In the crowded streets of this slightly larger than most towns I hadn't expecting him to stand out.
Even if his hair was such a bright red it couldn't be missed. I had assumed it was dyed, since There was no way hair could naturally be that outrageously bright shade. he was shorter than most of the strangers encircling him. His shoulders slouched too, so I couldn't get a good estimation of his height. His head was lowered, clearly only for the fact he could dodge the glances from the few odd people took the time to notice him. His head was high enough though, that I could see his features, placed expertly onto his face in their proper spots.
He was pale. White as a sheet wouls never describe it. He was whiter than snow, and if possible whiter. He was like a cloud, the wind blowimg him around others with precision, making no mistake. Bags were under his eyes, purple and black. The storm clouds blowing in from the lack of sleep, indicting he might fight an battle that no one could really see unless you took the time. Maybe he stayed up late toying with the idea of ending his precious life. Maybe the noose was already hanging from his ceiling and he was heading there now. Maybe a gun, a blade, was stowed safely in his pocket, the fabric concealing it from vision. Allowing the possibly of getting help to be almost as slim as his small frame. Or maybe he's simply an insomniac, or an internet addict or something. I shook the thoughts from my head, yet I still chewed on my lower lip nervously while one question repeated itself in my head. Was he okay?
His eyes face downward. They're a hazel colour, the specks of golden in his irises making them more beautiful. Keeping with the metaphor of the sky, I would say this, his wonderful eyes, are the sun. Covered by the clouds, they wait to shine down on the Earth again. I didn't know if he wanted them to be bright again. They were so dull, lifeless. If he wasn't moving, walking, breathing, I would've thought he was dead. I didn't know- I didn't care. All I knew is that I wanted them to be bright. I wanted the see them sparkle and glisten in the sunlight. I wanted to remove the storm clouds, those bags under his eyes, so I could see the happiness inside him that I know, deep down inside, is a small, flickering fire waiting for the fuel to keep growing. To grow. To burn happily, it's cracking and popping and snapping the sound of his laughter chimming through the air.
He stopped walking. I could feel my heartbeat pick up inside my chest when his eyes landed upon me. Even if he stood a few meters away, I wondered if he could hear the sound of it beating eratically against my chest, threatening to escape through the skin. But my heart wasn't selfish. It stayed there, beating, to keep me alive and never left me to have it's freedom.
He didn't seem to move. I don't think the time we spent standing there, staring at each other, did he once blink. I don't think he even breathed, although his body demanded it. I was no different- My breath seemed to hitch every now and then and I struggled to get the oxygen needed to live in or out. I could never pinpoint what exactly about him took was so breathtaking that I couldn't well, breathe, but as I licked my lips to speak and opened my mouth to say something, and when no words came out, not even a mess of random words that will probably never be used in any form of sentence together, I knew he had left me speechless aswell.
"No," That simple, two letter word escaped through his lips to break the silence that had fallen over us. At first it confused me. He knew that, and had given me time to process it before he had continued speaking. My eyes widen inside their sockets as I pieced it together. Maybe this stranger, this beautiful kind stranger, was indeed suicidal. I didn't know to what extent his suicide thoughts go, or even if he was in some state of depression, I didn't care. "I'm not okay." No, I didn't care. I wanted to help him. No matter how hard it got, how big the struggle, if a man could climb mount Everest and get out of it alive then he can beat his suicidal thoughts. I was determined. Determined to see his eyes sparkle and glisten in the sunlight. Happily.