The park was a pocket of unnatural silence. in the distance, the city hummed a low, electric vibration that felt like the heartbeat of a machine that never slept.
Hana (to herself): the city feels so warm at Night, I suppose I'm grateful most people are diurnal, They bask in the Sun, soaking up the light the fuels their moods and their ambitions. it keeps the world proficient. it keeps moving
she leaned against the cold iron of a park bench, her eyes tracing the glowing geometry of the skyline.
"...But the world can't just stop, I admire the ones who stay awake. the night shifters, They balance the cycle of life like a relay race, passing the baton of responsibility to keep the 'store' of humanity operating twenty-four-seven"
Her gaze drifted across the street to a large tarpaulin draped over a school fence. it read: 120th Anniversary
"A century" she whispered, "A centenarian, imagine witnessing that much evolution. Technology, food, traditions..." with the rumbling thoughts in her head, she glanced down as if the ground suddenly became an interesting sight to see...it must be wonderful to live long enough to see the world change its skin" a shadow of profound, silence crossed her face.
"I don't have much of that time left, Nineteen and a half years. I suppose it was a good run.."
"...it must be fun living a long life"
"it certainly is" a voice rippled from the shadows behind her. "Though the views gets a bit repetitive after the first seventy years or so."
Hana startled, her hand flying to her chest, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. "Oh! Ah, pardon me, I didn't notice you there"
emerging from the darkness was a figure clad in shadows, She was leaning against a tree with an air of casual, almost bored grace, tossing a small, blackened coin into the air and catching it. "no worries," the voice said. "No one ever does. I have a very...un-magnetic personality"
"sorry?" Hana asked, blinking.
"ah...forget it" the stranger stepped into the pale, flickering light of a streetlamp. she looked young, yet her eyes that were slightly covered by her hoodie held the depth of an ancient sea.
"Why is a young girl like you wandering alone at this hour? I'm not judging your choice of scenery, but aren't you supposed to be tucked in? Resting for the big morning shift?"
"Oh, uhm..." Hana regained her composure. "I just...I guess I just prefer the air at this hour. It feels less occupied"
the hooded person nodded in response "A night shifter at heart, then? Did your boss give you a scolding? Or is it a boy? it's usually a boy or a boss
"Neither," Hana replied softly. "I'm just an observer tonight."
"I see. You just like the night? Not a bad choice. The Sun is a bit of a loud-mouth, don't you think? Always demanding to look things its way. whilst the night lets you choose your own shadows."
Hana remained quiet, her gaze returning to the skyline.
"You know," the hooded stranger continued, moving closer with a silent, feline gait. "You were right earlier. it's a gift to see life while you're still breathing. it allows you to appreciate the past and expect more from the future as long as you learn to embrace the present".
Hana, with a weary smile, responded "...yeah, it really is...did you really eavesdropped that much?"
the other laughed in response "can't help it, aside from the cicadas, the silence was too loud for your thoughts not to be heard"
"...You know, there is so much more this little world has to offer," the hooded stranger said, her tone shifting into something more clinical, more predatory. "including you, it's such a shame your schedule is about to be...cancelled"
Hana's heart skipped a beat. A cold chill that had nothing to do with the night air raced down her spine How did she-?
"Actually" the stranger leaned in, a small glimpse of her eyes reflecting the city like a cat's.
"You've only got two weeks left to live, haven't you?"
...
Flasback
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. that was the lesson I learned when I discovered my family carried the inheritance of Angiosarcoma, a rare, aggressive cancer of the blood vessels, it was a genetic curse, a biological "short-circuit" that turned the very vessels that carried life into conduits of death.
in the Mondschein household, health was a commodity I couldn't afford.
I remembered the "glass wall" of my childhood. that while other children were skinning their knees and screaming on playgrounds, I was there, silently observing behind the tinted windows of a sedan, Even walking three blocks to the park was an ordeal; I would feel hot, searing pressure in my chest, followed by the terrifying sensation of my lungs turning into lead.
"Don't run, Hana" my mother would say, her voice tight with fear that felt like a weight.
"stay seated, Hana" my father would command, looking at not with love, but with the pity one gives to a broken antique.
