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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵: 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴
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𝐥𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐚
One Week Later
EVERYTHING SEEMS SO WRONG. There is laughter, but it is forced, and so are the smiles. Everyone is trying to move on, but they're all failing. He had such a profound effect on our lives that, now that he is not in them, our lives are now meaningless. There is nothing that can make us all forget what an amazing person he was, and what he had done for all of us.
We can't even say his name.
Names are something that give a person a part of their identity. Derek told me something Jennifer had said about names before she was killed. She said that "people always pick aliases that are subconsciously derivative of their original name. It's a way of not completely letting go of your identity, since your name is so tied to your sense of self." In a way, she had it right, but she didn't have it all.
A name is something that keeps you the same person you have always been. You never forget your name, but you can forget many other things. Some research suggests that names can influence many things in our lives - our profession, where we live, who we marry, the grades we earn in school, whether we are accepted into schools or are hired for a job, and our quality of work. Our names can even say if we will give money to those who need it. Most of the apparent influence of names on behaviour and who we become has been attributed to what is known as the 'implicit-egotism effect'. That is, we are generally drawn or gravitated towards things and people that most resemble who we are. This is due to us valuing and identifying with our own names, and initials. We prefer things that have something in common with things such as these.
The pups start to make small barking sounds and a smile works its way onto my face. This is the only time my smiles aren't forced - when I am around my pups and Derek. The pups, they give me hope of a new life where I am not haunted by the memories of the one that I lost; a life where I can look back on the memories and smile without wanting to cry for days on end. Derek is the same. Although, he won't admit it.
"He won't admit what?" a voice asks, echoing throughout the nursery. "He won't admit that he has emotions? We all know that."
My eyes fly around the room, my hand wrapping around the closest thing to me. "Who's there?"
