Neil breaks my heart
don't own, very short
SPOILERS
Neil Perry, for all intents and purposes, only truly lived the last few months of his life.
Before that he had simply survived. He ducked his head at his father and his teachers, and got along the way he believed his peers were getting along.
It wasn't until that August, in the overly hot classroom of one O Captain, My Captain, that Neil learned how to live. It was as though he was awake for the first time; everything was new and clear. He broke through the still waters surrounding him and he learned how to breathe.
It started with a simple phrase: carpe diem. And just like that, Neil began to seize every day; every moment. He understood suddenly why Charlie Dalton lived and acted the way he did. It was a frightening, enlightening, exciting, feeling.
Neil lived his last few months brightly. He lit up the room when he was reading poetry or reciting lines, and it did not go without notice. His friends saw the sudden change and they were happy. Neil had always been a bit too serious and now he was just as ridiculous as the rest of them.
Neil lived his last few months as most men live their entire lives.
Others, however, were not as happy, and they tried to put a stop to it. He was told to stop living, to go back to surviving, and he couldn't bear it.
Neil Perry may not have had a long life, but he had lived it. He burned too bright, and so he had to fade just as quickly.