A shrill scream burst through the calm spring air as the sharp sound of a hand gun still rang. The silence that followed was deafening and eerie. A shot. A boy falling to the ground. A girl falling to her knees. Her tears of agony dropping to the pavement, mixing with the newly spilled blood. The sound of her cries exploded in the air and then subsided into racking sobs. Shakily, she reached her hand forward and touched the boy in front of her. Eyes darkening, her fingers gripped tightly to his shirt and she leaned over him.
“Why?” she whispered. “Why?”
As the tears continued to spill, her arms reached out and wrapped around the cold figure. Her sobs echoed through the empty afternoon and she buried her face in his neck. A weak hand caressed the back of her head and she lifted her eyes to meet his. A painful smile was plastered onto his face and silent tears flooded from his eyes.
“Aaron! Aaron, wait up!” Words from the past echoed in her mind as she brought her hand, gently, to his face.
“Hey!” she called when she finally reached him. The fall air was chill and the trees surrounding the small suburban town were changing into bright shades of reds and oranges. The brightness brought the illusion of fire and intensity through the thick forests.“Good morning!” Her words were followed by a bright smiled and she clasped her hands behind her back.
“'Morning.”
“What's with that?” she pouted, sticking her lips out and staring at him with puppy-dog eyes. Aaron rolled his eyes and walked faster. “Hey!”
Once again, she caught up, but the muscles in her legs were starting to ache. The sidewalk was uneven and her muscles twinged at the speed she was walking, over the ups and downs of the broken concrete.
“You know, you're kind of like a stalker.” He sighed and stopped walking. The stop was sudden, and the girl was past him by the time she realized he was not by her side any longer.
“A stalker?!” she screeched.
“Yes, exactly. I'm the new kid, so why is there suddenly a pretty girl following me everywhere I go?” He stared questioningly at her back, waiting until she explained her motives. The sharp 'chirp' of morning birds filled the crisp air while the girl hesitated. A few more seconds, and she turned on her heels, a large smile plastered on her face.
She giggled and cocked her head.
“What?”
She giggled again, and skipped over to him. “You just called me pretty!”
“... Yes, and I also called you a stalker, and implied that you were very strange. Is 'pretty' seriously the only thing you got out of that?”
Her face turned serious and her eyes narrowed, their golden brown hue darkening into a light chocolate. She lifted her hand and stuck up her pointer finger. “Of course! Because this means that you don't hate me! This is a chance!”
The way she said that was confident, like a thick tree standing tall in a storm, never swaying, not once. It was somewhat... endearing, and Aaron couldn't help but smile a little.
“Fine,” he sighed, and continued walking.
“Don't... cry,” he whispered in a raspy voice. The touch of Aaron's fingers on her face still brought comfort, even in his condition. “I might... not make it... but please... don't cry.”
More tears made their way down her cheeks and she roughly shook her head. “No... No, I can't let you die!” she sobbed, and buried her face deeper into his chest. Around them the world turned and went on. No one knew of this one insignificant person's pain, and no one cared. And with no regard to this girl's feelings, one random nobody had given pain to her most important person. A man who had a tough day at work, or had troubles at home-in his own life-had simply snapped, and shot Aaron, an innocent passerby, in the chest.
As Aaron walked with this girl after school, the sun was warm and bright. They had taken a detour in hopes that they could spend more time together in the nice spring day. The trees rustled by the side of the empty small-town road. A middle-aged man was sitting on a small bench with his head in his hands and payed no attention whilst the couple walked by.
"Hey!" he had shouted after they passed. He waited until the couple turned around and then pulled his gun. One shot, that's all it took in the small distance for the bullet to pierce Aaron's chest. Aaron fell to the ground and the man simply turned on his heels and walked calmly away. He hadn't known that this particular pair had no phone on them. He hadn't payed attention to the emptiness of the country road, and the impossibility of getting help. It had just been a coincidence that everything had piled against this victim when he had snapped and pulled his gun.
There was no rhyme or reason. A boy was now lying on the ground, the blood that had kept him alive for sixteen years now spilling over the hot earth. A girl who thought of this boy as a very important person, now clinging to his draining body. And all of this, simply because one man felt the need to disrupt someone else's life as well. He had thought “If my pathetic life is going by without anyone's notice, I should take someone with me.” A scholar or a painter, a business man or a McDonald's manager, he did not care. As long as he could subdue his own insignificant pain for a few seconds, he didn't care who he shot, as long as he took someone with him. And he did.
