3
“My enemy is unlike me in many ways,” Sephira explains as she follows Nord the rest of the way to the campus. He stares at his phone, the thing just inches from his face, his shoulders hunched over. Exasperatedly, she moves forward and reaches for his device, easily slipping it from his weak grasp and tossing it into the grass beside them. Nord lets out an over-dramatic gasp, halting. “And yet he’s the same. He’s but the male version of the Bords.”
“You threw my phone!”
Nord rushes over to the grass, Sephira watching him with small embers of anger in her irises, the dull greatness filled with unamusement. He cries out in agony as he lifts the cellphone with two fingers.
“It landed in dog poop!”
“Feces is but a grain of sand to the trouble you’ll be in if you keep ignoring me,” Sephira snaps, gritting her teeth as he whines over his device.
“Mom just got this for me too—I was finally able to upgrade to the X!”
With tears in his eyes, he falls to the ground, defeated.
“Why,” he whispers to the sky, “why me?”
Sephira’s eyes narrow. “I asked God the same thing.”
For a moment, she actually ponders surrendering to her old friend, believing that this boy will amount to nothing.
“My poor phone...” Nord whimpers.
Then, something in Sephira’s mind shifts. She turns completely toward him, locking her eyes with his.
“What do you care about most, Nord?” she asks as he attempts to wipe the fecal matter off with tiny grass blades, sounding like a depressed child. “What would you give up everything to save?”
Nord looks up at her, his eyes misty as he wipes his nose with his wrist. “Something I’d give everything for?”
She nods once. “Something you’d die for.”
He stares at her for what feels like an eternity on that sidewalk, squatting on the pavement.
“Something I’d... die for?”
The thought rattles him. Death... is never something he’d thought about. There was this life and the people around him, the knowledge he could gain and the moments that made up other people’s lives. He knows death is inevitable, an ending to a beginning and the start of something new beyond this life, but never... never had he been asked what he’d save in exchange for his life.
“I...”
He stares down at the ground, his grip tightening on the phone. A strange emotion swells inside of him and he feels his personality shift into unexplored territory, one where death is a constant instead of just a lingering thought.
Tightening his hold on the phone, he grits his teeth as tears well in his eyes. His life...
“There is nothing the sacrifice of my life could equal. I...” he grits his teeth, his straight black hair shifting across his forehead in the wind. “I am nothing.”
With that, he stands, and brushes right by Sephira without another word, her heart swelling with pity for this poor, weak boy. If she can’t help him find his self-worth... he can’t decide what he’s fighting for... then where will the universe stand when her old friend comes for them?
+
Since Nord incessantly insisted on going to school, Sephira sits outside the building, bored, for what seems like forever. However, inside, Nord can’t concentrate on his studies, his pencil hovering above the paper as thoughts plague him. He can’t shake what the alien had asked him. What was something he’d die for?
Looking around the room, he sees faces he’s only acquainted with, people who would never reach out to talk to him. To them, he’s a fly on a wall, a nuisance, but nothing harmful. However, if he were to see them in danger... he’d run to help, no matter the cost. A stranger’s life is worth more than his, always. But does that notion mean he wants to die? The fact that he’d die to save anyone... does that make him suicidal?
He shakes his head, attempting to take down notes. No, it doesn’t make him suicidal. Superheroes in movies and comics, they’d die to save the world. So what’s so different about that? That they have super powers and wear a cape or mask?
But... does he want to be a superhero?
People start to pack up, exiting the classroom and snapping Nord out of his trance. He hesitates, knowing she’s out there, the girl he met last night. She wants him to fight this powerful guy, an alien from a different galaxy. For a moment, he dreads it, but he finally grits his teeth and stands, clenching his fists so they don’t shake. The windy day meets him as he leaves the building, his eyes catching on Sephira immediately. She stands and brushes off her dress, Nord’s eyes trained on her, people seeming afraid to approach her, intimidated by her presence. Her focus is locked on Nord, who grips the strap of his backpack tightly, trying to calm his nerves. How exactly does he feel about the possibility of dying? If he goes through with this, there’s probably a really high chance of him kicking the bucket once everything is said and done. So... how does he feel about it?
Death... is a scary thought. Not something you should look forward to, but something you should always be aware of. However, death isn’t always a tragedy. Those who believe in an afterlife, those like Nord and Sephira, they see it as the next step in their eternity. It doesn’t mean there isn’t purpose to their lives, nor does it mean that murder and massacres should be welcomed, but it means that the Higher Power who controls the door to the afterlife will embrace them when it’s their time to leave the earth, whether it be at age ten or age ninety, or any beyond and between.
