I find the topic of my leukemia a difficult one to converse about.
Not for the reason you may think, what with death looming over your head constantly like an asteroid about to collide head on with your body, or the occasional moments where the fevers you can contract makes it feel as though you're going to explode from the heat.
No, you see, I find it hard to talk about my leukemia because I want to be original.
Yes, be it from Faults in our Stars to Walks to Remember, there have been so many books, movies, and sob stories displayed over television about cancer that it's hard to keep track of. But how can I blame the media for liking stories like that: tragedy makes for good entertainment.
Now, I understand that these last couple of sentences may make me seem like kind of an asshole, but I'm not, I promise. I just wanted to make a point that's it's difficult to be original when it comes to cancer.
However, I think I have a story for you that you most likely will have never heard before in your life. Now, you may not believe me (Which is completely understandable, as it sounds bonkers), but I'm going to tell it regardless. So, pull up a chair, grab yourselves a drink, and make yourself comfortable.
My name is Samuel Garrison, and this is how I found a family within a boy named Steven and his alien moms.
"Beach City."
I looked up from my MP3 player, hearing the call of the bus woman by chance as the music drifting in between my headphones came to a pause once she said the previously stated location.
'Looks like I've made it to my stop.' I thought.
Pausing my music, I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulder. Stopping by the bus lady, I turned to her and said before I got off:
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it, kid." She said in a gruff voice, somewhat clashing with her caring smile.
With that, I stepped out of the bus and into the early morning spring air. The bus then drove away down the road, off to continue its cycle of pick-up and drop-off.
Taking a look around the vicinity, I took notice that I was dropped in front of a donut shop. Looking into one of the panes of reflective glass, I saw what I looked like: I was wearing black beanie over my head (which was able to show tufts of my black hair from beneath its rim), and on my neck hung my headphones, which were black. What was also black was my zipped up hoodie and my pants. Underneath my hoodie was a grey shirt with a brick pattern, and splattered across it in red text was "Pink Floyd's The Wall".
Taking a deep breath and simultaneously stretching up, I noticed just how nice of a morning it was. The birds were singing, the sky was clear with naught a cloud in sight, and the gentle breeze listing through the area was charged with the scent of sea spray.
'So this was my old home, eh? I can get used to this.' I thought with a smile.
Looking back towards the panes of glass to the donut shop, I figured that it was a long bus ride over here, I could use a bit of something to eat.
Stepping through the double doors and hearing a bell jingle from above them, I could see that a commotion was going on at the front counter. It appeared to be between a young boy in a pink starred shirt and jean shorts with curly black hair and a pleading expression, as well as young woman around his age with blonde hair and sympathy etched on her face.
"C'mon Sadie, I promise I'll pay you back next time!" The boy pleaded.
"I'm really sorry, Steven, but our policy states we can't give away food under the promise of 'I'll pay you back next time'." The apparent 'Sadie' said.
"Aww, but if you could just-"The Steven was about to continue, but was cut off by me saying:
"What're you having?" I asked the boy.
"Oh, uh… chocolate." Steven said.
"Add a jelly to that. I'm paying." I said as I reached into my wallet.
The boy then looked up to me and (somehow, someway, I'm not sure how) his eyes transformed into stars and began to hug my leg.
"Thank you so much!" He said with great excitement.
"O-of course." I said, slightly giggling at the boy's exuberance over a donut.
"Here you go, that'll be 2 dollars." Sadie said politely.
Fishing the necessary currency out of my wallet, I exchanged the bills for the donuts.
"Have a nice day!" Said Sadie.
'You too." I said back.
With that, I handed Steven his donut and began to head out the door, when I heard the boy stop me and say:
"Hold on! I haven't seen you around here. What's your name?"
"Oh, uh, it's Sam. Sam Garrison."
"Nice to meet you, Sam." Steven then held out his hand. "I'm Steven Universe!"
"Universe? Is that your actual last name?"
"Yup." Steven said simply.
"Okay, that's awesome." I said as I took his hand in mine, shaking it.
"Thanks. So, I take it you're new in town?" Steven asked.
"I am, actually, I just arrived a couple minutes ago."
"If that's the case, want me to show you around? I know all the cool spots!" Steven proudly proclaimed.
"Hmmm… Eh, I don't have anything better to do. Why not?" I said whilst smiling.
"Alright! Come on, follow me!" Steven said whilst rushing down the street. I laughed internally at the boy's energy.
'He certainly has a lot more energy than I had as a kid. Now, I wonder where he's taking me.'
Looking back on it now, I guess it didn't really matter where Steven took me that day. Because little did I know that because of him, my life was about to change so much for the better.
Good morrow people of Fanfiction! This is just a story idea that I've had tumbling around in my head for a while and I just wanted to see where it goes. With that said, please leave your reviews if you want to see more!
P.S., sorry about how short this chapter is. As the title says, its more of a prologue than anything.