The Universal Truth (Imperial Affliction Fanfic)

Chapter 1- Born to Wither

All Rights Reserved.

This is inspired by the story Imperial Affliction on the book The Faults in Our Stars by John Green.

Chapter 1- Born to Wither

As I stare at the white petals of the Gardenia flower, I am reminded of the beauty within a life. The way it grows and blooms. There is nothing quite like it. But it is just another life. And someday, the flower will wither and die, becoming just another living organism that comes and go in the cycle of life.

Living with a heart disease, I am often reminded that humans only have a short amount of time in Earth. People get worked up over death, but in reality, everyone dies. How they die and when they die is the most scariest thing on Earth than death itself. Often a person fears that they will crash their car or get murdered. Or that they have only started at the prime of their life when the dark, cold hands of life will take them away.

But it is life. And with every life, comes death. I hope mine comes soon, so then I don't have to guess and wait everyday when the inevitable is going to happen or how. But I have a prediction.

"Annie! Come on let's go!", my mom wailed.

My mother, Cassia, has always made me do activities which she perceives as "fun". Including, watching a movie with her and my dad, Joe, at the local mall. I had no friends and I have only interacted with people a couple times, whose outside of my family. The reason is because I'm home schooled. My parents believed that I cannot go to school because I have a heart problem. Normal people would say that going to school is fine, but not in my case. My heart beats three times faster than an average human being. So, it overworks my heart which could be dangerous when you're trying to get to another class within five minutes.

Nonetheless, my parents made me do activities that was fitting with my condition, like walking around the mall or watching movies. However, being isolated is depressing. I had one friend named Michelle, who was my neighbor, but she moved away two months ago. And the other kids in my street are troublemakers, as my parents said. Therefore, I don't associate myself with them; mainly because they make fun of disabled people, such as myself.

But I'm not all alone. I have my pet hamster, Ruru. She keeps me company even though she doesn't talk. Another thing that keeps me company is books. If I ever need to escape reality, all I do is just open to a page and I'm in an entirely different world. A land where everything and anything can happen. But for now, I'm stuck with reality. And reality involves going to a movie theatre in ten minutes.

----

"Well, I thought it was gruesome.", my mom remarks in the front seat.

"Honey, it's fine. It's actually a good movie.", my dad counters.

"I'm just saying that there's a lot of killing in the movie. Annie, did you really read that book?"

"Yes, mom. Of course." I respond.

As we head home, my parents has a conversation about violent movies that they watched together. When they got to the point where they were talking about their first date, I tuned off and stared out the window. Soon, we reached the house and I headed towards my brown, wood door. Until, my mom interrupted me.

"Anna, sweetie, come here!" my mom gestured her hands for me to go to her, "These are our new neighbors!"

A couple in their early thirties stood in front of me. The man was tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes, and a beard. The lady next to him was small, and thin, with blonde hair, and green eyes. They extended their hands towards me and I shook it, first with the lady, then with the man.

"Hello, I'm Monique Palund, and this is my husband, Phill." Monique said.

We made small talks and introductions, then Monique told me that she was going to introduce me to her son, Matthew. Mrs. Palund spoke of high regards to Matthew, but I thought all moms were like that.

"He made varsity in the swim team, and he gets good grades in school You guys should hang out together. It would be really great if he's accustomed here. Matthew didn't want to move. He liked our old house because that's where all his friends are, but I told him he'll make new friends here. Anna, would you please befriend my son? Please?" Mrs. Palund begged.

Phill's face turned red, and he scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Sure, Mrs. Palund."

"Oh! The formality. Just call me Monique, Annie. After all, you'll be friends with my Matthew!" Monique shrieked. "This is going to be so fun! We're going to move in at Saturday!"

Monique launched herself at me, and gave me a huge hug. From the twenty minutes that I've known the married couple, they seemed like nice people. Especially Monique, who holds enthusiasm and joy more than anyone I have known. I hope their son is the same, but you could never judge a person based on their blood. I learned that the hard way.

All Rights Reserved. Chapter 1- Born to Wither is written by MyHiddenUniverse. Comment or vote if you liked the story.