"Wally, I'm going to run some errands. I'll be right back, so stay put", my mom yelled as she promptly exited our house.
Uhhh. Left home alone…again. Wally sighed while lying down on the couch.
I wish for once, she'd ask me to come along. I thought I'd been showing some improvement. Oh well.
I don't blame her. After all, she'd just trying to protect me. Wally smiled.
What do I do now? I've already read all my books, done my lessons, and there's never anything good on TV. I don't have any Pokemon. I-
A loud crash interrupted Wally's train of thought.
Wait?! What in the world was that?! He thought as he sat up and proceeded to look out the window.
The sight sent a pang of longing to go through his heart.
Outside, he could see a young boy and girl playing outside in front of the Petalburg Gym next door.
He knew their names were Brendan and May. He'd spent hours staring at them play outside with each other. Wally always longed for them to ask him to play which never happened. Of course, it might've been because he'd always make sure he hid himself well while watching them.
The crash he heard had been the sound of a soccer ball hitting the side of the gym. They seemed to be playing soccer. However, an extra member of the group caused him to long even more to join them.
"A Mudkip!" Wally exclaimed with the yearning clear in his voice. Of course the son of the famous Professor Birch would be able to have a Pokemon. It'd only be a matter of time before Norman's child got one as well.
"They sure are lucky", Wally stated as a small tear escaped his eye, which he quickly wiped away.
He didn't allow himself to cry anymore. He'd shed too many tears in the past, and it honestly wasn't going to change anything.
Just as that thought formed in his head, he heard someone start to yell.
"Brendan! Look what you've done! The ball went into the neighbor's fence!" May yelled while wagging her finger in Brendan's face.
Wally froze. What did they mean the ball went into the neighbor's yard?! He was the neighbor!
"Relax, May. We can just yell for someone to come out and get our ball", Brendan exclaimed.
Wally looked and sure enough, their ball had landed right in the middle of his front yard, too far for them to reach it.
What do I do?! Wally thought as panic started to seize him. Do I go get the ball? What if I trip and do something stupid? Then, they'll never want to play with me!
"Brendan, we have to get the ball back! My dad gave it to me as a birthday present", May stated as tears started to run down her face.
Oh! She's crying…
That's it! I'm going to get the ball for them, so that she doesn't have to cry anymore.
With that, Wally opened the front door and went outside.
"Look, Brendan. It's a boy! He can get our ball!" May said excitedly while wiping away her tears.
I went to where the ball was and grabbed it. "Catch", I said as I threw it, feeling accomplished that I'd managed to make it over the fence.
Brendan easily caught it while Mudkip danced around his feet.
Thinking I was done, I turned around, ready to go back to being bored and alone. For a small moment, I allowed the happiness and satisfaction of talking to someone, even if it was only a word, settle in me.
"Hey, wait!" I turned to look at the boy who'd called me.
"Would you like to play with us? It'd be more fun to play with another person," Brendan asked.
"Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired of having to deal with Brendan's constant bragging. Two against one would even the odds," May exclaimed.
I stood there feeling completely stunned. They were asking me to play? Should I join them? Am I even allowed to? No, I shouldn't, I'll just cause more trouble. However, a voice inside of me decided to speak up before I went inside.
When was the last time you've been a kid and had fun?
I paused to think about when it is that was and realized that the last time, I'd truly had fun was back when I wasn't always sick.
That's it! For once, I'm going to do something that I want to do!
"Hello? Are you coming or not?" Brendan said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah," I said as I opened the gate. For this moment, I would allow myself to be a kid again.
"Finally, I thought we'd be waiting here all day for you to decide," May said with a wink that made me blush.
"Ignore May. She's just impatient," Brendan said with an eye roll.
I couldn't help laughing at how silly the two friends were, and before I knew it, the three of us were giggling.
"Enough talking! Let's play," Brendan exclaimed while kicking the ball to me.
After what seemed like too little time, a woman came out of the gym.
"May, come home. It's time to dinner, and Brendan, your dad will be here any second to pick you up."
"Aww. Looks like it's time to go," May pouted.
"Let's do this again sometime," Brendan said in my direction while they started to walk away.
However, I had a question on the tip of my tongue that ached to be answered. "Hey, wait!" I yelled.
Both of them turned.
"Can I play with you guys again sometime?" I asked.
I feared their answer. What if they had just invited me because they felt sorry for me? What if they didn't want to play with me ever again? Had I scared them away?
"Of course," they both answered simultaneously.
"You're our friend now, so you're basically stuck with us," May replied as they started running to their house.
I stood still.
I have friends now. I let myself repeat that thought over and over again.
For the first time in a long time, I finally felt at peace.
Maybe everything will be okay, because even if my health hadn't changed, I could finally let go of that one part of myself that believed that I was only a source of misery.
I looked at the sunset and smiled while a lone tear left my eye.
However, this time it wasn't out of sadness, but out of pure happiness.