The Extrovert

He swung over the railing and sailed through the air, ten, nine, eight... Pointing his toes at the last second, he landed squarely on his feet, reeling from the impact.

The sensation created a grin on his face. 

Bouncing on the balls of his toes he ran down the ravine a way until he managed to get to a small, leveled clearing. The fire in a pit danced excitedly, and the trees swayed with amped anticipation. 

"Hi!" His grinning face glowed. Several heads turned to him and nodded, their mouths greeting him back. 

"Whatcha doing?" His grandmother always cared. She cared about everything and everyone. 

He shrugged, "I dunno. Figured I'd find someone to talk to." he settled near her, gazing at the fire. 

"We're planning on going out tonight, so don't get too dirty," She instructed as he quickly got up, ideas striking his mind like lightning bolts. His cousin's face quickly crossed as one of his thoughts - contemplative and warm as she excused herself this morning to go find inspiration. 

"Hey," He said, turning back to the group circling the ecstatic flames, "aren't we doing something tomorrow night, too?"

"Yes, we are."

"Couldn't tonight just be... restful?" Sleep is exciting when he was really tired but resting as in just sitting and reading couldn't be more snore worthy.  He knew that she'd be grateful, though. 

"I suppose..."

"I'll be right back," He announced after his grandmother's skeptical voice trailed off and into the wild breeze. Tromping into the woods, he followed a thick path towards the creek. It was quite a way away, but he would enjoy the walk. 

All I'll have to do is have her to agree to the idea and then bring her message back to Grandmother. Two votes are better than one, after all, his mind chirped. Smiling to himself, he started whistling 'Best Day of My Life'. The bouncy tune complimented the busy forest around him - squirrels hopped from branch to branch, from tree to tree, and the sky seemed to shimmer brighter than it had before. 

It seemed the whole earth was excited. 

A grin burst onto his face, joy radiating through his fingertips as he ran down through the woods. All around him, the trees blurred into formless gray-green shapes. Boulders passed without a second thought and deer disappeared into the brush as he plunged into their home. A million energetic songs skimmed through his ears, Broadway mixing with pop and animated jazz mingled with a cappella. 

The forest exploded with song. 

Lunging forwards, he dove through a thick azalea bush, emerging into a large, bowl-shaped ravine. Inside the bowl, trees grew at an angle, leaves showered the ground, and quilted sky patched the emptiness above. The wind grew excited, and the haven echoed. 

"Hi?" he cocked his head when he saw his cousin, sitting on a mossy log. Her eyes popped open. "I thought you were at the creek." Indeed, the creek was just beyond the bowl. 

"Nope. Here." She answered, her voice lilting and soft. 

So many aspects of the bowl danced - the massive oak that sashayed in the wind, the critters that scattered in between the branches and bushes, like the whole place was pumped with adrenaline. Well, all except for a burnt excuse for a tree, sitting regal over the bowl. Black marred its trunk, and the rest was just... gone. He shivered.

"Nice place. Look, I was thinking, about tonight? All of us were planning to go traipsing around and grab dinner someplace - see, I was thinking this nice place down near that cliff? It's really cool - but then, there's also a couple places downtown, too. You know, Caribbean if we wanted that and Mexican and Chinese - like, seriously, this place has got everything!" He glanced over to study her face. She nodded, though her eyes appeared distant. A slight glaze started to creep into her gaze. 

"Yes..." She blinked a bit. He mentally smacked himself. 

To the point. 

Wait - what point?

"Um, wait, why am I here? Riiiiight okay so I was thinking you look like you wanna be alone-" He paused. Her face twitched and studied his. "-so, I was thinking, on your behalf, should I make a suggestion to the crew as to not go out tonight? You know, since we are doing somethings tomorrow night, and the rest of the weekend is booked-"

"A slow night, then?" She interrupted. He stopped. She never interrupted. He grinned as she nodded. 

"Good then!" He lifted his hand for a salute and charged back through the azalea. He scanned the rest of the forest and nodded, satisfied. 

I wonder if the world ever goes to sleep. It always seems that it's awake and alive and so brilliant. He knew that the earth rotated on its axis, twisting and turning every day. He knew that when he was asleep, people on the other side of the earth were alive and awake, like where the sun was shining. 

Did one side of the world sleep when the other side wakened? Is it two in one or merely multitasking? He didn't know. 

But right now felt alive. Everything about right now felt alive. He smiled at the sun. He felt more alive than ever. 

With a quick glance around him, he furrowed his brow. He seemed to have turned about in awe and now hadn't the slightest clue where to head. He plunged into the azalea. He threw a grin her way when she turned at the noise. 

"Sorry, but do you know how to get back?" He ducked his chin, but she only laughed. 

"I'll show you." And he led her through the flowers. He caught her glancing back into the bowl before turning to sun, smiling. He nodded and they charged forwards. 

Watch out world, because we're awake.