Life - haobin

9

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"What do you think is under there?" Hao asked curiously, staring at a small lake that he and Hanbin had found a day back. It was dark already, so there was no light whatsoever in which the boy could peer at the depths of the lake. They sat over it on a tree trunk, their feet right above the calm water

Hanbin looked up from his drawing and looked down

"Rocks" he answered. Hao peered over at him, an eyebrow raised

"How can you be so sure?" he asked

"It's obvious. What else would there be if it isn't rocks?" Hanbin rationally asked back, looking back at Hao, even though he could barely see him due to the lack of light from the moonlight. Hao shrugged

"Anything. Have imagination, Hanbin. Other than rocks, what else?"

Hanbin sighed, closing his painting notebook and throwing it to the floor, hoping that it wouldn't fall into the water. As he saw it fall onto the secure ground, he looked back at Hao before looking at the lake

"An aura of darkness and pain that doesn't leave until light strikes upon it," he takes a deep breath as he thinks "something so shallow and deep that one can not leave if they fall inside. Something alluring, enchanting, yet horrible"

"Like a siren?" Hao questions

"Like a siren, only it isn't a creature. It's the water itself. It maybe holds so many stories, leaks and leaks of pain and misery, so harsh that you drown and can never come back"

"Like a person? Once you're too far into the pain, it's difficult to leave?" Hao asked, and Hanbin nodded, a small smile lying on his lips

"Like a person. Exactly like a person"

"And would a person like that ever be able to come back?"

Hanbin thought about Hao's question, brain wracking for an answer. Too far in pain, and everything seems too difficult... almost impossible to leave the dark hole of despair

"If they have a little bit of hope left in them, barely. If they have none, no. They will be gone. Say, if a person doesn't know how to swim, and they fall into the lake of pain, they will drown. Maybe, by a miracle, they will be able to swim up through hope. But no, miracles barely happen" he finally answered

A silence ensued, Hao nodding to Hanbin's words, thinking them through. He looked down at the lake beneath him and frowned

"You're quite optimistic," Hao stated, and Hanbin chuckled. He looked down at the lake, and for a moment when the moon showed itself through the clouds and the light fell onto the water, Hanbin saw him and Hao looking down at the lake of pain and despair.