Catharsis II: An Army of Words (AUDITIONS)

Applicant #66: The Fruit Fly

The river creates a sound that's pleasant to Thalia's ears. Below the bridge she's about to cross, she expected wild-flowing water that slaps the protruding rocks, creating a symphony that's much better than the harmony of firing guns and screeching sound of spiraling missiles. But the river is calm. And honestly, she thinks it's much better.

It doesn't look like the new laundry machine, not even close to a sewer and a dumping ground. The submerged pebbles added more beatitude in the hues reflecting underneath- a thing that will make anyone cup their hands and take a draft of the cool water. Suddenly, the pain she's been dealing with for as long as she can remember is gradually fading out, like the outro of her favorite lullaby.

Everything is undeniably tranquil and ethereal, but she can barely hear the cries, plead, and prayers of those she's going to leave behind. At first, she's to hesitant to be a coward and just walk away, leaving everyone, letting them suffer. But as her dad told her, "I want you to know it's okay, sweetheart. It's okay if you leave Papa and Mama behind. It's okay if you choose to walk away from Little Bob, or even from your favorite Uncle Marx."

Tears escape her eyes and it feels eccentric. She knows she won't leave them if she can. But all the pain shooting her every night, and all the piercing cries of missiles knocking inside her head is too much to handle. She's seventeen and valiant, but just thinking about how long she's still going to fight in a war she has no chance of winning, the seam of hope she has falters.

For the first time in her trek- and maybe the last, she looks back and gazes in the vast sky. She thinks if life is full of metaphor, then she is a fruit fly. She's an insect with short-lived life, lost in the battlefield called cancer. She's not a coward for letting go. Rather, she's an audacious fighter, boldly accepting the fact that there are things that somehow, cannot be.

As she takes on the bridge extending from the presence of pain through the absence of conflict, her shoulders once firm from clutching the sheets of the hospital bed drop back to normal. Her breathing becomes calm as she feels alive again. Her hair slowly cascades like the curtains of the waterfall, and a smile graces her lips.

"Thalia!" Series of different cries fills the corners of the room where Thalia now peacefully lies.

The beeping sound from her heart monitor with the once jumping lines now transitioned into a fine one. Her war is over. And like everyone else that once fought with all the brave inside them, she's a fallen that will never be forgotten.