The Two Hundredth and Seventy Seventh Life-Part Four
About fourteen minutes later, she stopped. We were in the middle of a thickly wooded forest, not a drop of light coming through. It was late, so maybe it wasn’t really that thick. I shivered, staring at the girl, who had dropped me down on a log. I didn’t scramble away, like it was my destiny to stay here and listen to the crazy.
“ClockBoy,” She began. I just rolled over and emptied my innards, the whispering having turned to screaming in my head. She winced and moved away. “Alvis.”
That name stopped the screaming, the protesting of every living species. Now it was just me and her.
“I only reply to Alvis, not that other name.”
“But it’s true! You’re ClockBoy, and you’re going to die.”
I almost threw up again. “That name hurts..” I panted out.
“But you have to listen. The universe wants you to know, know that you’re ClockBoy!”
“Stop, stop, stop… stop.”
“Alvis, don’t you have dreams? You’re going to die unless you listen to me.”
I shut up. Just so that I could listen to her ramble on about something that wasn’t true, and was never going to happen. Just because I dreamed of being among the stars didn’t mean that I was ClockBoy or whatever.
“Fine.”
She sighed in relief, sitting down across from me. “Okay. Your name is-” She stopped. “That word.” She paused for a few seconds. “My name is Aura, and I’m supposed to be your best friend. Generations and generations of my family have known you, grown up with you, and now that it’s your time, I haven’t met you. The universe melts around you, and the candle’s burnt down to the end. This is your last life.”
“Life,” The voices whispered. “Sweet sweet life, so hard to get, and you get so many chances. Two seven eight. Lucky, lucky universe son.”
I screamed, pounding my hands against my head over and over. I remembered flashes of things. Basil. Some armor. Coat of arms. Forests. Fields. Apartment. Mansion. My two seven eight. My lives. The time, slipping out of my fingers like a broken hourglass, sands of time slowly falling, falling, falling until it was just the broken glass of the small, alone, hourglass. It felt so good, but so bad, because I knew once I had hit the floor with the rest of the sand, I would disappear. Disappearing seemed to be beautiful. Being a star, being part of the universe. The universe loved me, and I loved it too. I could feel its arms wrapped around me, loving me, taking care of me from behind the scenes.
But something else controlled it. Something dark, something that took two seven eight. Something that wouldn’t let me access my two hundred and seventy eight lives. What was it! Why couldn’t I see! My eyes finally showed me everything. The battle that everyone was waging for me. The darkness, banished. I had my memories. I was the most important person alive, and I was going to fight for that. My eyes opened.
“ClockBoy,” She began. I just rolled over and emptied my innards, the whispering having turned to screaming in my head. She winced and moved away. “Alvis.”
That name stopped the screaming, the protesting of every living species. Now it was just me and her.
“I only reply to Alvis, not that other name.”
“But it’s true! You’re ClockBoy, and you’re going to die.”
I almost threw up again. “That name hurts..” I panted out.
“But you have to listen. The universe wants you to know, know that you’re ClockBoy!”
“Stop, stop, stop… stop.”
“Alvis, don’t you have dreams? You’re going to die unless you listen to me.”
I shut up. Just so that I could listen to her ramble on about something that wasn’t true, and was never going to happen. Just because I dreamed of being among the stars didn’t mean that I was ClockBoy or whatever.
“Fine.”
She sighed in relief, sitting down across from me. “Okay. Your name is-” She stopped. “That word.” She paused for a few seconds. “My name is Aura, and I’m supposed to be your best friend. Generations and generations of my family have known you, grown up with you, and now that it’s your time, I haven’t met you. The universe melts around you, and the candle’s burnt down to the end. This is your last life.”
“Life,” The voices whispered. “Sweet sweet life, so hard to get, and you get so many chances. Two seven eight. Lucky, lucky universe son.”
I screamed, pounding my hands against my head over and over. I remembered flashes of things. Basil. Some armor. Coat of arms. Forests. Fields. Apartment. Mansion. My two seven eight. My lives. The time, slipping out of my fingers like a broken hourglass, sands of time slowly falling, falling, falling until it was just the broken glass of the small, alone, hourglass. It felt so good, but so bad, because I knew once I had hit the floor with the rest of the sand, I would disappear. Disappearing seemed to be beautiful. Being a star, being part of the universe. The universe loved me, and I loved it too. I could feel its arms wrapped around me, loving me, taking care of me from behind the scenes.
But something else controlled it. Something dark, something that took two seven eight. Something that wouldn’t let me access my two hundred and seventy eight lives. What was it! Why couldn’t I see! My eyes finally showed me everything. The battle that everyone was waging for me. The darkness, banished. I had my memories. I was the most important person alive, and I was going to fight for that. My eyes opened.