Amy was an ordinary girl with ordinary problems. Amy was a cute, Caucasian girl in her late teens. Her brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, which let her bangs fall free in front of her face. She wore a stylish green sweatshirt that was cut down the middle and held together by a zipper, which concealed a white shirt. She wore tight fitting jeans that hugged her legs and black and white converse.

On this particular day Amy wanted to get away from her ordinary world. She just wanted to forget about everything that hurt and let herself get distracted with petty things. So her destination was the mall. She always would head to the mall on the weekends. Usually she was with school friends. But not today, there were no friends to hang out with today. Just herself. Maybe it was a good thing she told herself. She really just wanted to loose herself. When she stepped inside she could smell the combination of food and new products. These smells were as sort of steroid to her and soon she would get high on it. This was her way to leave everything behind and indulge herself in window-shopping.

However things weren’t going to go as she planned today. Even while she walked to her favorite store to lose herself in life, things were already slowly changing and everything was leading up to his appearance.

----

A man wearing a leather coat slowly walked through the mall. he appeared normal yet he was worn, like a man who hadn’t slept or shaved for a few days He carried himself above the rest of the shoppers but not  high enough to avoid suspicion. He seemed normal to the average eye, but what he was going to do was not normal. He smiled to himself, what he was going to do had been needed for a while, he thought. He slowly walked though the mall looking for something.

He found what he was looking for and opened a door saying ‘employees only.’ Yes, he thought to himself. This would be a very interesting day.

----

Amy was lost in her own little world, feeling somewhat relieved but was still angry about what happened at her house today. Why would her parents say such a thing to her? But then she did sort of deserve it for the way she acted. But that didn’t matter. They didn’t understand her. No one did ever since “that day.” But it didn’t matter she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was run away from these problems.

----

Where was it? Where was it? He asked himself. Everything was so exciting him, so much to think about. Soon it would all start and soon she would find him. Then everything would be rectified.

He found what he was looking for, a small plug and a button.  Funny how such the smallest of things could control the largest of things. But pulling a plug could simply control not everything he wanted to do, there would be much more than that to control. He knew they wouldn’t do but he liked to think it would. He liked to think about a lot of things. He then hit the button and pulled the plug. All the pieces were in place. All he had to do was wait.

----

Amy stood outside the doors of her favorite store; pictures of happy people filled the store’s windows. Maybe these people knew something she didn’t. Maybe if she bought some of the stores merchandise she would feel happy, maybe she would feel included. Amy half sighed, she knew this wasn’t true. But she still had convinced herself that it was, every time she came to the mall. She walked inside, familiar sounds and smells filled her senses. This was home to her. Here nothing could hurt her or so she thought.

----

All over the mall lights were going out, screams ran out as people became aware of their surroundings. But all to suddenly everything went quiet as a mighty wind swept through the mall.

----

Amy was busy looking through the latest fashions when the power had gone out. The roaring wind exploded through her ears and then suddenly everything was silent. The entire store went black. Amy was scared. What was it? She thought. The music stopped. But what scared her most was the silence. No screaming, no yelling, no anything, just darkness.  She had to get out. She had to run. Thoughts raced through her mind as she went. What was going on? What had just happened? And why was it so quiet?

When she got outside it was lighter, mainly because of the glass roof the mall had, but something still wasn’t quite right. There wasn’t a sound anywhere. She then noticed why it was so quiet. All the people around her, even the clocks were frozen. Not a thing moved. People caught in the middle of a laugh or people taking a drink of a shake, all frozen. It was like she was stuck in a photograph. She didn’t like it at all; she had to run; she had to get away from her

----

The man walked out of the door. Everything is in order, he thought to himself. Now all he had to do was wait. He knew she would find him. That’s exactly what he wanted.

----

It didn’t make any sense. Why would everything be stopped? Why was she the only person who was moving? Thoughts ran through her mind. She began to run. Everywhere she went people were frozen in place. Then something shimmered out of the corner of her eye. She noticed it but continued to run. There it was again, another shimmer. She slowed down and looked around. What was it she asked herself? Then there was another one, more and more started to appear. They looked like little dandelion seeds as they fell. She watched in wonder as they moved from as f blown by a wind that wasn’t there. Should she follow? She asked herself. She was so memorized by these little glimmers. What could they do to her? She decided to follow. Just to see where they were headed.

----

She was getting closer. He could feel it. She had seen the small shimmers and would head toward them. He couldn’t wait, everything was working out so well. He reached inside his worn leather jacket and fingered something. He couldn’t wait; he wanted to go after her now. But he had to be patient. She would come. All he had to do was be patient.

