An author walks up to a table with a single candle and a book perched on its prestigious wood, the light of the candle providing the only light and hope necessary for what he was about to do.
The author sat down and wrote and asked,
"Loneliness, what is it?
What can you do about it?
How can you solve it?"
Then he asked an even bigger question.
"Is loneliness something that needs solving in the first place?"
To all these questions, the author had no answer, so he just closed his book and sighed.
"This is number 777, right? Well, I guess."
The Author laugh self deprecatingly at his terrible memory as he looked up at the, auspicious endless abyss that was the ceiling.
"Hopefully, next time I will be able to answer this question, or even better, be able to answer one question out of the many that I and the others have asked."
He sighed as he closed the book, and the candlelight went out.
The author then lay down and closed his eyes as he felt the darkness hug him tightly but he also felt sleep hug him tighter.
As he succumb to sleep, he whispered, "Maybe next time. Maybe the next one "
The author then fell asleep on the cold but welcoming floor of the temple as the temple's darkness grew heavy with sleep.
-----
The darkness of sleep is awakened by the first light of dawn.
The scent of fresh coffee filled the kitchen as Elijah carefully poured two cups, his hands moving with the ease of routine. The sun had barely crept over the horizon, casting golden light through the window. The quiet hum of the morning was interrupted only by the occasional clatter of pans as he prepared breakfast for his wife, Anna, and their two children.
He moved through the house with purpose, saw that the kids were awake, in some sense of the word, and started setting their plates, and he pressed a soft kiss to Anna's forehead as she walked in from their bedroom
"Thank you, honey."
She murmured sleepily as she felt his lips on her forehead. This was his world, his life perfect, simple, structured, andand filled with love.
After breakfast, he put all their dishes in the sink and stepped into the bathroom, turning the shower on until steam clouded the air. He just stood in the hot water raining down on him, going all in and encapsulating his buff body while he cleared his mind for the day ahead.
When he wiped the mirror, expecting to see his reflection, he was met with a hazy, distorted image. His features were obscured, as though the fog refused to clear. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, sighed, and ignored it, knowing if he got annoyed, he wouldn't be able to get past the rest of the day. "Probably just the steam," he reasoned.
Dressed and ready in his blue and white polka-dotted tie, black solid shoes, and his dark blue suit and pants, Elijah kissed his wife and children goodbye, dropping the kids off at school and waving and smiling at them while they run and race each other to class. Elijah shoke his head while laughed, as he thought of the many times he did that with his brother, or rather the many times he wished, he did that with his brother.
but in the end he just smiled as headed to work.
The office was exactly as it had always been—a place of forced smiles and veiled hostility, but a strange, welcoming feeling to those who know it all too well. It was toxic yet familiar, a place where memories clung to the walls like old wallpaper.
He then took the elevator to his floor, and as soon as Elijah arrived, he went to his office block and sat down on a way too-familiar, uncomfortable chair. Elijah stands up, pulls out a small pillow from his computer bag, and puts it down on his chair as he sat down again, making it that little bit more bearable. He put on his own classic smile, which was a bit more genuine, and that little bit of genuineness made him radiate and shine like the sun compared to the midnight stars that were his co-workers.
By midday, he decided to take his break early, stepping outside and taking the elevator down with his coworker, quickly left after. His coworker didn't want to spend even a single second with out his best friend, the only person that made life at work just that little bit more bearable. The city streets were alive with the usual buzz of people as they walked and talked.
"So how have the family and wife been, old chum?"
Darren said, clearly exasperated by the work they had just done in the morning alone.
"They have been good. How about yourself? You seem to be having it rough."
Elijah said with an almost half-laughing smile.
"You think life's been rough? No wife, no kids at 20, crazy,"
Darren said with a defeated expression.
"Yeah, I get that, but I am really worried about Emily,
Darren snapped his figers, as he shot Elijah figer guns, squinted slightly "Which Emily?"
"my daughter" Elijah said
Darren said, "Oh, okay. What's going on?"