“Oh, Aaron!” she sang childishly as she made her way up the front porch steps. Aaron hid his discreet smile behind the book he had been reading. “Tada!”
A light brown paper bag was placed on his book and he was forced to set it down and look his disturbance in the eyes. It was a bad idea. She stared down at him with large, sparkling eyes and a bright smile. She was always so cheerful, especially around her friends. So much so that it was almost annoying.
“Well? Aren't 'cha going to open it?”
He heaved a sarcastic sigh and moved his forgotten book aside, taking the bag in his hands and slowly opening it. He smiled at the contents and looked up at the sparkling teenager.
“It's your favorite.”
“Thank you,” Aaron said warmly as he took the chocolate chip muffin out of the bag and scooted over to give her some room to sit. The swing rocked as she sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around her knees.
School had ended a few days before and they were in the stage of post-school-boredom. The warm breeze moved through the trees and rustled the bushes, sending calm sounds of nature through the air. Off in the distance, birds chirped quietly and children laughed, running around in excitement for their summer freedom. The serene silence continued for a few more minutes until it was broken by the questioning voice of the girl.
“How come every year goes by faster than the last?” The air moved swiftly past her face as the bench swing moved back and forth. Aaron's foot was dangling off the side and pushing the swing at a calming speed.
“Well... When you're five, one year is a twentieth of your life. When you're ten it's a fortieth... Twenty, it's an eightieth. It's because your perspective changes over the years.”
Aaron flipped through his book and munched on his muffin, barely hanging to their conversation. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back onto the armrest. It was amazing that they could talk so freely now, when only a few months ago, Aaron wouldn't have given her the time of day.
“You know,” she started after a long pause. “I think that... humans are at a disadvantage when it comes to life.”
He looked up at her over the top of his book. “Why do you say that?”
“Because. Humans may live longer, but I believe that we're more sensitive to 'The End' than other animals, such as dogs or cats. I can't exactly say, since I've never been a dog, but we seem to know more... and less. It's scary if you think about it, because, no matter if you're a scientist or a priest, no one knows what happens to you when you die.
“I think that... when it's a humans time to die, they're never exactly ready. Even if they're old and were expecting it, it's not like they're going to enjoy leaving behind everything that they knew. You'd think that... a humans ability to reason is an advancement that differentiates us from other animals. But if you think about it... it's actually, truly, a hindrance, and a pain. It's truly... truly scary.”
Her eyes opened and she picked her head up to look at Aaron's expression. He had set his book down once again and was leaning forward, staring intently at the girl before him. His expression was hard and sad, but it quickly softened and he reached his hand out to touch her cheek delicately.
“I think that... If you've spent your life well, no matter the amount of reason you posses, or how young you are, you will be able to leave your body behind gracefully. And that, in time, the ones you left behind will be able to do the same.”
She smiled and placed her hand on top of his. “Yeah. Maybe.”
The devastated girl squinted through her overflowing tears and clung to Aaron even more. She rested his head on her knees and stroked his hair, feeling the soft strands through her shaking fingers. She gasped for breath again and rested her forehead on top of his.
“Hey, Aaron, stay with me,” she begged in a desperate whisper. “You have to stay with me! You're my best friend! If you're gone then who will help me with my homework? Who will listen to me when I spout my crazy ideas?! With you gone, who will be there to swing with me in the summer and eat chocolate chip muffins with me?! You can't die! It's not fair!” She was shouting and crying and gasping for breath as she slowly began to lose her mind. This boy who she had only met a year before was now the biggest section of her heart, yet here he was, slowly bleeding to death in her arms.
Aaron's eyes were getting heavier and his breathing was getting shallower. He wasn't able to keep his eyes focused on the object of his affection that was crying in front of him, nor was he able to comfort her like he yearned to do. He gathered up the last of his strength and placed his hand on her cheek. Quickly, she grasped his hand and held it to her so it wouldn't fall away.
“Hey, Daisy... It's not... scary.” He smiled as comfortingly as he could. Her brown eyes closed tightly as she shook her head, refusing to accept what he was trying to say.
“No!” she screamed. She felt his fingers go limp and squeezed his hand tighter to her face. She watched as his eyes slowly closed and the muscles in his face relaxed. “Aaron! No! Come back to me,” she sobbed. “Please come back to me.”
“Hey, Daisy. You know what?”
“... I love you.”
