Aftermath: passage 1
"I still remember the day we met. it was a summer just like this one" a boy spoke to himself. "You were so energetic back then, so easy and fun to pick on as well. You never told me your actual name though, I guess you never will now. you are gone. left on a journey I don't know anything about, while here I am stuck in the past. I keep telling myself that I am moving on, that I am getting better, but deep done I know that I am just trying to fool myself. So, one day, I will truly believe that I have healed." The boy got up and left the tree he was under. He faintly heard a piano playing a tune that struck at his heart. It was filled with motivation, and yet it had a deep sorrow hidden in its notes. He tenderly walked towards the pianist playing the piano.
“You’ve been lingering for so long. Why don’t you sit down and relax? Take a seat and forget about life for a while.” the Pianist said before playing that melody again. “Sometimes the best thing to do is just stop thinking, get lost in the world around you. Why spend every hour of every day worrying about something you cannot fix, something you can’t change? Instead, embrace the world around you. Get lost in the wonders of nature, take a nap in a kayak on the lake. Go to new places, see things you never have seen before. Go on a journey that only you will know about.” said the pianist before ending the heartfelt sonata and starting a new one that is filled with hope. Hope devoid of all the pain from the past.
As the melody ends, the boy sits there, dazed. Slowly, he gets up and starts to walk away. "Hey sis. it's been a while huh? I guess this is the end of my first summer without you." The boy says to himself, the distance from the pianist growing. "Its been tough without you by my side. My heart has started to move on you know, I've finally found someone I can open up to, like I open up to you. My soul on the other hand, is still so scarred and hurt. I know you want me to move on and not be in so much agony, but. How can I move on when I loved you so much? When my soul was warmed by your presence. You gave me hope that things will get better. Hope that I could heal! Hope that I can help you." As the boy was walking away, he started reciting a poem. He didn't know how he knew the poem, but he didn't care anymore. "If the Heavens' have eyes, why have they forsaken us? If there are truly gods, why have they left us? If this life is to suffer, why should we fight? The Heavens are cruel and impartial, the gods are fake and only exist as we believe they do; Life may be full of suffering but that is why we should fight! Fight to keep these good times lasting, to make these happy memories stay, all so we can live this life without regrets!" The boy cried out as tears fell from his eyes. When he stopped crying, you could see a newfound spark in his eyes. that spark held his hatred of the heavens, and of himself. He hated the heavens for not helping his sister out, and he hated himself for being too weak to do it himself.
Aftermath: passage 4
A few months later, the boy is still feeling empty from the loss of his sister, but instead of his rage growing, he became quiet. He started to search, search for the joy in this world. He truly embarked on his Dao. He kept searching for himself, his purpose, and hope. Every time he meets someone new who he thinks can help him, he says “I'm lost. Searching for something I don't know. Searching for someone I've never met. I have found a feeling that led to more searching. Searching for something that did not exist. Searching for a place to put all my hopes and dreams. But most of all to learn how to forgive myself. How to forgive myself for being too weak, too young, too naïve.” Not a single person has been able to help him. So, he is still searching. When will his search end?
Aftermath: passage 5
Half a year later, the boy, still lost, is now sure of his Dao. He still doesn’t know the end of his path, but he knows the direction he must walk. He runs across the Pianist and sits down to listen to their music once more, the boy slowly says in a trance-like state; “Every new beginning is also an ending. The end is also a new beginning. I’ve understood that everything is part of a cycle. Be it karma, life and death, the four seasons, the beginning and the end, and so much more.” After sighing softly, he continues, “When you fall, you're bound to get back up. After you have lived in darkness for so long, light is bound to show up in your life. When all you know is sorrow, joy is the most wonderful present.” the boy starts to doze off to a tune filled with emotion, uncertainty, and Hope.
Aftermath passage 6
The boy, now waking up decided to pave his own path. one full of stuggle, and hidden scars. A path that truly ambodies himself, it'll be ever changing, for he changes by the day, be it a new scar or a bit of healing. slowly he says determinedly "Path of solitude, Path of of loneliness, A path for me. Path of beauty, Path of love, The path I want. I am the painter of my own path, For I can decide what type it is. I may not know my destination, But I know how I’ll get there." and so he walks, leaving the past behind. never forget the past, yet don't let it hold you back, keep hope for the future, but live for the present.
A/N: I have onlywrote this one passage at a time with inspiration, so this is not complete. I don't know what to categorize this as either. There is some symbolism in this, symbolism of my past put into a fiction work. Anyways, Good Timezone's my readers.