Sophie ran down the hallway, laughing. Fox, with his longer, faster stride, quickly caught up and grabbed her. She squealed in surprise, giggling as he swung her around, laughing.
After a moment he set her down. In spite of the age differance, they were quite good friends, considering that Sophie had, in a way, saved Fox's life when he had had Thomson's syndrome. Now both were in the clear. In fact, today was Fox's first day out of the hospital. Even as the cure gradually repaired his damaged body, he had lost a lot of weight, so the doctors had held him until he was declared healthy enough to leave.
"So you're finally going to play your song for me huh?" Sophie said. During Fox's hospitalization, he had wrote a song.
"Yes indeed."
"It's cool you let me on your cruiser." She remarked, following him down the hall.
"Why wouldn't I?" He turned into the den, where his team greeted him, all in a party mood. They were very happy to have him back.
"Hey, guess who managed to get away from Federal Prison for a while?" Wolf remarked.
"Guess who got stuck watching him?" Falco grumped.
Fox laughed, looking around. The usual furniture had been rearranged some, and his accoustic guitar sat on top of a bar stool. That made him grin. "Hint, hint? It's not like I'm THAT good!"
"Well I guess we're about to find out, aren't we?" Fara said.
"I guess so." Fox picked up his guitar and sat, strumming it absently. Everyone else stopped milling around and found places to sit. "This is still a work in progress, so don't laugh, okay? It's called The Illusion." He started playing the intro.
"There was a time
When people were what they said
And there was no need to hide
Behind a mask of lies.
When what you lived
WAS reality.
Where has that time gone?
What changed?
Life has become an illusion,
A dream, where people hide.
I lived there once, believing
That nothing would ever hurt me.
Then that illusion was stripped away forever,
Leaving shock and pain.
Unprepared, thrown into the battle of life,
Forever changed, no longer innocent,
The struggle began.
No way to return to the illusion,
Too scared at first to fight,
The real world was there,
And I wasn't sure of myself at all.
As I learned how to survive,
The road got tougher and longer.
But I learned not to let it beat me.
And now, I look over my shoulder,
And see the illusion behind me.
And with that illusion, a comfort zone,
that used to be around me.
I can not go back, even if I wanted to.
So I turn my back on it,
and hold my head high.
The real world has many problems,
And has no guarantees of success,
But I have learned that life
Is not a dream, or a battle, it's a journey,
that isn't without pain.
The illusion is behind me,
And it's time to move on.
The road is long ahead of me,
But I have confidence that I can travel it."