The Art of Grief: Dream Angst Oneshots

Mistakes

"Now then, how about you list every single mistakes that you've ever made?" The blond boy asked, no emotion other than a hint of anger on his face. "Let's start with the worst one."

"...A mistake, huh?" The man replied, smiling. "Heh."

"Wh-what's so funny?" The boy grew nervous at the man's actions. What is he thinking?

"Well, let's see here. You've given me quite the difficult task, haven't you? How could any of that have ever been a mistake?" The man answered, looking up at the one facing him. The boy could see that his eyes were not ones with light in their depths.

"Through all of our history, all the smiles, all the tears, all the fighting, arguments, and war. The friendships, and right after, the betrayals. All of the happiness, love, joy, sadness, anger, greed, hatred, and surprise, those pure, raw emotions! Don't they all have a reason? For their existence? Their coming and passing?" 

The man looked down at his hands, examining every bruise, cut, and scar. The boy watched on silently, without a whisper.

"This server, my server, has seen many things through its existence." He paused, reminiscing the past. "It has been both a paradise and a hellscape, a land representing freedom and suppression, a world for everyone yet every one. The people, they've enjoyed friendships and shared ideals with one another and yet, betray their partners left and right. They shout, hit, shoot, burn, manipulate, abuse, hunt, torture, and run wild, not ever thinking about what their words and actions can do to another man."

The boy frowned at this statement and shouted, "You mean yourself, don't you!" He huffed as he stared down at the man, feeling a sliver of triumph.

"Myself? Well, perhaps I played a part too. But no, this isn't about me. It's about everyone and how they have lived and survived." The man replied, nonchalantly moving on from the boy's outburst.

"Think, no matter what one has done, no matter what they have experienced, is it not still what made them who they are now? Has all that pleasure and anguish not build them up to their current positions?" The boy stayed quiet, knowing that what the man speaks is the truth. 

Wouldn't he know best?

"Everything they've done, all the structures they've built, the days they've lived and the times they've not. Isn't it all just a process?"

The man exhaled, looking at the obsidian and dried blood beneath his feet. He imagined that they were fresh grass and daisies instead. 

"All of this, was just a process. And how could such a thing ever be labeled as a mistake? If it was all just a mishap, then what about their suffering? Their memories of love and loathing and sadness and anger? What happened to their nightmares? Their sins? Is everything just forgiven because it was 'a mistake'?" He closed his eyes.

"All this time, we've learned to love and laugh and live." He inhaled. "But we've also learned to hate and cry and eventually, die."

He thought of those no longer here. Wasn't it a shame that they were the cost of another's bliss yet receive no reward themselves? How ironic it is for the place called the Dream SMP to be a place where people can't ever complete their dreams. What a farce.

"Perhaps, the only mistake I've ever made... was starting everything, letting this land flourish and now, perish, at all. Ultimately, only a beginning can be wrong." The man looked up again.

The boy continued to stare back down at those dead, dead eyes. Anyone could tell that he's faced a lot, evidently more than any man of his age should. The same could be said for the boy.

"And whatever was wrong, Tommy, can only be seen at the end."

[End]