----

Amy didn’t always go to the mall on weekends. Once upon a time, she used to spend them at home, with her family and her friends.  She spent so much of her time at a particular park. Where she met him, her best friend.

He was a strong, good-looking man of African decent. He had a dazzling smile that stretched from ear to ear and a laugh that was so contagious you couldn’t help but laugh with him. His name was Isaiah. He was the highlight of her life.
Isaiah spent the majority of his time at the park. He was an outdoorsman at heart and would walk through the woods to pass the time. He said he always liked the way the trees covered him from the wind but let the sunshine through. Amy would follow him on some of his treks. She found it difficult but she would do anything to be with him and he did enjoy her company.

But one day all that changed. Isaiah had an uncanny knack for getting himself lost in the woods. One day he had gotten lost for most of the day and had found the road at nearly 8 at night. On that night as he was walking home a drunk driver came swerving down a hill and sideswiped him.

According to the police report Isaiah was killed almost instantly. The drunk driver was found and convicted. Because of his attorney his sentence was lightened. It didn’t matter to her anymore. Isaiah was dead. Nothing had mattered to her since that day. She never felt the same way ever since then. So instead of thinking about it she went to the mall. She hadn’t gone to the park since.

----

Amy didn’t know why she was thinking about this. She hadn’t thought about it for months. It hurt too much for her to think about, like tearing open an old wound that wouldn’t heal. But as she watched these shimmers that was all she could think about. She remembered the time that he had taken her to his favorite place in that park. She remembered all the feelings of that day and how much she enjoyed it.

----

The man walked down to the main lobby. The waterfall in the middle was the centerpiece of the entire mall. Nearly 7 feet tall it towered over the shoppers. He looked at it for a moment; it to was frozen in time. He ran his fingers across the water. It felt cold and refreshing as his fingers streamed through it. It wouldn’t be long now he thought. He walked over to the small Starbucks vender next to the waterfall. He walked behind the counter and served himself a coffee. It had been forever since he last had one. As he felt the warm liquid flow through his system, he absorbed the aroma and with that he calmly, coolly waited.

----

Amy remembered so vividly that fateful day she had with Isaiah. She could still remember the coolness of the air and the sunlight. It was so real, like it had happened yesterday.

When Amy had heard that Isaiah wanted to show her someplace special, she was so excited and inquisitive. When Isaiah had asked her to walk with him through the woods in the park, she felt like the luckiest person in the world. The more she spent with him, the better she felt. But as time went on as they walked, she became more inquisitive. What could it be?

Finally Isaiah stopped. He told her to follow him as he walked through the brush. When Amy had entered the clearing, she looked all around. It looked as if there had been a special place cleared out for them. There was a small pond that was full of fish and cattails. The area had a small grove of trees that rose above them as rich green grass carpeted the ground. Everything was perfect.

She and Isaiah nestled under one of the trees and talked about nothing in particular. Isaiah was with her and that was all that mattered and he seemed to think the same. As they talked they looked upon a nest of birds. There was a mother bird and three small chicks. These birds had feathers that shimmered in the light and they puffed out their chests as they chirped. The mother bird was teaching the little chicks to fly that day. The mother bird would chirp at one of the birds as she told it what to do. She would then nudge the chick off of the nest and let it fall. The first two birds fell and started flying around, chirping happily as they went.

Then came the final chick, the mother bird did all that it did for the two other chicks and pushed its final child out of the nest. As the bird fell, something was wrong, the little bird couldn’t grasp what was happening. The third bird fell to the ground with a small thud.

Amy was awestruck and ran towards it to pick it up. But as Amy ran towards it Isaiah held her hand and whispered, “Just wait.”

The mother and chicks flew to the third and gathered around him. They chirped around the fallen bird and started to lift it up. The small chick then got up on its own. The then tried again and furiously fluttered his wings. This time he was successful. He happily chirped as he rose above the rest. The family of four then flew off into the sunlight.
Amy had sat back down next to Isaiah. She saw the whole thing, it was so different from what she had thought would have happened.

“Sometimes we need a helping hand to get us back on our feet,” Isaiah soothingly spoke as he stroked Amy’s hair.

Nothing seemed to be any better than that day to her. She and Isaiah would come to that spot many times after but none stood out to her as much as the very first time.
But since his death nothing brought her happiness anymore.