Darren sigh as he said "she's too innocent... I feel like I should teach her to be stronger, like her brother. I mean, he is not strong in the strength sense, but in the fight sense, in defending the people he cares about, and, you know, in knowing when a person is right or wrong. You know she trusts people too easily."
Elijah says with a sad look on his face, his brow furrowing in frustration and soberness.
"No, I don't have kids, remember?"
Darren says with an angry expression on his face, but in a matter of seconds, he breaks apart into a laugh as his glasses fall slightly, and then he pushes them back up.
"No, no, I am joking with you. I have little siblings, so I know that feeling. I'll give you some advice: just let things happen; interfere when you have to, but just watch them grow and learn to be that person you and they want to be, okay?"
"And plus"
Darren then elbows Elijah's side
"Aw." Elijah said rubbing his arm
"She's not a man dude" Darren said pushing up his glasses
"She's a woman. Well, she is growing up to be one, but still. She is part of one of the world's most wonderful, interesting and mysterious creatures alive, that we know as, women. So let her embrace and find out what it means to be that, even if you don't know what, that is"
"One of the things I learned from my sister's is that you got to let them be who they want to be, because you are different from them, but not completely. They still are human beings that can breathe , eat and talk, but they live and breathe differently, they live,breathe and talk, like women."
"So let her be shy, let her be innocent, let her be pretty, let her be gorgeous, let her be not only a woman, but also a living breathing human being, with emotions and feelings. You have plenty of time to learn and maneuver around."
"Wait what is she now? four, right?" Darren asks
Elijah nods "yeah and her brother is five"
Darren puts a hand on Elijah's shoulder.
"Dude, that means you got like fifteen whole years to get to know her fully, and even more years if she loves you guys that much more, you understand."
"Also she is still growing, you can teach her as much as you like about things she needs to know, but and this is a huge,BUT, there are some skills you can't teach. Some skills in life need to be experienced to be learned, and there are even skills, that require you to be a certain age, to even begin to understand them. so keep that in mind okay."
Elijah then thought deeply about what it meant to be a man to him.
It was odd that he was thinking about this first but there was a reason.
He wanted to cross reference. His wife couldn't do some of the things he could do, like he could easily lift weights and gain muscle much easier than his wife. Even if she wasn't a couch potato and she really wanted to get strong, she couldn't get the amount of muscle he had as easily as he could because her body isn't built for it. And in turn, he couldn't do some of the things she could do because his body wasn't built for it, like Pilates, things that required flexibility and as little muscle as possible. So if she got stuck somewhere, she had a way, way higher chance of getting out compared to him and his broad, stiff shoulders.
It was kinda like a natural balance: men can get muscle and strength easily, but in turn they can't get flexible easily, and women are flexible and nimble but, in turn, can't get muscle and strength easily.
So using this as a baseline, he opened his horizons to other things—emotions, certain traits, and even more.
With his horizons opened wider than they ever had before, he started to see it. The border between men and women.
A mother and a father.
A protector and a caregiver.
A giver of life and a garden of life.
A punisher and teacher.
Masculine and feminine.
Two sides of the same coin, still one coin but different.
So with this new found knowledge, he look back at what he was worried about, and realized most of the things were silly, his daughter didn't need to learn all the skills, knowledge and experience that a person in there twentys had, just because HE thought she was too feminine and weak. They needed to know the skills, knowledge and experience that a four year old needs, with a supporting father who doesn't care how weird weak or feminine she was but cared about her and her well-being.
Elijah turning to Darren with a look of clearness in his eyes, he smiled as he said. "I guess I never thought about it that way."
Darren raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk. "what, woman being different from men or the fact your daughter doesn't need to learn everything off the bat."
Elijah scratched his head while smiling " both i guess."
"What! I thought you would have at least known the fricking, (basic fact) that women are different from men? Dude i was teasing you because i though it was obvious. You have a wife for gods sake!"
"I know but she's different, we just clicked together like two peaces of a simple puzzle, no deep conversations, and there was bearly any friendship before our relationship." Elijah said sheepishly.
"So your telling me your marriage is being supported by you guys, just, deeply loving each other but for no intence reason. There was no deep conversation to link you guys together."
