The Last Human

Who? (Part 3)

Section 6:

     It had been several days since I first began research for the debate, and I had learned so much. The human was a pretty hot topic in the village, and it just heated up with the knowledge rising that there was going to be a debate about whether he should stay or not. No doubt everyone was going to be there to watch!

     Being an intense planner, I began writing down on paper the bare bones of my case: starting out with mostly just little stories here and there, but rising in intensity when larger things such as the drowned and cows were brought up. I had no doubt in my mind that this debate was going to be bland! I was hoping for the complete opposite. But, still. Even with all the planning and writing I had done to prepare it all, I felt as if I was really missing out on something. I was missing out on something, but what?

     The memory of what our teacher had told us a couple days ago reminded me that I had indeed, deliberately missed a step. I needed to prepare for the other side's points. I needed to prepare myself for a rebuttal. No successful debate completely forgets about the rebuttals, hoping their initial points were good enough! But, there was a reason I had skipped that step, and I remembered it right then as well. To prepare for a rebuttal, one must guess what points the other side will make. This requires you to think about the topic from the others' point of view, which means I would have to figure out why the human should stay! I didn't want to do that! Not at all!.. However, I knew my side of the debate would be weak on the actual "battle field." And I couldn't show my face ever again if I lost to someone like Quancie!

     It was then that I realized.. I would need some help. Some outside help. I couldn't depend on myself anymore to do everything. And pffff! No! Not the other kids on my team! None of them even want to help! They will just be there in the end when I have all the points I need to make a valid statement. I needed someone older. Someone wiser. Someone who really knew the human...

     I knew where I should have gone, but my feet pulled me in the wrong direction, leading me to the villager everyone but me hated: Drake. I hopped up onto his front steps --he lived alone, and his house was on the very edge of the village, right next to the small forest -- and I knocked on his front door.

     "Come in!" I heard his voice chime, and I opened the door to see probably one of the most amazing sights known to man. What I call: skill. With his right hand, Drake was at an anvil, combining enchanting books with weapons in order to enchant them even further. With his left hand he had an enchanting table and was making all those books of enchantments. And, what really wowed me, was that with his left foot he slid in new pieces of coal, as well as sliding out newly smelted iron. He did all this facing away from me, inside his 'L' shaped house. The other end of the 'L' housed his bed, as well as a brewer on top of a crafting table, and fletching table on either side of the bed. The man sure liked to keep himself busy! "Oh! Jello, Tim!" He turned swiftly, smiling widely. I liked that he so openly took up the role of being the crazy one of the village, even purposefully messing up his own words sometimes for a good laugh.

     "Hey, Drake!" I chuckled, stepping into the small but colorful place. Looking up, I caught sight of several higher up windows, all with different colored glass, letting in rainbows of color. "Your multitasking gets better and better every time I visit!" I expressed, a big smile on my face.

     "I know, right?!" He laughed, picking up something with his un-shoed foot. It looked as if he had made a special heat preventative sock that protected it instead. "Every day, I try doing something new! It helps keep my mind busy and my heart healthy!" He said with great enthusiasm, chuckling as he juggled a few items while putting them away. I watched in awe as he messed with a few maps on his fetching table and brewing a few potions on his brewer. He wasn't necessarily an expert at any of the things he did, but that was sort of the point! He liked just being able to do, whatever! You see why he has been such an inspiration for me?