The Upside of Falling

by Alex Light

“I’m guessing you want to be the prince?” “Only if you’re the princess.”

This girl had literally run across town to my house. She looked like she needed an ambulance, yet the only thing she seemed to be worrying about was me. I hugged her, wrapped her into my chest until my chin was resting on the top of her head. I felt it then, the same feeling as last night, when she was reading to me. That stillness. A break in the storm.

“Becca?” My name felt so familiar on his lips. I nodded, wiping the hair off his forehead. “I think I’m in love with you,” he whispered, closing his eyes.

“Look, an image is there in front of you. Right? You stare at it but then you can look away and it’s gone,” she said. “Words aren’t like that. They build an entire world around you. It’s not something you look at, it’s something you’re inside. That makes it scarier.”

I loved the thought of sharing something that was important to me with her.

“Read to me.” “Why?” “Because you go somewhere else when you read. I want to go there with you.”