ODE TO THE END: A YORK ANTHOLOGY

PROLOGUE

"People live all kinds of lives. So much so that there isn't a consensus on what's true and what isn't. At least not in the anecdotal sense. There's just too many variations on what people do; to themselves and to each other. What people go through, and how they deal with it is just a reflection of that. And what a person does to cope with something affects somebody else. Then they react and so forth and so on." Achim ran a hand over his large hair and wiped away the dandruff. "You asked me what it's like to live beyond this realm's wall, but the truth is I don't know. Sure. I've been there, but there's just too much going on. Too many things happening to too many people to get a proper read on it. In all honesty, I don't know what you expect me to say." Achim just shrugged, a symbol of him dropping the topic then and there.

Naomi skewered him with her narrowing eyes, while Brielle stared at the both of them as she bit down into her oversized sandwich.

Achim saw the loaded gazes of his companion and he blushed. "What," he responded. The force with which he asked the question masked his unease.

The bashful Brielle shifted in her seat as her eyes dragged to Naomi. As for Naomi; she leaned forward and accosted Achim with a question. "Why do you always do that," she asked with a terse tone.

"Do what," Achim responded.

"I ask what life is like beyond the wall and you answer with stuff like that."

"Stuff like what, Naomi," Achim fired back.

"Nonsense, Achim," Naomi shouted.

"Nonsense?! You have got to be kidding me," he said.

The trio had been hanging out in a hidden hovel in the urban depths of York. It was a place where Achim and Brielle, outsider by all accounts, could wander the walled city free of social scrutiny. They're dark features were enough to paint them as strangers to the inner city natives, but their odder characteristics, like Achim's moonlit eyes and Brielle's alligator smile, tripled the chance of an unsavory encounter.

Naomi had a fair, freckled complexion that contrasted against her companions. Thus, by most bigoted accounts, she was a true daughter of the realm too good for their likes. Even so, the sun-kissed girl had her reasons for seeking the company of outliers like Achim and Brielle. And the outsiders had their reasons for remaining in the city with her.

Their individual motivations were rather storied, but the common root between the three was their current company. Achim, Brielle, and Naomi liked one another, even if they did not always show it. The sun-kissed girl and the moon-eyed boy in particular, had an odd air about them that often kept onlookers guessing.

Indeed. The three were hanging off of the old furniture in the pits of an abandoned condo when Achim, who had been lounging on a rough but plushy sofa in all the wrong ways, pushed himself up to meet Naomi's rancor.

"Look, Naomi. Just because you're too stupid to comprehend what I said does not mean you didn't get an answer. You're just stupid," spat the dark boy.

"You're stupid," Naomi snapped back. "You're just trying to sound smart."

"I am smart, Naomi." Achim put special emphasis on the 'am'.

"No you're not, Achim. Smart people don't have to say that they're smart, or say weird, overly complicated things to make themselves look smart." Naomi's red hair flared as she voiced her heated words.

"Overly complicated?! How was that overly complicated, Naomi," Achim replied.

"It just was, Achim," Naomi responded. Her freckled face was hot with frustration, but Naomi quickly lost steam as the truth of her feelings were laid bare. She sunk into her seat, a boldly styled accent chair, and pouted with crossed arms and a flushed face. "It just feels like you're making fun of me. What's wrong with wanting to know things about you?"