The rubber soles, glued to the leather base of the shoes, pushed against the concrete sidewalk. These feet passed buildings squeezed next to each other, trying to spill out onto the street. One foot in front of another, he walked towards the organized mess of a news stand on 51st street. “Hey, Bruce,” he called.

“Oh hey, William, how’re ya?”
“Yeah I’m fine, what about you?”
“I'm doing quite well myself, fancy yourself a coffee and newspaper?” Bruce asked, already confident Will would say yes.
“Yeah, sure,”
Bruce shuffled his feet towards the piping coffee maker. He lifted a styrofoam cup from its stack with a slight squeal and placed it on top of a wrinkled napkin. The steaming coffee came cascading out like a waterfall, plummeting into the bottom of the cup until it reached the brim.
“Here ya go, Will,” Bruce said
“Thanks,” William acknowledged. He was reading an article in the newspaper about a 12 year old cancer survivor who was able to finally play baseball again. “Did you hear about this Bruce?”
“No, what about it?” asked Bruce.
“This kid here, he beat cancer and played ball again. It says he was only 12,” answered William.
“That's something else isn't it. The kid must really be a trooper.” questioned Bruce.
“Yeah, yeah I guess so” William thought about the kid. He let it go as he walked to Rosaline’s apartment.

William lifted his hand, the skin wrapping around it tightly, constricting the veins that yearned to burst. He knocked lightly on the door.
“Hello, who is it?’ A muffled yet high pitched voice chirped brightly behind the door. The knob on the door rotated and it swung open. An old woman opened the door, her platinum grey hair flowing down to her fragile shoulders. Upon these shoulders rested a mint green dress that ribboned down to her ankles. “William! My lovely brother. Come in, come in.”
“Hello Rosie, how’s it going?”
“It’s been wonderful, I’m so glad you came by to visit. I wasn’t expecting your company you know.”
“I know, I figured I would stop by before I went off to work.” replied William.
“Are you still working at the art place, the gallery?” asked Rosie.
“I am,” he answered. WIlliam walked into his sister’s apartment. A gentle warmth radiated from the place, making William comfortable. He sat down on her sofa which was adorned with lavender flowers and throw pillows. “Hey, Rosie, remember how mother used to ask us every Friday about our grades?”
“Well sure, why do you ask?” William resented the fact that Rosie was smarter than him as a child. She was better educated than William, but was no more knowledgeable than he was now.
“I saw this kid in the paper. Nothing special. It reminded me of our childhood.”  He commented.
“Oh I see. Remember when we used to go chase the icecream truck, our little feet pattering along the street as fast as we could. Mr. Dobbins was always so nice when letting us buy ice cream.” said Rosaline dreamily.
“Yeah, that was marvelous.” William quietly answered. Rosaline must’ve forgotten how their mother, Elza, only let the A and B children chase the truck. William was not one of these children. William had his daily dose of Rosaline for the day. “I’m going to head out”
“Oh William, why don’t you stay a little while longer?” asked Rosaline.
“No, I must go to work. It was nice seeing you.” No matter how frustrated William could get with Rosaline, her radiating happiness never allowed William to remain dark and withhold his disdain. He would never admit it, but she often brought him cheer.
“It was nice to see you too Will. Take care, I love you!” called Rosaline.
William lightly replied, “Love you too,” halfway out the door. He descended the winding stairs of Rosaline's apartment and went off to work.

William pushed open the clear glass door of the art gallery, where he worked, and slowly sauntered in. Finding his familiar wooden chair resting near the far south wall, he took a seat. William sat in his chair and watched the world pass by. Young people cycled in and out of the art gallery, stopping to gaze at the strokes of paint that hung from the walls.
Watching over the gallery, William noticed a peculiar young man staring intenlty at a piece of art. Perplexed as much as he was suspicious, William got out of his seat with creaks coming from both the chair and William. He walked over to the young man.
“Hey there kid, uh, whatcha doing staring at this painting so close?” asked William
The young man looked at William with overcast grey eyes, and his hair was chestnut brown, with its curly ends peeking out from the burgundy baseball cap that rested on his head. “I’m just looking at this painting.” he answered solemnly.
“What do you see?” asked William.
The painting was of an elderly man, similar in age to WIlliam. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, newspaper boy hat and slacks. His face was wrinkled with a stern demeanor. The elderly man was holding hands with a very young boy, who’s other hand was busy grasping onto the string of a balloon. The boys grasp on the balloon seemed to be slipping, causing the boy to be in a state of minor distress. The two were walking along a busy street, with the other pedestrians blurred as the painting solely focused on the boy and the old man.
“I think it shows that no matter someone’s age, they’ll always have compassion or love in their heart” the young man said
“Do you think that's the kids grandfather?” William asked bluntly.
“I’d hope so,” responded the young man.
“I think that it's just a painting of a man and his grandkid walking along the street, ya know, maybe he even bought the kid that balloon. Nothing special” said William
“Huh” the young man shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and walked away from William.
As the small fluorescent lights inside began to seem brighter, and the big light outside ran for the west. William knew it was time to close the gallery now. He got out of his rickety wooden chair and made his way towards the glass doors he had entered hours ago after his visit with Rosaline. Just before his hand reached the cold metal bar attached to the door, the gallery phone rang. With an exasperated sigh, William reversed direction and went to answer the phone.
“Hello, is this William Payton?” the anonymous voice asked
“Yes, yes it is. Do you need something?”
“Yes William, uhm, your sister, Rosaline, has been checked into hospital on 34th avenue.” said the voice. The line fell quiet with only small breaths filling the empty air. 
“Okay, okay I’ll be right there.” William said in a frantic tone.

