𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐘

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

THE NEXT WEEK OR SO HAD FELT LONG FOR ME, BUT HAVING THOSE DAYS WITH TOO MUCH TIME ON MY HANDS, I STARTED TO THINK.

I thought about the gang back home, and how they were doing. I wondered if Darry and Soda knew yet. I wondered if Dally was asked anything from the police yet. I wondered if Steven and Two-bit knew anything at all.

I thought about my dad. I didn't think about him a lot, but for some reason that one day I did. I wondered if he knew where I was. I wondered if he cared at all, my guess was probably not.

Then, my mind moved to Johnny. There was something about him I couldn't quite shake the feeling of. He made me feel some way I'd never felt before. Something connected us in a way I didn't understand yet.

Over those days Ponyboy had read a good amount of 'Gone With the Wind'. I couldn't quite grasp the plot of it, but Johnny seemed to be enjoying it. He said the southern gentlemen reminded him of Dally. I didn't see why though, Dally wasn't much of gentlemen.

As Johnny went on talking about Dally, I realized he wasn't just the rank hood everyone thought he was, but that hews loyal and would do anything for his family. It was also when I realized just how much Johnny thought of Dally as a hero. I thought Dally of one of the toughest grasers I knew, he'd been picked up by cops so much they knew who he, and the rest of the gang were.

One morning, I was woken up earlier than usual.

"Hey Shelly, ever seen a sunrise before?" Ponyboy's eyes glowed in the dim moonlight from the church.

I shook my head no, "Well c'mon. I don't wanna wake Johnny."

So I got up from the warmth of sleeping next to Johnny. It was cold outside, I wrapped my arms around myself and bummed a smoke from Ponyboy.

It was a beautiful sunrise. The sky was a burnt orange that faded into a hot pink color. I was so mesmerized by it I didn't realize Johnny was standing behind us.

"Golly, That sure was pretty."

"Yeah." Ponyboy sighed.

I took a drag from my cigarette, I wasn't sure what to say.

"Too bad it couldn't stay like that all the time."

"Nothing gold can stay," Ponyboy said.

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.so Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down today. Nothing gold can stay

I looked at Pony, "How'd you remember that whole thing?" He shrugged.

"Where'd you learn that? That's what I meant." Johnny said.

"Robert Frost wrote it. He meant more to it than I'm gettin' though." I always remembered it because I never quite got what he meant by it" Pony said, breathlessly.

"You know," Johnny said slowly, "I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff until you kept reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before." He thought for a minute. "Your family sure is funny."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ponyboy asked stiffly.

Johnny looked at him quickly. "I didn't mean anything. I meant, well, Soda kinda looks like your mother did, but he acts just exactly like your father. And Darry is the spittin' image of your father, but he ain't wild and laughing all the time like he was. He acts like your mother. And you don't act like either one."