Even though we made no eye contact, I could feel the heat of his smile shining upon my face. A warm smile that soothed aches that I never knew. My eyes followed the movements of his hands as they worked about the fire. They seemed so sure of what they were doing and soon I was lost within their sways and jerks towards the beginning of the day when I first encountered him.

The sun blazed at the top of the sky, bearing down rays of sunshine through the foliage of the forest. This felt normal and reassuring to me as I walked in a simple shirt and blue jeans. I wasn’t lost, because I felt that something was drawing me deeper and deeper into the sun-soaked trees. The path curved up ahead just out of sight. My feet slowly dragged to a stop and I simply stood among the green and yellows, breathing in a sweet serenity. However the sounds of twigs snapping and light footsteps caught my attention. I turned curiously towards the turn in the path and found that the face of a boy, my age, gazed back. We stood there for a few minutes, our expressions lost within ourselves. The boy was the first to move. He came towards me with a smile that enveloped my entire being. I knew not who he truly was but I felt that we were connected and a smile slowly grew across my own face. My smile only caused his to envelope me even more and he continued to smile even when he had stopped a few feet from me. Tentatively I reached out my hand towards him, my own eyes locked onto my own actions. Gently I lifted his hand from his side and held it with both of mine. They were soft yet rough with an inner knowledge; this only caused my hands and eyes to want to observe more of him. They followed up his arm and brushed against his face. The shock that I felt when I gazed into his eyes was so wonderful that I felt the instant urge to embrace him with all my might. Greater to my astonishment was that he did exactly what I had been feeling. His arms enveloped me slowly and lovingly just as his smile had done before. I knew not his name, I knew not where he came from or what his favorite things were, but I knew one thing. I knew that there was an unseen connection between the both of us and that it had been there long before we knew that the other was there.

Suddenly, I noticed two warm green eyes peering upwards at me and I jumped, my hands flying to the ground on either side of me. The boy lay there in the dirt with soft smile on his face and I glared at him playfully.
“What’s your name?” I asked softly, my left hand absently playing with the short hairs on his head.
Past his soft lips, his rich voice flowed from his mouth. “John,” he murmured and caught the hand that was playing with his hair. He brought my hand to his face, turning it over in his hands. My heart skipped at the feeling of his fingers examining my own. His earth green eyes conveyed wonder and a joyous curiosity that I couldn’t help but wonder if I had the same expression when I took his hand on the path.  In a quick darting motion, the two eyes glanced up at me and he whispered simply, “And you?” Oh, the tone of his voice was so strong and powerful yet it was a kind of power that reminded you of protection. I blushed softly and changed the direction of my eyes to our hands.
“Elissa,” I replied, shocking myself with the loudness of my voice. My eyes fluttered back to his face to see his reaction but found that his own attention was upon our hands who were currently dancing with each other.
“What are you doing here?” my curiosity chirped. My brain flicked my curiosity on the nose; shouldn’t you be asking that question to yourself?
Almost agonizingly, he sat up and slumped. Both our hands had let go of each other by now and were currently residing in our own laps. I watched him closely and noticed that the glow, that I had sensed from him before, softly began to fade. “I came to figure something out,” his rich voice echoed in my head, “something that I’ve been pondering for a while.”
“Oh?” I perked with hazy interest and scooted to sit next to him. A quiet urge fell over me and I leaned against him, my head lightly against his own. He leaned to me in return but it felt more out of courtesy. I couldn’t help but think that this subject had sent his mind on a journey where he was lost and confused. And surely enough, he began to talk of his travels and his experiences. I listened attentively, always wondering what happened next in his life story.
“I’ve always felt that I was missing something, but I had no clue what it was. This drove me insane sometimes. Now I have found what I have been looking for, but it wasn’t what I had expected. I thought that, when I had found out my purpose, the worlds would shine down upon me and celebrate my discovery. Nothing happened. As I spent more and more time out here, I realized that being happy helps others being happy as well. We are all connected in some way whether we know it or not.”
My hand found his and squeezed it. The head, covered in fluffy brown hair, tilted to look in my direction. The smile, the warm and compassionate smile had returned to his face. We sat there and gazed at each other for a few moments as secret thoughts passed between us. He knew what I was thinking and I knew his answer. Softly, he let himself lean fully against me and we watched the warm light fade slowly from the trees. But that didn’t matter to us; we had plenty of golden sunshine brimming around us already.