Nord takes a deep breath, knowing this, as his stomach churns inside him. There’s a moment where he wants to run away, Sephira staring at him as if she’s giving him the choice to come to her or leave.
To die...
Nord nods and takes a step forward.
...will be an awfully big adventure.
“You threw my phone!”
Nord rushes over to the grass, Sephira watching him with small embers of anger in her irises, the dull greatness filled with unamusement. He cries out in agony as he lifts the cellphone with two fingers.
“It landed in dog poop!”
“Feces is but a grain of sand to the trouble you’ll be in if you keep ignoring me,” Sephira snaps, gritting her teeth as he whines over his device.
“Mom just got this for me too—I was finally able to upgrade to the X!”
With tears in his eyes, he falls to the ground, defeated.
“Why,” he whispers to the sky, “why me?”
Sephira’s eyes narrow. “I asked God the same thing.”
For a moment, she actually ponders surrendering to her old friend, believing that this boy will amount to nothing.
“My poor phone...” Nord whimpers.
Then, something in Sephira’s mind shifts. She turns completely toward him, locking her eyes with his.
“What do you care about most, Nord?” she asks as he attempts to wipe the fecal matter off with tiny grass blades, sounding like a depressed child. “What would you give up everything to save?”
Nord looks up at her, his eyes misty as he wipes his nose with his wrist. “Something I’d give everything for?”
She nods once. “Something you’d die for.”
He stares at her for what feels like an eternity on that sidewalk, squatting on the pavement.
“Something I’d... die for?”
The thought rattles him. Death... is never something he’d thought about. There was this life and the people around him, the knowledge he could gain and the moments that made up other people’s lives. He knows death is inevitable, an ending to a beginning and the start of something new beyond this life, but never... never had he been asked what he’d save in exchange for his life.
“I...”
He stares down at the ground, his grip tightening on the phone. A strange emotion swells inside of him and he feels his personality shift into unexplored territory, one where death is a constant instead of just a lingering thought.
Tightening his hold on the phone, he grits his teeth as tears well in his eyes. His life...
“There is nothing the sacrifice of my life could equal. I...” he grits his teeth, his straight black hair shifting across his forehead in the wind. “I am nothing.”
With that, he stands, and brushes right by Sephira without another word, her heart swelling with pity for this poor, weak boy. If she can’t help him find his self-worth... he can’t decide what he’s fighting for... then where will the universe stand when her old friend comes for them?
+
Since Nord incessantly insisted on going to school, Sephira sits outside the building, bored, for what seems like forever. However, inside, Nord can’t concentrate on his studies, his pencil hovering above the paper as thoughts plague him. He can’t shake what the alien had asked him. What was something he’d die for?
Looking around the room, he sees faces he’s only acquainted with, people who would never reach out to talk to him. To them, he’s a fly on a wall, a nuisance, but nothing harmful. However, if he were to see them in danger... he’d run to help, no matter the cost. A stranger’s life is worth more than his, always. But does that notion mean he wants to die? The fact that he’d die to save anyone... does that make him suicidal?
He shakes his head, attempting to take down notes. No, it doesn’t make him suicidal. Superheroes in movies and comics, they’d die to save the world. So what’s so different about that? That they have super powers and wear a cape or mask?
But... does he want to be a superhero?
People start to pack up, exiting the classroom and snapping Nord out of his trance. He hesitates, knowing she’s out there, the girl he met last night. She wants him to fight this powerful guy, an alien from a different galaxy. For a moment, he dreads it, but he finally grits his teeth and stands, clenching his fists so they don’t shake. The windy day meets him as he leaves the building, his eyes catching on Sephira immediately. She stands and brushes off her dress, Nord’s eyes trained on her, people seeming afraid to approach her, intimidated by her presence. Her focus is locked on Nord, who grips the strap of his backpack tightly, trying to calm his nerves. How exactly does he feel about the possibility of dying? If he goes through with this, there’s probably a really high chance of him kicking the bucket once everything is said and done. So... how does he feel about it?
Death... is a scary thought. Not something you should look forward to, but something you should always be aware of. However, death isn’t always a tragedy. Those who believe in an afterlife, those like Nord and Sephira, they see it as the next step in their eternity. It doesn’t mean there isn’t purpose to their lives, nor does it mean that murder and massacres should be welcomed, but it means that the Higher Power who controls the door to the afterlife will embrace them when it’s their time to leave the earth, whether it be at age ten or age ninety, or any beyond and between.
Nord takes a deep breath, knowing this, as his stomach churns inside him. There’s a moment where he wants to run away, Sephira staring at him as if she’s giving him the choice to come to her or leave.
To die...
Nord nods and takes a step forward.
...will be an awfully big adventure.
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