A few book quotes in here. Sorry it's short.

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I opened up the piece of parchment attached to my parents' journals. The letter was there, in all it's glory. It was hard to believe, really, I held history in my hands. History that would be told and passed down for generations. 

It was amazing.

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Nothing really happened after the letter. They all continued on with their lives like nothing ever had happened. 

It reminded me, in a way, of the poem Out, Out. The end of it, anyways. The boy dies and everyone- his friends, his family- go back on with their routine as if nothing had ever happened.

It was sad. Sometimes, I felt like the world should've stopped. The world should have stopped, but it didn't. The world kept on going. How can the world just keep on going? An earthquake in India kills a thousand people, and the world keeps on going. A famine in China kills a million people, and the world keeps on going. The twin towers of the World Trade Center buckle and fall, and the world, the world keeps on going.

It was unfair. Life was unfair, but the world just kept spinning. Around and around it went, spinning like it would never end. It gave me a headache. 

People kept moving. It was a routine. They did the same thing every day, every month, every year. It was irritating. 

I remembered when Percy was here. When the days were different, unpredictable. But the price of a memory, is the the memory of the sorrow it brings.

Memories bring sorrow. Dreams bring sorrow.

I had had a dream the night after I got the letter.

Dreams were always worse when Percy was there. He would smile at me, tell me it's alright. he would see me soon enough.

We sat on the beach in that one.

Soon wasn't good enough though. It made my heart break. Your heart truly hurts when it's breaking. You can feel it, every beat another ache, and nothing you can do will stop it, either from breaking or beating.

"Camp isn't the same without you," I sobbed. "It isn't the same place without your smile."

He kept his eyes closed, breathing in the smell of the ocean. "A place is only as good as the people in it."

I leaned into him, breathing in a familiar scent. This dream was more realistic than the others.

"I would give up anything to be with you- to hug, kiss you again," I said solemnly.

"And what, exactly, would you give up?"

I hesitated. He never had asked me questions before in the dreams. It was always me crying on his shoulder, knowing he wasn't truly there.

He still had his eyes closed. The sky grew darker. It seemed, almost, as if he didn't want to look at me. As if he feared I wouldn't be there when he opened them.

"Anything," I said. "But there's more to this world than meets the eye, isn't there?"

He froze. He opened his beautiful green eyes, looking over to meet mine. 

"Yes," he said. "I guess there is."

He tore his gaze away, and I followed suit.

He wrapped his arms around me. "Feel how tight my arms are around you?" he said. "This is how tight I'll be holding you. No matter where you go or where I go, remember how tight I'm holding you."

"I don't think I could ever forget," I said, leaning into his embrace. 

"I'll come back to you," he said at last. "I promise you, if it's the last thing I do, I'll come back to you."

I nodded. "I'll count the minutes until you do." 

And, in a single moment, I was awake again. All it takes is a single moment.

For one last time, I buried my face into my pillow, seeing Percy's face in my mind.

And he tried to breathe.