“Where’s Rosie, I mean Rosaline Payton?” William questioned erratically now at the hospital.
“Are you family of Rosaline's? Shes currently only allowed to be visited by those with direct relation.” The hospital receptionist answered robotically.
“Yes, I'm her brother. I'm  the only family she has left.”
“Alright, she’s in room 137,” the woman clarified. She reached beneath her desk and pressed on a button, buzzing open the wide 2 door entrance to the hallway that stretched to the end of the world..
“Hey” William murmured, slowly pushing open the door to the hospital room.
“Hello William, come in!” Welcomed Rosaline. Her voice gave the room life.
“How are you doing? What’s going on?” he asked
“Oh I’m sure it’s nothing. I do have a pounding headache though. The doctors said they don’t quite know yet why I fainted and took the tumble I did.” William’s face wore a concerned mask, but his mind began to wander now that he knew the situation wasn’t dire. Rosaline continued to speak until a knock on the door interrupted William and Rosaline’s conversation even though William wasn’t quite listening to Rosaline. A doctor came into the room solemnly.  “Hello, I’m Doctor Robinson,” he murmured. “William, right?”
“Yes, yes” William answered.
“Alright, well, Rosaline, you have a depressed skull fracture from the fall you took.”
The life in the room was sucked out after the doctor finished his final word.
“Okay, but what does that mean?” Rosaline asked nervously
“Well, for now, you'll have to stay here while we run more tests. Over the next few days we will be able to determine what the root of the problem is.”

William opened his refrigerator door in his apartment and took out a loaf of white bread and a half empty bottle of jelly. Then, he grabbed the jar of peanut butter from the pantry to complete his evening meal. “What could’ve Rosie done that she could be this hurt?” he thought to himself. William sat at his dinner table for one and finished his sandwich, with the TV on making absent noise.

Some time later, on a chilly Thursday morning, William called out “Hey Bruce,” still a few steps away from the newsstand.
“Hello Will!” beamed Bruce
“I’ve got something to tell ya Bruce. My sister ya know, Rosaline?”
“Yeah of course, what about her?” asked Bruce with concern lining his words.William looked down at his feet and ran his tongue along the bottom of his teeth. He brought his head back up to look at Bruce.
“She’s in the hospital right now, she took a nasty bump on her head.” said William.
“My god William, is she alright?” Bruce asked frantically
“Yeah, she’s doing okay at best, I've been trying to be there for her.”
“I’m sorry William, I’ll be thinking of her.” said Bruce
“Thanks” William answered quietly
“So, do you want the usual William?” Bruce asked, quick to change the subject
“Sure thing”
The hot coffee flowed freely into the tiny styrofoam cup, insulating the beverage from cooling in the brisk fall air of San Francisco. William grabbed his coffee and paper from Bruce, thanking him. William arrived at work as usual, but now worrisome thoughts of Rosaline crept into his head.
William traveled to the hospital again later that night to visit with Rosaline. “Hey Rosie”
“Hi William”
“How are you doing, I brought you these flowers.” William laid a bouquet of glowing white lillies, by the bedside. Lilies were Rosaline's favorite.
“Awh Will, how nice of you.”
“Oh yeah I know, it’s nothing really.” William paused to think. “Do you remember how we used to run downstairs on Christmas mornings, our faces full of sunshine and check under the tree-”
“Of course William”
“-and how we were so happy with whatever we got, even if its value was little?”
“Yes, I do.” a grin grew on Rosaline’s face and began to stretch across her cheeks.
“I miss moments like that. Everyone wanted the best toy and that's what made them happy. We were happy together.
“I know William. We still are happy. I loved you for the older brother you were. Someone strong to look up to. Seeing you happy at something like that let me know it was what really mattered.” Rosaline stated solemnly. William’s mind began to run. The idea of Rosaline peering up at him was a thought that he never once thought could be true.
“That’s nice Rosaline. I guess I never saw it that way.” Rosaline looked at William and allowed her eyes to slowly drift closed for one last time.

A few weeks later in the art gallery, William looked up from the newspaper on his lap. He saw the young man he had spoken to a week earlier. Naturally, William got up to go speak to the young man again.
“Hey, I never caught your name kid,” questioned William
“Patrick”
“Nice to meet you Patrick, I’m William.”
The two were once again standing in front of the painting that depicted the old man and his grandson.
“Little weird that you’re looking at this painting again huh,” asked William.
“I like looking at things again, it always gives me a different perspective on them a second time around. Sometimes I see things differently.
“You’re a much smarter kid than I ever was. I used to think you’d be crazy to say that, but I think I get what you mean now”
“Oh yeah, well, what do you see?” asked the young man
“The boy doesn't seem too worried anymore, he seems so sure that he’s got the balloon within his grasp. He has grip on his situation you could say.” said William
“It always seemed that way to me actually, that was a detail that never changed. Oh well, I guess it's up to interpretation.”