Not From Around Here

Six Heart Event

It was around sunset when Cosmo entered the Cindersap forest. She had gotten a letter in her mailbox from someone claiming to sell hats. She wanted to see these hats, so she ventured into the woods. The clouds were getting darker and more ominous as she traversed the trails. Finally, it began to rain, and she was caught out in it. She didn't mind the rain too much. She found it to be quite relaxing, even without an umbrella.

Just as she was about to give up on finding this hat salesman she came across the cliffs. That's when she saw him. It was Shane...he was laying on the ground at the very edge...surrounded by empty beer cans. Cosmo's eyes widened and she gasped. He was unmoving and it scared her.

She rushed over to him as quick as she could, quickly kneeling by his side.

"Shane! Shane, wake up!" She cried. Tears were already forming in her eyes from seeing him in this state, but the rain did well to hide it. He would stir much to her relief...relief that was short lived.

"Cosmo..." He said her name. She could tell by the sound of his voice he was completely wasted...she didn't even need to count the beer cans.

"Shane..." She said his name back to him. He let out a soft sob.

"I...I'm sorry..." He hiccuped.

"What is wrong, Shane? Why are you laying out here in the rain?" She asked him, desperate for answers. He sniffled in response and spoke in a broken voice.

"M-My life...It's a pathetic joke." He said, defeated. "Just look at me..."

"I am looking at you Shane. I am looking." She looked him over thinking that he meant that as a command.

"Why do I even try...?" He sobbed. Cosmo couldn't help herself, she had to lay her hands on him wanting to provide some sort of comfort. She gently placed her hand on the side of his face and brushed his hair away from his eyes before letting it rest there. He didn't flinch away this time.

"Because that is human nature. Humans try...they keep pushing forward." Cosmo responded to his rhetorical question. Shane looked up at her. More of that 'humans' talk...she really believed she wasn't human...

"Not me...I'm too small and stupid to take control of my life...I'm just a piece of soiled garbage flittering in the wind." He cried before letting out a rather unflattering sounding burp from all the alcohol he'd consumed. Cosmo didn't comment on it though, she just kept petting his head and hair comfortingly.

"You are not stupid or garbage..." Cosmo began to cry too. This only served to make him feel worse for making her cry. "Come on...let me get you out of the rain." She insisted, trying to help him sit up. He refused though. He just stared at the cliff.

"I've been coming here often lately...looking down. Here's a chance to finally take control of my life...these cliffs." He muttered ominously. Cosmo got a very serious expression on her face.

"What are you saying?" She looked at the cliff's edge with him. She knew what he was saying but she didn't want to believe it.

"Cosmo, all I do is work, sleep, and drink....t-to dull the feelings of self-hatred." He explained to her his reasoning. "Why should I even go on? Tell me...t-tell me why I shouldn't roll off this cliff right now..." He looked up at her once more for her answer.

"B-Because there's so much to live for! Life is beautiful, I promise! We can make a change, I'll help you!" she insisted. She clearly picked the wrong thing to say though because he'd scoff at her.

"Maybe to you, but not to me...It's too late for change...you'd never understand." He wept. Her brow furrowed and she went to try and pick him up from the ground to physically drag him away from the cliff side. He resisted though, pulling himself towards it. She stepped around him, putting herself in between him and the ledge in an attempt to stop him but he kept fighting with her to get out of her grasp. Shane knew he was too scared to jump...but he still resisted her trying to pick him up...