly, its water rippling gently. Old-fashioned streetlights light the path on either side, reflecting off the trees in many colours. The slick path reflects the soft orange light, making it look deep, and splendid. Every now and then a bench sits to the side of path where the forest is. Each bench holds memories. Memories of people that kissed here; that broke up there. Memories that Nico will never know of.
As Nico watches, a couple walks along the path, two dogs trotting calmly and slowly by their sides. One dog is black, the other white. One is big, the other small. They are complete opposites. However, the dogs do have something in common. Big, brown eyes adorn each little face. The eyes are big, kind and soulful. They look right into you, into your very core. They are not judging; they are kind and curious. They want to know you. Nico loves the dogs' eyes. They hold no malice, no spite, nothing seen in human eyes. Human eyes often hold hurtful things, hatred and suspicion, obvious dislike that they don't try to hide. That's what Nico sees in most people's eyes whenever they look at him.
The couple walks together in silence through the night. Their jackets are still draped over their shoulders from the rainstorm, their hoods obscuring their faces. Their walk is happy; they are in perfect bliss. His arm wraps around her waist, pulling her close, protecting her from the night. They remind Nico painfully of Percy and Annabeth, the couple that has lived through everything together. The couple that protects each other against all odds, even if it means death. Nico knows that no one would ever die for him.
Oh gods… Percy. Just thinking about Percy makes Nico's heart feel like it's going to burst. Percy Jackson. The boy that Nico had loved forever. The boy that would never love Nico back. Thinking about Percy makes Nico want to curl up into a little ball of pain and never move again. Because that is all Nico's life is. Pain.
Sometimes Nico wonders why he even bothers to keep on living. Animals and humans alike flee from him, without ever taking the time to know him. Nico's life means nothing to anyone around him. The people that sleep peacefully in the apartments across the river know nothing about him; they don't even know that he's there. Even if they knew, they wouldn't care, because their lives are more important to them. Nico often questions why he doesn't just die. He has no reason to live, no one to cry if he's gone. He wants to leave this living torture, this living hell that is his life.
But something in Nico always keep him from taking his life, a small part inside him that still has hope. A part of him that realizes that death would not end his suffering. He would continue to drift around, a tortured, miserable and lonely soul for all eternity. Hope is not in death, it is in life, so Nico di Angelo tries to keep on living. It is difficult, certainly, and sometimes Nico still felt like leaving this world would be his best bet.
As the park sparkles in the moonlight, the small part of Nico that still has hope rekindles. He has hope that maybe, just maybe, one day his sunshine will come. A light in the darkness that will pull him out of this void of depression he's fallen into. Someone that will be his sun.
Little does he know that soon he will find his sun.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this! It's just a little something I wrote based on an English project I did where we had to write a short story based on a painting. This story is a variant of the one I did for that. That painting is also the one that's the cover image for this story. Feel free to check out any of my other stories! Thanks for reading! :)