X1.1.4 - The Light Post

  "Want to hear a sad story?" Roa said, breaking the silence, as he looked over at the inanimate tree. "There was a time, back in the day, when I would have gladly jumped off the cliff myself. I'm serious,” he chuckled, quickly growing serious again. “One night, I was standing on one of the bridges in my city, the rain was pouring down, and the traffic had disappeared. I was drenched from head to toe. I didn’t care. Nothing mattered anymore at that moment. I stood in front of the edge for what seemed like an eternity, my head filled with the darkest thoughts, and my heart with a despair the size of an ocean. I felt hopeless, trapped, with no solution in sight. I was filled with pain, regret, and anger. There was only one thing I didn't feel that night. Fear. Can you believe it?"

  The olive tree's branches swayed in the wind, as if it were nodding.

  "Death seemed like a relief to me in that abyss of grief. I climbed onto the ledge and looked down. My shaking hand gripped a light post. The rain was so thick that I couldn’t see below, when a rush of terrible feelings overwhelmed me, and I began to cry."

  The boy was lost in thought for a moment, as his mind lingered on those hard times. His sadness changed to reverence when he recalled what happened next, his tone changing to a deeper one.

  "My tears mixed with the raindrops, which fell into the river, which made their way to the sea, and became the clouds—"

  He paused, as the words from the poetic voice in the sky that had previously spoken to him, began to make some sense.

  "—Right when the agony peaked, something snapped me out of it. You'll never believe what it was."

  He glanced over at his silent companion and smiled.

  "The light post. It flickered—then turned off. To anyone else, it would have meant nothing at all; just a faulty, electrical issue. But, to me, having lived my whole life seeing light posts flicker above my head, that strange, unexpected sight meant something. I'm still not sure what, exactly, but as I glanced at the row of lights to my left and to my right, standing under the only one that went dark—something inside me told me to stop. I thought of Eralay’s warm hugs and longed for one with all my heart. The rain suddenly felt cold, and I noticed that I was shivering. A rush of hope took over, and I shouted into the storm."

  He placed his hand on the bark, as if patting a good friend on the back.

  "I screamed 'I want to live!' That’s what I said.”

  He nodded, as he glanced at the sky. He took a deep sigh.

  "I did not jump that night; I went home. Water dripped everywhere onto the clean, wooden floors of our apartment, as my soggy socks left footprints all the way to the kitchen. I kneeled, without saying a word, and placed my head on her lap, as she was sitting at the table. I broke down. I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t keep living like that. 'I don’t know what’s wrong with me,' I said. She stared at me with wide-open eyes, then smiled and nodded, running her fingers through my wet hair."

  He sighed again, this time his voice began to quiver.

  “She said to me— 'There’s nothing wrong with you. You are who you are, my Sunflower. Nothing in this, or any other world, will ever change that. If they haven’t changed you by now, they never will. You are invincible in this regard. You just don’t know it yet.' I remember how warm her hands felt on my face."

  He said as his breath began to shake.

  "She put her hand on my shoulder, leaned in and told me with those big eyes of hers, 'I know you’re tired. I know it’s hard, and I know you want it to stop. You don’t really want to die; you just want some relief. So, do something about it then. Change your life, if you hate it so much. Stop talking about it, stop dreaming about it, and do it.' —Well—want to know what I did, my leafy friend?”

  The boy's face lit up with a smile.

  "I did something about it."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  He stood up, a surge of energy rushing through his body. He told the rest of the story with a hint of excitement in his voice, as he paced back and forth next to the plant.

  "The next day, the alarm went off, but I didn’t snooze it. No, I just got up this time, without complaint. I murmured incessantly to myself as she looked at me confused. ‘I want to live,’ I repeated over and over under my breath, as I packed my bags. When she asked what I was doing, I answered, 'I'm doing something about it. We are leaving. Pack your bags, let's go. Life is too short to be unhappy.' She froze, unable to say anything. I told her 'I either give up on myself, or I give up on my current life. I need to choose one—and I choose the latter.' She sat there, and gave me a warm smile. She agreed, but on one condition. We would leave on Monday, 'and don't ask me why; I just got a feeling that's going to be our day' she said."

  His eyes lit up, as he remembered the rush of leaving everything behind.

  "I was confused, but at least she was on board. I trusted her more than I trusted myself. I didn’t pack much, but there was one thing I couldn’t part with—the pouch she had given me for my birthday. In it, we kept the seeds we would plant in the many colorful, differently shaped pots that filled our little home. Buried among the seeds was something else, however—something very special, a secret Eralay didn’t know about. A gift. One I had waited so long to give her."

