Seen

chapter nine

You hold your gaze to your right. You don't notice, but the both of you stopped walking a minute ago. "Hiro," you call. He slowly lifts his head. "Look at those children running freely around the grass field."

He do what he is told and looks to the right. Hiro sees children playing tag and shouting names or phrases like, "You can't catch me!"

"I miss childhood," He admits. Although he's already 16 after his birthday, he still misses his childhood.

You nod. "Yeah, me too." You started walking again. "Of course who in the world would not miss childhood?"

Him being a teen prodigy, Hiro knows that it's a rhetorical question. "Why did you suddenly recall childhood?" He asks finally.

You sigh. "It just fascinates me that we, people, undergo childhood without realizing that it's the best time of our lives. It's like being blind to the truth."

"That's right. Instead, children want to be older without realizing it's gonna be a stressful time in their lives."

"Yup. And if you include school and Math, I don't know... extremely fatiguing, perhaps?" You chuckle. "Hiro, are you familiar with Einstein's Theory of Relativity?" You ask.

Hiro answers instantly. "Yeah. I heard it sometimes when my brother's stressing over Physics homework, but I know it."

You laugh. "Bro can't handle the complexities of spacetime, huh?" You say. You continue, "The theory states that it's virtually possible to travel back in time; to go to the past. Although, there are many ways... it makes me feel hopeless."

"Why do you wanna go back in time?"

"Childhood." you answer plainly. "I wish I could relive and feel its essence once more. The universe is so huge and yet our powerful minds, trying to comprehend what truly is, are so small. It feels... it feels..." you try but you can't seem to find the right word.

"It feels mind blowing?" Hiro says.

You light up. "Yes! Kind of, I don't know. I can't find the right word." You pause. "Just think about it for a minute, Hiro. What is reality? What if the whole world is just a stimulation? What is life?"

Hiro stays silent as you continue to ramble on.

"Am I real? If so, who am I? What makes me 'me'? What is perfection? What is beauty? How does one know if someone's beautiful? Are there standards, some rules? Is something or someone even beautiful?"

Hiro takes this chance to talk. "Yes, there is,"

"There is what?" You look at him.

"Someone beautiful."

"Who?"

He stops walking, making you to stop too. "You." 

Your smile widens after the long talk. You chuckle for a while. "You little nasty, Hiro." You pinch his nose.

Hiro cups his pinched nose. "Ouch! Curse youuu~!" He playfully shouts.

You proudly put your hands on your hips in a silly manner. "Of course I'm beautiful! Just kidding," you put them down as you shrug. "I mean who knows?"