Elijah smiled while he shoke his head."Nope not really. Even the conversation I had with her before we got together."
Darren looks away as he sighed, "Thank god you had kids, otherwise I would have seen my second father, depressed a long long time ago."
Elijah chuckles "Hey, I haven't been depressed Yet."
Darren sighs "I can't with you",
Elijah fully laughs "Oh I know you love me."
Darren clicks his tongue while slightly chuckling "as if old man."
Elijah puts a hand on Darren's shoulder as he squeezed hard "who you calling old?"
Darren squeals in pain as he laughs. "Okay calm down, i am sorry!! You aren't old, infact your the most handsomest youngest person i have ever met."
Elijah let go of Darren soon after.
Darren then rubbed and stretched his shoulder
Darren sighed as he pushed up his glasses as he muttered "geez, old men these days."
"What was that?" Elijah asked as he gave Darren a side eye of doom and despair
Darren then dramatically startted to sweat bullets
"Nothing sir" Darren said looking away.
" Sir?" Elijah raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Whats wrong with sir?" Darren asked
"Nothing it's just been a while since you called me that. The last time I remember is when you had just transferred here from your so called, top university." Elijah said
"Come on, don't joke like that, I called you sir lots of times before. I am just calling you sir now, because I felt like it.
Elijah said "Are you sure it wasn't because I was staring directly into your soul"
Darren looked away avoiding eye contact as he shook his head
"no sir."
They then laugh about the whole ordeal
Darren then said, "But on a serious note dude, you know me, you know us." Darren said lightly punching Elijah's arm.
Elijah nods. "Hell yeah I do, the dream team in the day and the nightmare at night"
Darren then pumped his fist, "Hell yeah. Whether it's on the game or at work we always dominate."
Darren then puts his right arm around his neck
"You know how i think of you right. I think of you as a coworker third, my best friend second, and as my second dad first."
"Oh thanks man. You really mean that?" Elijah asked with a warm smile.
Darren smirked, "You better believe it."
Elijah laughed "Gosh dang it, you and that catch phrase."
As they continued walking, they felt a sudden shift in the air, which made Elijah and Darren stop. Up ahead, a commotion stirred—a crowd forming, hushed murmurs turning into panicked gasps.
Words like
"Please calm down"
"Don't hurt her"
And
"Put the weapon down we can talk about this"
Could be heard
Then he saw him.
A man stood in the center of the chaos; his face was that of an old retired construction builder, and his disheveled construction building clothes matched perfectly, a gun trembling in his grip, an arm locked around a little girl's neck. Her small frame shook with silent sobs. She held a pink backpack in her hand loosely as she was suspended in the air by the man's grip on her, her wide black eyes filled with terror as her black hair blew in the wind.
Something in Elias snapped as he saw the scene, a fatherly instinct activating almost instantly.
An instinct to protect his or anyone else's child.
There was no thought, no hesitation,only instinct. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he charged forward through the crowd ignoring thier gasps.
Darren reached for him in horror.
Elijah's fist connected with the gunman's face before the man could react. A shot rang out. Pain exploded in Elias's side, but he didn't stop. Another punch. Another shot. His body screamed in agony, but he pushed forward as his body started to go limp, his adrenaline running out, and he thought to himself,
"This won't do. I can't just punch this random guy. I don't know him or why his doing what he is doing. but what I do know is that I have to stop him, but it don't think I can keep this going for any longer, my adrenaline is running out for some reason. Wait, did he shoot a vital spot?
No, Focus that doesn't matter right now. All that matters right now is that i save this little girl. If i want to do that, I have to make him drop before I do."
Elijah start to breath heavily as he punches slowed unwillingly, as he felt his blood desperately but begrudgingly wanting to exit his body. Not wanting to leave him cold and dead but having to anyways.
"I need his face to be Someone I actually care about, someone who I hate, someone who even in this life ending scenario, i would willingly waste every breath I have left, just to punch them in the face hundreds of more times."
