Light

At 4:38 am, the cellphone's alarm started buzzing uncontrollably, causing the phone to fall off the nightstand and onto the bed. Don groaned, rolled over, groped around for the noise, and turned it off. He turned to roll back into the warm concave his body left under the blanket and stopped.

In five minutes, he jumped out of bed, threw on a t-shirt and jeans, took his meds, and brushed his teeth. He leaped down the stairs, not caring if the thump at the landing woke his parents. They'd be happy for him anyways.

It had been three weeks since Don had seen the sun. It didn't rise until after he was at school, and by the time he left campus, it had usually already set. It had been cloudy far too long for his liking.

He grabbed cereal, mashed it together, shoveled it down his throat as if rushing would help the sun rise faster.

He looked outside. It was still the cold, tinted blue of night, but the snow was gone. The days were getting longer, and warmer.

The coats hung in the hall closet, and he went to fetch one before heading to the back door and stepping out onto the worn wooden deck. He looked at his watch. Three minutes 'til sunrise. He sat down on a recliner and faced east, watching as the sun gradually grew lighter.

The first sliver of sunlight rotated over the horizon, sending out spools of coor that blinded him. The sun rose bit by bit, until it separated from the horizon. It hung low in the sky, steadily climbing still, bathing the boy in it's warm rays. He took off his coat, allowing cold to touch his bare arms, as well as the sun. It was worth it.

He leaned back, and fell back asleep, feeling better than he had in a long time.