Once Upon a Time
Tags: Fiction
Once upon a time, there was a boy, and a girl who hated the boy.
“I hate you”, said the girl.
“I understand”, replied the boy.
Tears began to fall.
“It’s raining”, said the boy.
“It is”, replied the girl.
“It is”, the boy repeated.
The boy took out an umbrella. The girl did not.
“You do not have an umbrella”, the boy observed.
The girl nodded. A gunshot rang in the distance.
Then another and another and another.
“Maybe they’re trying to shoot the rain away”, the girl joked.
“How silly”, the boy replied.
“How silly”, the girl repeated.
“I hate the rain”, the girl then stated.
“I understand”, said the boy.
“What do you understand?”
“I understand why you would hate the rain.”
“Why do I hate the rain?”
“Because you are in the rain. If you were not in the rain, there would be nothing to hate.”
The girl shook her head. The boy was not right.
“Thank you”, she still said.
“For what?”, the boy asked.
“For understanding.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.”
“What’s no problem?”
“Understanding.”
“Oh.”
The girl let her final word hang in the air, then shivered.
The boy handed the girl his umbrella. The girl hesitated, but took it.
“Thank you”, she said.
“For what?”, the boy asked.
“For the umbrella.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.”
The girl did not reply.
The boy paused for a moment. There is only the sound of breathing, and rain, and gunshots far off in the distance.
The boy then inhaled sharply.
“Do you know what I hate?”
“What?”
“Living.”
“Living is everything, do you love nothing?” The girl asked.
“Maybe that is what I love.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing isn’t something.”
“Do you think I would be happy?”, The boy ignored her, and asked his own question.
“What?”
“If I died, would I be happy?”
“No, you would be dead. Dead people aren’t much of anything.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
The girl did not reply.
The boy closed his eyes.
“I love the feeling of the rain on my skin.” He decided.
“I love living, because it lets me feel my favorite feeling.” He continued.
The girl did not reply.
“Goodbye”, said the boy.
“Goodbye”, said the girl.
The boy turned around and began walking away.
A step.
Then another and another and another.
A gunshot rang.
Tears began to fall.