AMACon 3: Oikos Omnibus

Finito

Maine wonders where he is; it’s been days ever since.

She has never felt the need to look for someone; never felt the need to jump into a routine; never felt this way her entire existence, until now. She continues to sit and bask herself in the sun like before but weirdly enough it seems that her world suddenly shifted; that what she normally does ever since is now foreign to her. She never really understood everyone’s need to co-exist before; never really understood dependence, until now.

A twig crunches and her face lights up, something she has never done before. She looks at the new arrival and sees him empty, someone he never was.

He sits on the grass as she approaches him. “Is there anything wrong?” She says.

He looks at her, his eyes a reflection of what she is “Maine, do you think…do you think that all will be right in this world if I don’t exist?”

She looks at him and smiles, an emotion foreign to her “You should not feel like a burden to this world, RJ. You should not bury yourself in the past. Your existence made mine livelier, isn’t that enough reason to stay?”

He looks at her, awe seeping through. He looks at her and finally acknowledges that maybe it was time to move on, maybe it was time to forgive himself.

For the first time in days, he smiles as they once again sit in silence.

Everyone notices how his face lights up, of how she spends more than her morning routine in town; of how they walk together in peace. Everyone notices how Maine seems to have this foreign softness in her eyes; of how RJ smiles like before.

Everyone notices.

He looks at her that night, his heart undeniably content; something which he hasn’t felt in a long time. He looks at her: she, with softness in her eyes he doesn’t see often as her hair dances in the wind. She looks back at him and sees him for what he is: someone who is light as air, someone who used to drown himself into oblivion but now is free. He takes her hand in his and feels tranquility for the first time in years.

“You don’t have the right to be happy.”

They both look at the sound of the voice and see his former friend looking at him with rage.

“Dave…”

“You don’t have the right to move on. You knew how much I waited for that day, how happy I was when my parents…my parents who didn’t have time for me, wanted to celebrate my birthday.”

“Dave, I-“

“You don’t know what it felt like for me: how I waited and waited for their car to arrive; looking through the window in a moonless night, waiting and hoping they’d arrive only to be seeing sirens in a distance; only to find out that they are gone forever.”

“I lost my parents too!”

“If you didn’t selfishly bother your father while he was driving, then he wouldn’t get into an accident slamming his car, killing them all. Yet, you survived.” Dave laughs, a bitter one. “The cause of it all, survives”

“I explained and apologized all those years ago, I even said sorry a few nights ago. What the hell do you want more from me?”

He looks at RJ, rage in his eyes “Your existence is an eyesore” He pulls up a gun to their surprise. RJ shields Maine who finally experiences fear for the first time. “You don’t deserve to live. You should’ve died a long time ago.” He says and pulls the trigger.

There are moments one could wish they could take back; memories that makes one wish it never happened and this is one of them as three figures stood in the meadow that night all of them shock evident as RJ plunges to the ground. Dave instantly drops the gun and runs into the night while Maine’s hands shook as she subtly touches RJ wound.

“RJ, you need to…”

He smiles at her and touches his chest, blood gushing out “Thank you, Maine. Thank you for teaching me how to live even for a while; for being my shelter in the storm.” He takes her hand and smiles as he sees the first tear from her eyes “See? You don’t need the rain for you to feel.” He lays a hand on her heart. “You just need your heart to start.”

Maine touches her cheeks and feels the tears pouring down, something so foreign yet bittersweet at the same time. She looks at him and shakes her head. “RJ, please….please.”

He smiles at her and looks at the star-filled sky. “Maine, live; not for me but for yourself.” He looks at her and smiles “Live like you are supposed to; feel like you should.” He says as darkness looms over him in a slumber of his passing.

****

It has always been the same.

In this quaint little town nestled between the vast landscape of hundred year old trees and a meadow surrounded by a variety of wildflowers; where a picturesque view with an array of cottages come in sight.

It has always been this way…yet it was different.

“Where are you going Maria?” Christine says and she looks back at her mom who was busily working at what used to be Gramma Rosa’s bread shop of long ago.

A lot has changed yet stayed the same since that night. Gramma Rosa passed on, leaving both her and her mother the sole owner of her beloved bread shop. Mornings were still the same in their small town, everyone was buzzing about like always, or she was just hoping that the town would heal from the tragedy that happened all those years ago when Dave was found dead by suicide the day after RJ passed on.

“Mom, could you look after Jay for a while? I’m going to visit her.” Maria says to her Mom who gladly took her son from her.

Christine looks at her daughter and caresses her grandson. “How is she?”

“The same, as always” Maria says as she continues on to a place she knows so well.

Walking through town was like walking through memories that happened all those years ago where all the pain and laughter were like whispers of yesterday that echo throughout. Sunsets were still the same; golden hues dancing amongst red and orange. She walks the familiar path to the edge of town like all the years in between.

For Maine.

Maine changed ever since that night. She started walking through town while smiling at townsfolk where she’s always seen staring at the sunset with certain softness in her eyes.

“Maine? Maine?” Maria says as she looks for her friend of so many years. Her cottage is unusually empty with the last delivery still on her table; a cup of fresh coffee lay untouched. She walks through the meadow at the back, a place where everything changed for all of them.

“Maine? MAINE!”

Maria finds her sprawled along the grass, caressing his gravestone as her hand slowly withers to the ground.

“Maine!” she runs to her and gets taken aback by what she sees.
For there she was, the girl who was once devoid of any emotion; someone who has never shed a tear for anyone, looking at the sky in content with tears staining her cheeks while she succumbs to an eternal slumber as echoes of Maria’s cry fills her ears.

You were right, RJ. I lived as I was supposed to, and it felt….nice.

T H E    E N D