The Things We Do for Sunshine (Short Story)
The Things We Do For Sunshine
The first time that Jay saw his “ability” he was only 4 years old. He and his dad were walking down the street on a cool summer evening; they had just left a restaurant and the sun had already set. Jay and his father took this walk often, a couple of times per week—their house was only a mile away. As the two came around the corner, they noticed a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk. He was disheveled: his pants were tattered, his hair was matted and dirty and he stunk to high heaven. It was clear that this man hadn’t seen a shower in days. Jay’s father stopped for a moment, he looked strangely at the homeless person as if though he saw something in him. As they got closer, Jay’s father turned to him, “stay here for a moment.”
Jay stood there confused and looked on as his father walked over to the man. As he got closer, Jay’s father kneeled down next to him; it seemed that he was whispering something in his ear. Just then, Jay gasped as he saw a bright blue light suddenly surround his father. As he looked harder, he noticed that the homeless man was surrounded in a dark green and black energy. The energy swirled slowly compared to his Father’s bright energetic light. It seemed almost as if though the dark energy surrounding the homeless man was draining the life out of him, as if though he was dying. Jay’s father placed a hand on the homeless man’s shoulder and closed his eyes. At that moment, the swirling blue energy began to engulf the Homeless, mingling with the dark energy that was surrounding. Jay stood in awe as he watched the two energies collide as if though there were fighting each other. After a several moments, the blue light overtook the dark energy, eventually surrounding the homeless man and encasing him in an illuminated aura. The man looked up to Jay’s father and whispered the words, “thank you.” Jay’s father simply nodded and reached in his wallet and pulled out a $20 dollar bill. “Take this, get yourself some food and if you can get over to the YMCA.” The homeless man nodded as he took the money. Jay watched as the energy from both of the men faded away, he really had no idea what to think about what he just saw.
Pleased with the results, Jay’s father stood and walked back over to his son. He noticed his son staring at him in awe. “Jay, were you able to see that just now,” he asked with a shocked tone to his voice. Jay gazed at his father in awe, he nodded slowly. “Damn,” his father continued, “it didn’t show up that early for me.” He paused for a moment and stared at Jay. He sighed and then kneeled down to his son. “What you just saw was something special, Jay,” he said. “It is triggered by something you love, for me it’s helping other people. I don’t really know how to explain it but I noticed it when I was nine or ten.” “I would see this energy surrounding people and myself, but it would only come at certain times.” He stopped for a brief moment to see if Jay was still following him. Jay looked on hanging on his every word. “As it went on, I realized that the colors I was seeing represented a person’s thoughts, emotions, health…hell even their very soul. After enough time, I realized that I can use my own energy to change the colors of those around me.” Jay father stood back up and grabbed his son hand. “Come on let’s get walking, I’ll tell you what I can.” Jay grabbed his father’s hand as they kept walking.
“Eventually, you will find something that you love and it will trigger your ability.” Jay’s father continued. “When that happens, you probably won’t know what to do but eventually the time will come where you will.” As they approached the house, Jay’s father stopped and kneeled again. “Jay, please know that this power can be very dangerous if used in the wrong hands. It can manipulate, it can control minds…it can destroyed the world.” Jay’s father’s tone got more serious. “You have to find that light in your life and hold on to it as tight as you can, that is the only way that you will be able to control your ability the right way, otherwise the darkness will consume you. You have to find the sunshine”. Jay was confused by his father’s words. His head was already spinning from everything his father told him. “You are my sunshine.” He continued “You are the reason why my powers work the way they do. You are the source and I will do anything for you.” Jay father leaned in and hugged his son tightly. “I know you probably won’t remember most of the things I told you but if you can remember just one thing, remember the things we do for sunshine”. Jay nodded at his father, who smiled, stood up and began to walk into the house. “Come on Jay, let’s go inside”. Jay smiled as he ran after his father.
Shortly after that day, Jay’s father simply disappeared, leaving Jay in the care of his mother. He was gone for about a month. When he came back, he was…different. He spent days locked in his room, he only came out to eat and to go to work. He very rarely even talked to Jay anymore and even then it was small talk. Near the end, when his father did talk, he would talk how the “government was finding ways to control the people” and how “everyone is a target”. No one believed his rants and conspiracy theories and this eventually drove him insane. No one was really surprised when Jay’s father was found with a self -inflicted bullet wound in his head; Jay was only 6 at the time.
The funeral was large; there were hundreds of people there. Jay didn’t know most of them but apparently Jay’s father had made significant changes in all of these people’s lives. During the eulogy, many people talked about chance encounters with him and how everything changed for them afterwards. Even the homeless man from a couple of years ago was there, he was now the owner of a small business. He praised his Jay’s father about how that 20 bucks he got changed his life completely. It was clear that Jay’s father had helped a lot of people.
Jay still doesn’t know what exactly drove his father to insanity and he barely even remembers the conversation that they had when they are so young, but when Jay thinks about his father, one phrase always comes to his mind. “Always remember the things we do for sunshine”.