Being outside was Alfred's favorite thing in the whole world. The bright sun, the thrill of adventure, the life above him and below him; it all made him so happy. He especially loved to play with the neighborhood kids, whether it was tag or hide and seek or nerf gun fights. As a 10 year old boy, there was nowhere Alfred would rather be than outside.

One day, while him and the other children were passing a football around in the middle of the empty street, he glanced up quickly as something caught his eye. It was from an old fashioned looking house, a curtain had fluttered on a second floor window. After waiting a few seconds and not seeing any other movement coming from the window, he shrugged and threw the football to his friend, Gilbert. Due to his short attention span, he quickly forgot that he had seen a glimpse of green eyes from behind the curtains before they closed.

A week later, Alfred was in his front yard rolling around and spreading his fingers through the grass beneath him, he would never get tired of the soft feeling of freedom. As he sat up, he looked at the old fashioned house diagonally across the street. Sometimes he saw adults going in and out of the house, but they never really talked to anyone. The people that lived there had moved in over a year ago, and since the people seemed really unsocial, Alfred felt too intimidated to introduce himself. It was kind of sad, the rest of his neighborhood was so close, but there was an intangible aura of darkness surrounding that old fashioned house that separated that family from the close-knit community around them. Alfred decided to stop the sad thoughts, he preferred to think of happy things anyway.

One month passed since Alfred had let his thoughts wander to the unsocial family. Today he had been playing across the street on his friend Toris's trampoline. He loved jumping on trampolines because he could pretend he was soaring through the endless sky, sprouting powerful wings like a bird and tasting freedom in the air. He smiled into the sunlight as he relived that feeling. As he crossed the road to head back to his own house, he suddenly felt compelled to look up at the old fashioned house, and when he did, he definitely saw a young boy looking at him in the window. Green eyes widened from behind the glass as the curtains shut quickly, effectively blocking Alfred's view and making him frown in confusion.

Alfred stopped walking and kept his eyes trained on the window, checking for any more movement behind the curtains, but after at least 30 seconds passed, he realized the green eyed boy was not going to open them up again. Curiosity peaked, Alfred made his way over to the house and knocked loudly on the door. With a quick look to his right, he was able to tell that the adults weren't home, if the absence of cars gave any indication. He waited a while impatiently and pressed his ear to the door, but still did not hear any sound coming from inside. He huffed and with a hand curled into a fist, began to bang on the ornate wooden door using all his strength. He didn't stop his incessant knocking until he heard someone undo the latch.

One angry green eye peered at him from the small slit between the door and frame. "What do you want?" the boy hissed at Alfred, putting as much hostility and chill-inducing rage into his words. With anyone else, maybe Alfred would have been put-off or even frightened, but he had definitely seen that boy staring at him from the window, and he was going to get some answers.

"I just wanted to see who you were! I've never seen you outside before, but I'm like 100% sure you have been spying on me from the window up there!" With that, Alfred pointed up to the second story window that he had seen the boy stationed at earlier.

The mysterious boy looked shocked for a second, then embarrassed, then settled on indignant. "I have done no such thing! I don't spy on people, thank you very much."

Alfred wasn't convinced. "Uh huh..." He then realized the way the boy talked was very strange. Suddenly everything made sense! "Hey listen, if you're embarrassed to come outside cuz you talk weird, you don't have to worry anymore! Me and my friends aren't gonna make fun of you at all!"

This time, the boy looked at Alfred like he was a creature of another planet, and Alfred realized maybe his assumption was wrong. The boy's eyes narrowed and he began to shut the big wooden door, the boundary that had been easing away slowly once again fully separated Alfred from the strange boy. Alfred understood that if he didn't do anything fast, he would likely lose this one and only opportunity of gaining this boy as a friend. He started for the door before it shut and pushed with all his might until he had barreled into the house.

The green-eyed boy was taken completely off guard, having been knocked into the ground by Alfred's little stunt. Never having had his space invaded in such a way, he sat frozen as he looked at Alfred as if he was an animal that had just escaped its cage. Alfred himself felt proud for successfully entering the house and he shut the door behind him, leaving the two of them alone in the darkened house. Getting a good look at him, Alfred noticed that the boy was probably a little older than him. And besides the dark clothing and very pale skin, this boy didn't look very different than any of the other children he played with, so why didn't the boy want to play with them?

"Now that we're in private, I want you to give me some answers! Why don't you ever come outside to play with us? If you're scared you wouldn't fit in, you don't have to worry! We would never leave you out of our games, I swear! Scouts honor." Alfred crossed his heart with his finger and gave a wide smile to the boy still on the ground.

Once the shock finally wore off, the boy stood up and brushed himself off. "I'm not scared! And I don't want to play your games." The boy looked away. "Now kindly get out of my house. You're trespassing, you know. You'll get in big trouble for that."

Alfred wasn't getting thrown to the side that easily. "That's so mean! Why don't you want to play with us? Our games are a lot of fun! And say whatever you want, but I ain't gonna leave until you tell me the truth."

He could see the boy thoroughly weighing his options. After a tense few seconds, the green eyes relented their anger as the boy sighed defeat. "Fine, if you must know. It's not that I don't wish to go outside. I do. I really do. But..."

Alfred leaned in closer as the boy trailed off. "But what?"

"But...I just can't. I can't go outside. I have severe photosensitivity."

The look on Alfred's face must have shown his confusion because the boy explained a second later. "It means I'm allergic to the sun's rays. If I go outside, my skin will burn and swell up. It's quite painful. The only reason I look out the window occasionally at the lot of you is because I imagine what it's like to have friends and play in the sun together." The boy's eyes began to water. "Now that you have your answer, please leave me alone."

Throughout Alfred's 10 years of life, never once had he been speechless before now. He hadn't realized how lucky he was to be able to gain warmth and happiness from the sunlight, not counting it as a luxury when he should have been. Looking at the downcast eyes of the boy in front of him, seeing the waves of sadness and depression and longing, Alfred didn't even think about the words that came out of his mouth next.

"Then I'll be your sun. We can still be friends and play inside."

Startled, and clearly not expecting that response, the boy's tear-filled eyes shot up to look at brightness radiating off of Alfred in front of him. "No, no. You don't need to pity me. I'm fine being by myself, that's how I've spent the last 12 years. I'm used to it. You don't need to sacrifice anything because of me; I've seen how free and happy and you look when you're outside, you love it."

"Yeah but I'm sure playing inside will be just as fun! Especially with a new friend." Alfred's smile lit up the room, something the boy had never seen before. Light from another person, so warm and open that it enriched the boy's fragile heart. His eyes teared up again, this time for a different reason, and he smiled genuinely for the first time in years.

As Alfred took in the other boy's expression, he felt his heart swell, taking in the endlessly green eyes, soft wispy blond hair, and heartfelt smile on the boy's lips. He felt the darkness fade away, suddenly his world seemed a lot brighter. Alfred had never felt so free.