----

While Amy was thinking about this, she had noticed that the small shimmer that she had followed into the mall’s plaza. She looked and wondered why they had stopped. She wondered why the shimmers had stopped there. There were still people frozen in time.. They were stuck, waiting to move to their next destination. She looked at the lobby and started to turn away. All these shimmers just led to the plaza. Maybe there was something here. She knew there wasn’t though. Nothing was there.

      “Wait, what was that?” She asked as something moved out of the corner of her eye. There it was again. Right next to the waterfall, something had moved! But everything seemed dead. Even the waterfall was frozen in time. But as she looked around one more time something, or someone rather caught her eye.

“No! It couldn’t be.”

----

He had finished his coffee. He thought about getting another but decided against it. As he looked around he thought he saw someone move. Was it her? Who else would it be?
There she was. She looked tired. Well that would make sense. So did he. But none of that mattered now. There she was, his love.

----

It was! It was Isaiah! There was no way. It made no sense. But when did anything make sense today. She ran to him with all she had. Why was he here? How could he be here? How?

But it didn’t matter anymore. He was here and so was she. He stood there with that same grin she knew too well. His eyes were sadder now, but so were hers. Both of them embraced, tears streamed down from her face.

----

It had been forever since he had seen her and he knew of all the things that she had gone through when he left. He embraced her, destined never to let go. Tears escaped his eyes.

----

Amy felt his warm body engulf her and she wanted it so badly. His hands seemed to cover her entire body with relief as his strength lifted her from her sadness. Isaiah touched her face and she did the same. His eyes were red from crying and his face was wet with tears.

They held onto each other for what seemed forever.

“I missed you.” Amy barely whispered

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Isaiah spoke

“Are you… really…back?”

“…No. I came to tell you something and to give you something.”

“…”She didn’t reply.

“Just… I missed you… so much and… I see you hurting. Every time you cry, I cry.

I don’t want to see you hurting.

You need to move on. You’re running away from those who want to help you.” He said

“But…but I don’t need help,” she half cried

“Yes... yes you do.”

“But why did you come back?”

“Sometimes we need a helping hand to get us back on our feet,” He recited.

He reached into his pocket pulled something out and put it into her pocket. She didn’t look to see what it was she just wanted to be with him. Nothing else mattered. So she grieved and embraced him. He embraced back with the same pain inside. Tears dripped off of his face onto hers.

      “I need to go now.” He whispered.

      “No! Don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone.”

      “But you’re not alone. There are so many people who want to help you.”

      “But I want you.”

      “Give them a chance. Promise me that. Promise me you’ll move on.”

      “You can’t go!” she sobbed as new tears flowed from her face.

      “We’ll see each other again.”

      “When?” she cried

      “When the time comes,” he whispered

      “I want you to stay.”

      “I want to, too. But you know I can’t.”

      She hesitated and spoke. “I promise.”

      “Hmm?” he inquired

      “I promise I’ll move on.”

      “Thank you…. thank you,” he soothingly replied

Both of his hands touched her face he stroked her head and then drew his hand to her chin. He leaned in close and looked into her eyes. She leaned in closer. Slowly they pressed their lips together and kissed. Something so grand, something so real, something so natural. All of her pains and all of her worries left her as she kissed him. Everything that hurt was leaving her and finally she knew. She loved him and he loved her. Their lips were salty from their tears, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. They were together for the last time and nothing seemed more amazing than this moment. Her hands wrapped around him and he moved his hands from her face to her waist. Amy heard the waterfall slowly start moving. She knew time was short. Their kiss was ending. So was the pain and the sadness.

      “I love you.” She whispered

      “I love you too.” He replied

Slowly the small shimmers engulfed Isaiah as he started to disappear. The mall lights started flickering and people started to move.

His hand lifted and brushed away her tears. They continued to embrace. The kiss so pure, so real. No could take away this moment. Her eyes filled with tears once again and clouded her vision. She looked into his eyes and he in hers until he slowly, but surely disappeared. Nothing was left.

She whispered, “I’ll miss you.”

People started to walk faster and music began playing. Soon she was the only person who was frozen. But she didn’t mind. She knew Isaiah was all right and she would miss him.. She slid her hand in her pocket and grabbed the object Isaiah had given her. She looked down as her hand opened. It was a feather. One that shimmered. Just like the bird’s feathers.

“Sometimes we need a helping hand to get us back on our feet.” she   reminisced

      “Thank you…thank you Isaiah.”

And with that she walked out of the lobby, past her favorite store, past the food court, and out of the front entrance. She walked to her car and drove home, clutching the feather close to her heart as she went.