"Ouch!" I gritted my teeth. The rigid pebbles of the muddy wet road burrowed into the soft bottoms of my bare feet. Fat rain drops heavily plopped one after another on my head, soaking my hair and making it snarly. I swelled with fever but continued on down the road. At last I came to the end, where the road met with the rich green grass leading up to the foot of the old train bridge. I leapt onto the soft carpet and danced my way to the base of the rocky path that led up to it. I stopped before proceeding further and took a couple of steps back to stare at its long, pitch-black body. I stood looking at it for awhile until, all of a sudden, a ray of sunlight shot through the dusty clouds like a growing seed shoving its way through the hard earth. The rain stopped. The fiery orange ball above burned furnace hot, avenging its imprisonment. It's bright white light sprang through the tiny prisms of the grass and upon the bridge's profile. It was beautiful! When the sun touched me, it's warmth spread throughout my body. My fever broke, I was cured, and I knew that I would never be ill again. With a joyfilled heart, I bounded up the rocky staircase to the steel heaven that awaited me. I carefully stepped onto it's rough boards, glancing back to see if any trains were coming. I kept to the tracks until midway, then jumped down onto the edge of the sandpaper girder. I stood breathing in the crisp, chilly air and listening to the far off cries of the seagulls from where the river rushed into the bay. The smell of the paper factory nearby suddenly stung my nostrils in the next gust of cool wind. My stomach knotted as I saw the thick smoke coming out of the factory's towers and polluting the sunlit sky. My knot tightened as the next whoosh of air set me the distant screams of a train whistle. I quickly climbed up onto the tracks, tiptoed back to the rocky path, and stumbled down to the patch of grass. I stood patiently, waiting to see the busy train slow down and wobble over my strong black fortress. The train finally came around the bend, let out one final high-pitched screech, and crept across the train bridge. I let out a satisfied sigh and took a long last look at my black comfort. "What a blessing this day has been," I thought, and headed back down the road. As I walked, I looked ahead and saw my house, where a dark mass of thick clouds still hovered. I stepped into my driveway with a lump in my throat, but still carrying the sun in my heart.

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