Without Pain, How Could We Know Joy?

DISCLAIMER: The quote "Without pain, how could we know joy?" is John Green's. I just wrote a story to go along with it.

I fell to the ground, hard. I knew perfectly well who had pushed me. Pain.

I groaned into the dirt. Pain placed his foot on my back to prevent me from getting back up.

He laughed coldly. He couldn’t talk, but I knew exactly what he was thinking.

He lifted up his foot. Before I could roll away, he slammed his heel down on my head.

Excruciating pain took over my senses. I was no longer aware of my surroundings. It was just pain. Pain inflicting pain. Pain was the very essence of, well, pain. I barely felt the punches that he landed on my stomach and back. Everything was numb. Everything was lost in the immeasurable sea of pain.

I was on the verge of blacking out. I could see dark, dense fog, a sea of shadows. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, her voice. A bright ray of sunlight cutting through the impenetrable blackness.

“Stop!”

Vaguely, I heard running footsteps. Coming towards me or getting farther, I had no idea. Then I felt her presence next to me, her gentle hands rolling me over.

I cried out involuntarily. She placed her hands on my head. The pain slowly faded away.

“You’ll be fine,” she murmured.

I slowly opened my eyes. There she was. One word to describe her appearance? Beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful. Blond hair in two long braids on either side of her face, soft green eyes, and a glowy, radiant face.

“Thank you,” I tried to say, but was interrupted by a fit of coughing. Blood splattered my shirt and trickled down my chin.

She smiled sadly, knowing what I meant. “I’m Joy,” she said. “I was looking for Pain. Lucky I found him when I did; he would’ve killed you.”

A small realization: without Pain, I wouldn’t have known Joy.

Another small realization: without Joy, Pain would've killed me.

Joy. I smiled. Although it was a small one, it was a smile.

The fog lifted, and was replaced by a peculiar feeling. And I knew what it was.

It was joy.