BLUFF [AIB]

Stage One: VI

[Started: 12/26/2022]
[Ended: 12/27/2022]
[Song: Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu.]

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Alice In Borderlands
BLUFF
STAGE ONE: Rubatosis
"The unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat."

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Chapter Six
"Why do you keep living?"
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     Y/n wasn't always so odious. Over the years she grew more and more reserved. Began to resent and despise people. She didn't know why or she didn't want to admit why. The truth was it could all be traced back to her childhood.
    One particular event she remembered. She was six years old and had to be taken to the ER by her neighbor. She had poured boiling hot water on herself trying to cook something. She hadn't eaten in two days.
    Her father was arrested for child neglect and endangerment. But he had an amazing lawyer and got out of it. Y/n didn't know how to feel about the whole thing. She didn't think foster care would have been any better.
    So from a young age, she was forced to be mature and independent. It made her grow apart from other kids her age. She just became so detached from them to the point she didn't want to be around them. She didn't want to be around anyone.
     The sun began to rise as Y/n sat on the beach. She had cleaned herself of all the blood and was now relaxing waiting on Old man to come back. As usual, she didn't hear his footsteps behind her and his shadow looming over her is what made her turn around. In his arms were two surfboards.
     "You know how?" He asked.
    She chuckled standing up to take one of them. "I'm assuming you're going to teach me."
"That I am." He began marching off into the ocean. "Keep up."
    She smiled and ran after him.
    They paddled out to open water where they stopped to wait for a wave. Old man demonstrated with his hands what she should do. Thinking she had it in the bag Y/n caught the next wave. As soon as she tried to stand she whipped out and rose to the surface coughing up salt water.
    Old man was laughing hysterically. "Well done kid. You really got it down!"
     'Dick.'
     "Okay, just explain it to me again."
     So she tried again and again and again and again. At some point, she did manage to pick up on it. She wasn't half as good as the old man but she found some joy in it. For the first time in a long time, she left happy. A smile never left her face and she laughed every time she fell.
     Y/n didn't catch it but Old man watched her with a faint feeling of pride and contentment. By now he knew what kind of person Y/n was and it was nowhere near being happy. To see her use so many expressions almost scared him at first. But for her to keep a smile it was like Christmas to him. He had grown to care about her like he would a daughter. He just wished he could have given his own the same.
     The whole day went by and they surfed the entire time. When night came they prepared a campfire on the beach and made a large amount of fish. With her stomach full of sashimi Y/n looked up at the night sky.
    "Last lesson." The old man suddenly said.
    Y/n sat up looking past the fire at him. "Is it gonna be an easy one?"
    He shook his head. "This is the hardest one yet."
    She sighed. "Lay it on me."
    "Why do you keep living?"
    She had never thought about it before. Her body wouldn't allow herself to just die, no matter how hard she tried, perhaps that was why?
    "I don't understand." She frowned.
    "You don't seem to have liked your old life. So why do you try to get back to it? Wouldn't it be easier to die?" He replied.
    "Yes..." she trailed off. "I guess I keep going because it's what I always do."
    "What a miserable existence." He commented. "You can't go through life like that."
    She glared at him. "Then how should I?"
    "Happiness. You should find happiness. There is always another path. You can find it if you search. When you do that's when life will be worth living." He explained.
    She crossed her arms. "Then what makes you happy."
    "My boat. My freedom. The ocean."
    She looked out at the deep blue. "Yeah, that stuff makes me happy too."
    "When something or someone makes you happy. You have to take a chance on it. Or else what are you doing with yourself".
    She nodded. "Your starting to make some sense old man."
    He looked out at the ocean. "The pursuit of happiness is a long and hard one but it's worth it in the end."
It was quiet for a moment. Then something glowing appeared in the water. Y/n stood up and walked to where the water touched the sand letting the waves roll over her feet. Farther out more glowing things appeared until they were running up and down the beach.
Old man joined her a few feet back. He sat on the dry sand admiring the view.
"Jellyfish," Y/n muttered.
The large group of jellies Slowly moved down the shore. The two stayed there just watching them for a long time. The very sight of the creatures made Y/n feel calm and content. She wanted to feel this way forever.
"Can you teach me how to be happy?"
Old man chuckled. "Someone might be able to but I can't. Happiness is something you discover on your own."
Her figure deflated. "Back home, I feel like peeling my skin off almost all the time. But I rarely feel that way being here. Maybe this upside-down world is what makes me happy?"
He shook his head at her. "This place will not make you happy in the long run. What you dislike is people but tell me....if I hadn't been here today how would you feel right now?"
She closed her eyes thinking hard about his question. Soon she had an answer. It's what she usually felt when she was alone. "I'd feel empty."
"Not everyone in the world is going to annoy you, so give them a chance. You may find yourself caring about them." He told her.
"I care about you." She turned around looking down at the sand. "And I want to thank you. You've been more of a father to me these past weeks than my father has my entire life. I'm sad you can't give the same to your own daughter but I'm grateful for this experience."
A smile melancholy smile came to the old man's face. "Thanks, grasshopper."
'Grasshopper?' She tilted her head at the nickname.
He looked at her in disappointment and disbelief. "What? You've never seen Karate Kid?"
She shook her head no.
"You uncultured brat."

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