I spent weeks in a sterile hospital where rooms were the only 'nature' I saw the rhythmic spike of my heart rate on the monitor, I watched as my limbs swell with edema, my skin stretching tight ad shiny for no reason other than the fact that my body was failing its most basic duties. I was a burden of medical bills and hushed conversations in the alleyway.
But then came the 'Indian Summer' of my health, A specialized chemotherapeutic regimen managed the symptoms. The swelling receded. The chest pain became dull, manageable ache.
so I seized the chance, I started painting until my fingers cramped, made ball jointed dolls, scraping the canvas that gets bigger each day until the lead on my graphite burns, while I sat in cafes with friends, pretending I wasn't counting every breath, I felt...almost normal, I felt like I had finally started my 'first job' of being a person...
Until the day the floor fell out under me again
"Hana...the growth has reached a critical stage," Dr. Gabriela said, the office smelled of old paper and disinfectant. "the medications were just masking the pain, the tumors have infiltrated the major vessels near the heart. Surgery has a success rate of nearly...zero"
I took a shaky breath then looked at my hands. they were stained with blue paint, I should've taken it s a sign when I was mixing my acrylic paints earlier. not that it would change anything though, I might even love shorter than a housefly.
"well...what happens if we leave it as it is?" I asked, but she just look at me with pity, No don't give me that, that's not what I wanted to see from you, I've had enough of those types of faces
"if we take that option, then you can live up to...two weeks max"
"I see, thank you for your direct honesty, Doctor. I shall take my leave now"
"Hana, wait. We will make you comfortable. I won't let you live your final days in agony. Please...try to live as fully as you can in the time that remains. Feel as alive as possible, okay?"
"...I will, Doctor. thank you for everything"
All those kind words, I thought to myself as I walk out of the heavy room But none of them say that I have a chance to live. Only a chance to die 'comfortably'. They want me to be the perfect patient while I fade away *chuckles*
...how cruel.
End of flashback
"That's it?" the hooded person asked, leaning back against the bench, her feet swinging off the ground. "No drama? No crying? You didn't even try to strangle your doctor for failing you? If someone told me I had two weeks left, I'd at least set a building on fire."
Hana laughed softly, a sound that carried the weight of years of suppressed emotion. "even if I wanted to, I think that much emotion would have killed me on the spot. I've spent my whole life being told to remain calm so I don't burst"
"oh...hmm, that actually makes sense. stifled until the end. still, it's a strange reason to vent to the moon at this hour. Usually, people use their last two weeks for...I don't know, skydiving? eating expensive steak?"
"The same goes for you," Hana countered gently. "Why spend your night talking to a dying girl in the park?"
"curiosity" the other shrugged, the small glimpse of her eyes suddenly turning sharp. "I like to see how people handle the zero point of their life. most scream, some pray, others cry. while you...you're just looking at a school banner and feeling sorry for a building."
Hana looked at her curiously. "I've been meaning to ask...how old are you really? You talk like you've seen civilizations rise and fall."
the hooded girl winked, a gesture that felt impossibly old. "Good perception. I can't give you an exact number, but I guarantee I've been around for more than a century. I've seen a lot of people like you, most of them are forgotten."
"Wow.so old, you must be wrinkly now granny, considering why you're covering yourself with a hoodie and mask" Hana said nonchalantly, her apathy acting as a shield to the joke wielded to her.
"Hey! I'll have you know I'm in my prime," the 'hooded girl' bristled for a second before her expression went terrifyingly still.
The air around them suddenly turn heavy, the hum of the city cutting out as if someone had flipped a switch, The shadows at the girl's feet began to bleed outward, devouring the light of the streetlamp.
her voice shifted. It was no longer the voice of a random hoodie girl in a park; it was a resonance that echoed from the stars, a cold, metallic vibration that filled Hana's chest where the paint used to be.
"Miss Hana Modschein," though underneath all the dark covers, her eyes glow with a pale celestial light like amethyst.
"You have accepted the end with a grace that is...useful, you were victimized by the selfish side of life, you wanted to live as long as the stars yet you were cut short of fate, but allow me to grant you a token of our first meeting. consider it a gift from the angel of shadows that never sleep."
"She reached out, her fingers hobering just inches from Hana's heart."
"You're life is no longer measured in weeks, you're now anchored to something much longer than your Doctor's paper...let me extend your life to three more years"
...
"what?"