"Take my hand", he whispered and reached out for the skinny boy.
For a moment of hesitation, a silent moment and yet it was so noisy inside his mind. The blurring scenery around them paused and became clear, for a single moment. Someone pulled the brake of this brief period in time, to slow it down even more. And it felt endless for both of them, even though it was a few seconds only that passed on the outer world.
This wasn't the first time everything stopped for them. There were countless moments like this, in both of their memories. And one thing every single one of them had in common: One of them remained silent while the other one kept waiting within the moment, to recieve an answer. To feel their live heading in another direction again.
Sometimes, there was no space for the presence. Sometimes everything that fitted in the very moments was the past, sneaking up in their heads. A time they tried to run from, memories that kept haunting them in their nightmares. The demons both of them carried with themselves, on their own. No one ever spoke about what had happened before. And maybe it was for good, not to waste a second on them, since the past already had enough moments on its own. Moment which were captured within the memories that better not be memorized.
Sometimes it was the future, that kept them sleepless. When the nightmares woke them up from their slumber and the worries stroke their minds, there was a moment of redemption, as soon followed by the endlessly benighted future. They didn't know what would be the next day and it was uncertain what they would wake up to in the morning.