Louis felt numb as his eyes opened the next morning. He stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, feeling an unusual sense of disorientation. Just then, the realization struck him, like a harsh blow to the head, that he had woken up into a world without his mother. The pain in his heart returned as the memory of the last six months came back all at once at an unbearable speed. He just wanted to lie there and cry. But he knew that he had to get to school, even though it was still an hour and a half before first period. He somehow felt that this was the least that he could do for the sake of his mother now looking down from above.
Louis felt like a zombie as he went through the motions of walking to school, walking the same path that he had taken every day for the last two years. His hand and feet felt deathly cold and his mind numb, yet his heart continued to ache. Everything around him somehow took on a new quality, as if he was encountering it for the first time. He just tramped on awkwardly, trying not to think about anything, trying not to look at anything in particular as the world around him in his peripheral vision seemed to blend into a swirling, undifferentiated mass.
He finally reached school and stepped inside, the same heavy, mechanical steps pushing him onward. The halls were mostly empty, as it was still over half an hour before first period. As he approached his locker, he looked up from his blank, downward gaze to find Tawny standing in front of it. She had a loving smile on her face, the smile that he had become so used to seeing and yet that warmed his heart so much every single time. This time, it was a smile that somehow brought the world around him back to life. He could feel the swirling, undifferentiated mass reemerging into concrete forms out of the radiance of Tawny's countenance. It was as if the world that he knew was coming back to him, a world in which he no longer had his mother but still had so much to be thankful for. The most precious of them all was standing right there in front of him, reminding him with her mere presence of the beauty of all that he still had.
Without a word, Louis approached Tawny and embraced her tightly, as if holding on to her for dear life. Tawny embraced him back, pouring every ounce of love from her heart into her embrace, understanding what she meant to him at this moment of need. Louis could feel himself coming back to life as the feeling of Tawny's embrace seeped into his bones, his bloodstream, and his heart. It was an all too familiar feeling, yet this time it meant the whole world to him, the difference between life and death.
Louis and Tawny sat in silence before first period, holding hands. "Tawny," Louis finally said. "I felt so…dead this morning. The whole world seemed dead. It was the strangest feeling in the world. And then I saw you standing there, and the world started coming back to life. And then you hugged me, and I felt like I was coming back to life." He looked deeply into her sparkling blue eyes. Those eyes… They were always so full of life. "I need you now more than ever, Tawny." Tawny smiled slightly and nodded, maintaining a respectful, understanding silence.
"Will you please come home with me after school today?" Louis now asked.
"Of course I will, Louis," Tawny said affectionately. Every word she pronounced, every ounce of affection that was contained in her words, every smile that she gave him meant the world to him. Louis could feel his heart healing, slowly but surely, as it basked in the sunshine of Tawny's presence.