  His shoulders dropped, and his heart filled with fear at the thought of never seeing her again. He pressed on regardless, wanting to finish the story.

  "Monday arrived. We left. No plan, no notice—we said, 'screw it,' locked the door, and threw away the keys to make sure we wouldn’t go back so easily. I followed her down to the basement of our building instead of through the front door, and out of a small window in the laundry room. When I asked what we were doing, she answered that we were avoiding the landlord. When I asked whose car we were getting into, she answered her friend's. We got on the road and left, just like that. She didn't say a word the whole time. She seemed distant, as if something were bothering her. I guess it's not easy to make such a jump. We eventually reached the diner, where we met the old lady. ‘Love’s Diner.’ We approached the lonely building in the middle of the tall, green forest on the outskirts of town. 'Stop here, I'm hungry,' she said."

  He spaced out for a moment, his face growing serious, his tone somber.

  "Everything was going well—until we decided to stop at that damn place. We should have just kept going. If we did—maybe, I wouldn't have ended up here."

  He looked up, realizing he had been talking to himself for a while now. He suddenly felt stupid. He felt lost, and he felt alone.

  "What in the hell am I doing—talking to a damn tree."

  He walked away, shaking his head, the weight of hopelessness pressing on his heart, again.

  More hours passed when he eventually reached a large, flat plain. Dust swirled and danced, as the wind blew.

  "Thank goodness, this must be it. There are no more rocks I can leap onto after this big one."

  He looked back at the dark blue sun, recognizing some of the places he had passed through.

  "Should be about five kilometers."

  A single, dead tree stuck out of the plain, like a frail hand reaching out to the sky. His eyes scanned the dead plant, noticing something etched onto the wood. A message.

  " XOXO TRUST IN THE PROCESS OF LIFE."

  He decided to rest under it and wait for the portal to appear. A large silhouette flashed on the ground, jolting Roa awake, as he realized that he had fallen asleep out of exhaustion. Terror struck him like a runaway train when he looked up, noticing the monstrosity from before, circling in the sky.

  He was in trouble. He had nowhere to hide this time. The creature locked its many eyes onto him and dove down, ready for a second chance to catch its shivering prey. The boy used the tree to his advantage, as the creature flew back up and down several times, swooping in for the catch. Unable to grab him as he shielded himself behind the wooden obstacle, the beast screeched a deafening scream.

  The boy did not notice that the winds had begun to shift erratically; he was too focused on not becoming lunch for that horrid spawn of hideousness. A flash blinded him.

  “The Exit!” he said, as his wide-open eyes shifted to the ground, remembering Nirvana’s warning. This portal was smaller, about the size of a street sign, yet it retained the same eerie eye at its top, its blank stare gazing into the distance.

  The monster circled above and then swooped down again for the kill. The Sunflower’s chest burned with fear but, reaching deep within, he found enough courage to move. He pushed himself forward, away from the safety of the dead tree. Between him and the Exit was the creature, now flying straight down like a falling airplane.

  The monster's many hands reached out like talons eager to snatch their prize. Barely evading death, the young man slid on the ground, lifting a cloud of dust in his wake. The beast crashed onto the hard surface, letting out a blood curdling scream, as it flipped several times.

  "Ha!" he exclaimed, smiling as he got back on his feet. His grin did not last long, however, vanishing when the monster began galloping behind him.

  He glanced down, ran with all his strength, and repeated Eralay's words.

  "Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!"

  He pushed himself to his limit. His body burned, a fiery surge coursing through him—whether fueled by adrenaline or some untapped power, he ran. His legs churned beneath him, faster than they ever had before. The fear of death was swept away by hope, as the threshold of the portal blurred beneath his feet.

  "I want to live!" Roa screamed as he jumped into the Exit, to safety and into the unknown again.

  He turned and saw the monster disappear, as the light turned to darkness, enveloping him; a proud smile was on his tired face, as he lost consciousness once again.

  Made it out in one piece! Looks like Roa may have more courage and strength than he thought he had in him. But, where could this next Exit lead to?

  Find out tomorrow in the next exciting chapter of The Greatest Fight!

  X1.1.6 - Bus Stop to Nowhere

  Tuesdays @ 07:00EST, Thursdays @ 16:00EST, Saturdays @ 02:00EST (skips last publishing day of the month).