Death's Ancestor

Water rushed below him, tripping over stones on its way down stream. He peered down at the mightiness of water, its power provoking, to give a life—or to take it away. He was here for one purpose and one purpose only, to satisfy the latter. Would the god of rivers allow this? He did not know, but he had tried everything he could already. Nothing was left in his heart, nothing to love, to fear, to hate. He was empty, alone, broken. This was his last task, his last leap. There was no purpose in living now, there hadn’t been for at least an age of his life. Death seemed to wait nearby; he hoped that he was waiting. One step, another, then another, closer and closer to the edge. His heart pounding, it was just instinct, soon it would cease. One more step, then it would be over, then the pain would be gone. He could hear the chain on his ankle clink as he stepped forward. This was it, the gods cried out to him in agony, begging him not to do such a thing, but he did not listen. One more step, one leap and... He would be no more. Nothingness, nowhere, yet everywhere at the same time. It would be his last move.

He jumped in.

Agony, relief, and anger rushed to his mind when he surfaced. Why couldn’t he drown? Die? Leave this world forever? The answer came when he opened his eyes. A girl, the age of 10 stood above him. She was short and seemed to be a little plump. She had brown eyes and her black hair reached a little below her waist. She wore oval, dark, purple glasses that were covered in drops of water. She wore what seemed like a white t-shirt above a shabby pair of jeans. She was panting, as though she had run a race. As the girl spoke for the first time, he noticed that she was completely drenched in water.

“Why, did you do that? That was so crazy, I couldn’t have believed it! Why did you do that, WHY?” Her voice rang out on the last word, bringing out a invisible source that commanded him to speak the truth.

“Uh..I…um….well…uh...You see,” he stuttered. The girl’s eyes were an alarming brown; the brown was piercing him as though they were determined to seek the truth He decided that this girl was trustworthy-she did save his life, after all. So he told the girl what he was trying to do. When he finished, the girl stood up and said, “Wait, but I get you were trying to kill yourself but why were you trying to kill yourself?” He stood up and after a long silence, muttered “Orphan.” The girl looked like she’d encountered this kind of experience before. She stood up and said “follow me.”

“Wait, what makes you think that I’m gonna go with you?” The boy asked. The girl retorted, “If’ you’d want decent clothes and food, and are sane, then follow me.” She started walking, not even looking backwards to see if he was following. The boy thought that this was not really gonna be the safest thing to do, but with a begrudging sigh, followed her.

They arrived in the forest, and despite the many questions Devon was asking, Celena did not reply until they arrived at a particular tree. “What-“Devon was interrupted by Celena as she said “Shhhh!” and continued to pat earthly mounds until one satisfied her. She dug until a rectangular, wooden box appeared. She pushed the box into his hands. Devon stared at it for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. “Get going! Go change clothes!” Celena said. “I’ll be over there. “ She pointed to a tree enough far away so as to not see him. Devon changed but very slowly. He screamed. (Does a boy ever scream?) The clothes had all sorts of bugs in them. When he put his pants on, he discovered fire ants in one pocket and cockroaches in the other. After a few more tries, shrieks and scares he learned to shake out his clothes before putting them on. He thought: My mother would have never ever let me take clothes from a stranger. I will never, ever, forget this, he thought. Taking insect-filled clothes. Ugh, where is Celena? He brushed off the last of the dirt as he set off in search of Celena. In a few minutes, he had discovered her tree climbing. She was sitting on top of the trees humming to herself. “Did you like the critters?” was the first thing she asked. “Come down!” Devon shouted. “Okay, okay!” She leapt from the tree and landed on the ground far too lightly. Deon was confused and in awe. Who was this girl? He wondered. She didn’t seem like a hobo, and was definitely not a tramp. Just as she stepped over a log, she clutched Devon’s arm.Something was wrong.