The Boy of Sixteen Years

The boy plopped down onto the ground, attempting to hold back the tears filled with anger, guilt, and despair. He hated himself. All he wanted to do was to claw at his chest, pulling off bits and pieces until it was flat, to grab at his scalp and yank his long hair out in chunks, to cut and reshape his body to what he believed a boy should look like.

His tears threatened to spill over the more and more he thought. He ran away to a place that was supposed to be accepting, a place where people would see him as the boy he was. But it was a lie. Now, he was homeless, hungry, and without a family to look after him. Everything he did to try and make his life easier backfired. Everything he tried to make his life better only made it worse.

The sudden sound of approaching footsteps behind him caused him to jump to his feet in fear. He felt a wave of astonishment and wonder wash over him. Before his eyes, stood a woman who looked like a goddess. She towered over the boy's small frame, her head almost reaching the clouds, her face was tear stained and her skin was extremely pale, her eyes had no pupils and were completely white. A comforting aura filled with motherly love radiated off the woman. She crouched down in front of the boy and began to speak.

"Why do you hate yourself? Why do you dislike my creation?" She started, her tears beginning to fall again. The boy found himself unsure of what to do. He wanted to speak, to comfort the woman, but he didn't know how.

"I hear your thoughts, I hear your internal pleas. I made you perfect, my son. I made you so perfect yet you wish to change yourself. Why?" The woman gently scooped the boy up into her hand, raising him up so he could see her distressed face. "I have a plan for you. Now, you are but a youth of 16 years. You may be different from your peers but that is only temporary. I have a plan. In your adulthood, you will become the greatest man anyone has ever seen. You will be magnificent while the others will remain that of ignorant boys."

The woman paused to gently tap the boy's head. To his amazement, his long hair changed to one of a short, fluffy haircut, just like that of the boys in his class. Seeing the immense joy radiate off the boy, the woman smiled through her tears and continued.

"I have made you this way to prepare you for the wonderful life you have ahead. If one were to never suffer, to never have any pain, they would be unable to enjoy the good. I love you, my son, and I do not wish to see you suffer. I promise your struggle will not be in vain. You will help others in their lives, you will have a wonderful partner, you will do amazing things. The only requirement is that you do not end my plan early, for, though it may not seem so, your story has just begun, my dear son."

The woman placed the boy back down on the ground, fading away into nothingness before his very eyes. It wasn't until the lady had gone that the boy finally realized he was crying. However, this time it was different. They were not the pain filled tears he was used to, they were filled with joy and anticipation. With a newfound motivation in life, the boy smiled brightly and scrambled off towards the bus station. He was heading home to await his perfect destiny.