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Even before I met him, I don't think there was a time when Sonic wasn't in my life. He always seemed to be there – at home, at school, on TV, on the radio, in books, in magazines – the list went on.
Everybody knew him. No one actually knew him. Few saw him, and even fewer met him.
My first memories of him are faint. I was only two or three. I just remember flashes of light, roaring waves, howling winds, and my father's green fur obscuring my vision just a little as he held me close. My father always told me that he'd never felt so afraid in his life, but I don't remember feeling afraid at all. Because despite all that was happening, there was one thing that made me know everything would be okay.
Gold. Brilliant gold light, shining over everything like a guardian spirit.
From that day on, Sonic became a permanent part of my life. People talked about him endlessly, my school incorporated projects about him, he was in all the history books, people made songs about him, there was gossip in the magazines… Everyone had something to say about him.
One day, when I was about four or five, people started talking badly about him. They believed he'd stolen a precious gem from a museum – a Chaos Emerald – and were trying to arrest him. The world was sent into peril once more because of Dr. Eggman, but Sonic came through in the end. He was proven innocent (someone had impersonated him, but they seemed to have reconciled), and everything went back to normal for a while.
When I was almost six, while my father was on a mission with G.U.N, my mother took me out to the massive sunflower fields on the outskirts of Green Hill Zone. It was late summer, around the time of my birthday, and the sun was going down. I had disobeyed my mother and had run off deep into the fields. It was beautiful; it felt like I was dreaming. But I got lost, and I was afraid.
As the last rays of sunshine threatened to disappear behind the mountains, I cried and cried for my mother to come get me. There was a rush of wind – faster than anything I'd ever felt or seen – and suddenly, there was Sonic. He crouched down next to me and placed a hand on my head. It was heavy and comforting, and I suddenly felt like everything would be okay. He said some things to me that I can't remember, and then he picked me up and took me to my mom. As my mom hugged me close, I turned around to look back at him, but he was already gone.
When I was twelve, the world was threatened again. Massive earthquakes shook the earth, and the father of one of my childhood friends was killed. A lot of others in our town were injured, but there were no other casualties. I still don't know what caused the earthquakes, or what was happening when the skies suddenly grew dark; the officials wouldn't tell us any of the intricate details. But I knew that it had to do with Sonic, and that we'd be okay.
As time went on, I decided that I wanted to pursue the life that Sonic led. I knew that I was in no way as strong as Sonic, and I knew that I probably wouldn't ever be. But I wanted to help people. I wanted to save the world if I could. And I wanted to be able to smile like Sonic and never be afraid.
Meanwhile, Sonic kept winning battles against planet-sized threats, over and over again. He could never lose. Sonic became forever known as the hero of Mobius. He was the blue blur; a guardian of the earth; a seasoned pro… and a beacon of hope.
When I was seventeen years old, I woke up to the faint smell of smoke. Far across the rolling landscape of Green Hill, over the lake and past the woods, I could see fire. A great wind burst through the dirt path near my home and I knew it was Sonic. Everything would be okay. At least, that's what they said. That's what we all said.
What a wakeup call it was to suddenly realize that he could bleed.