Keep the Car Running (Zarry AU)

Epilogue

Once upon a time there was a boy with curly hair who thought anything was possible. A cardboard box could be a robot. A stick a sword. A sheet a ghost. He grew up with paper cuts on his fingers from reading books that told stories of faraway places. Of hobbits and talking dogs and boys who liked to pretend they’ve been shot. But his father said he read too much, that he was missing things, as though what was happening beyond the edges of his page was better than hobbits and talking dogs and boys who liked to pretend they’ve been shot. But then his father left so he read another book because in life people leave, but they never do in books. So he was never alone because he had so many friends. Friends with paper hearts and the smell of ink on their breath, who made him laugh and cry and want to fly. And that’s all he wanted, to be in a book. To live forever on someone’s shelf until they pick him up and let him tell his story.

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Once upon a time there was a boy with black hair who thought anything was possible. A pebble could be a football. An alley a field. A garage door a goal. He grew up with paper cuts on his fingers from reading comic books that told stories of heroes. Of bravery and justice and bones that can’t break. But his father said that he read too much, that he was wasting his talent, as though the world beyond the edges of his page could be any brighter. But his father was right. And while he can’t save damsels in distress or leap tall buildings in a single bound, when he kicks a ball he’s invincible. So when he meets a boy with curly hair who’s forgotten that he’s invincible, too, he reminds him, because there’s more than one way to save someone.

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Once upon a time a boy with curly hair met a boy with black hair and they lived in an untidy house with a very old dog called Alfie. They slept until noon and read to each other in bed and even though they argued about everything, they lived happily ever after.

THE END