Elijah then slowly starts to sees the man's face turn slimy, slick, perverted look and his overweight, obese, that double chin chubby face was all too familiar, like everything in his life, but this one was the bad kind.
His adrenaline immediately spiked as his eyes dilated with rage, which fueled the force and speed of his punches as they not only regain the momentum but started to fly and pierced through the air,with faster and faster, speeds.
Everything disappeared into a black void, leaving only him and the man with his boss's face.
At that point his mind went blank; he wasn't the type of person to curse people under his breath or in his head internally he Would make light jabs internally but that would be as far as it went for him, but at this instant there was nothing light about the amount of words and insults he was going to spit, so his mind went blank and empty, focusing on one thing and one thing alone.
Punching his boss's face as many times as he can before he dies
Memories of him bowing as he was ridiculed for mistakes he hadn't done, mistakes which he kindly warned would happen beforehand. All the annoying shouting he shielded his coworkers from receiving, all the nonsensical shouting and unreasonable demands that his boss asked for. He fit the role of a cliché snobby son of a rich business owner to a hilarious degree. Elijah took every single criticism of his character with a simple smile every single day.
But that simple smile could hold on no longer, as his expression in the present dropped into an expressionless seriousness that no one—even himself—had ever seen before.
If it was the last thing he did, then so be it; he will die doing the one thing he has always wanted to do since the day he got his job.
bang
BANG
BANG
Of the gun echoed as, the BANG of Elijah's fist come immediately after, but faster and some how stronger.
Elijah landed blow after blow until the gunman crumpled to the ground, unconscious,bruised and bleeding, his hold of the girl was lost along with his gun.
Elijah breaks out of his focus of rage and adrenaline. The gun skidded across the pavement, empty. The little girl still in shock, somehow managed to get her footing with her shaky legs.
Elijah stands there with 13 bullet holes through his chest.
Elijah smiled and striked a pose with his fist up in the air,
The signature pose of his favorite number 1 hero of his favorite manga and comic as a child.
Elijah laughs, coughing out blood as he thought.
"Dang it, I still am a kid. Even after all this time, I am still as childish as I was before.Darren your right; I should just let things happen. Don't worry kids, i will start doing that from now on.
Elijah laughed lightly and self-deprecially
But I guess it's too late to do that now huh. I just hope you guys will be okay.... without your old man
Darren you clever bastard, managing to finally admit that I am old, at deaths door of all places.
Elijah laughed even harder from a weird kind of joy, that was soon disturbed by the metallic taste of blood.
But despite that, Elijah was still happy.
"Anna, please, take care of our children, especially her."
Elijah turned to the girl, his vision blurring. He reached out a trembling hand and whispered, with a warm smile
"Daddy is going to be gone for a while okay, so just do and promise me one thing..... okay,"
The girl still shaken looked up slowly, but before she could even make eye contact with him
Elijah said
"Stay safe,"
"Okay."
...
"Stay safe"
....
" Emily"
He said gently and tenderly caressing the girl's cheek
But that wasn't that girl's name. Because the girl infrount of him wasn't his daughter.
But despite that her expression softened slightly
A cold numbness spread through him, and as he collapsed, his last thoughts were of his family, their laughter, their love, their warmth, all thier memories together
he saw Darren crying and pulling him into a hug. Elijah then realized he never got the chance to tell Darren that he was family too. Well, in his eyes at least. He then closed his eyes, feeling Darren's tears on his suit, as Elijah smiled happily, knowing that he did a good thing ,and died the way he wanted to.
"Well I hope your proud of me dad. I finally did the one thing I always wanted to do"
DIEING
-
While saving a life.
-
Then, darkness.
Silence.
And then... crying, but these weren't the cries of a 20-year-old man. They were the cry of an infant.
His body felt impossibly small, wrapped in soft fabric. The air smelled unfamiliar, tinged with lavender and something old, something regal.
His vision adjusted. A woman's face hovered above him, but it was unfamiliar. She wore a maid's uniform, her expression one of reverence and awe.
He tried to speak, but only a weak, infantile cry escaped his lips.
Panic gripped him.
He wasn't dead.
He was reborn.