Lifeline

Chapter 12

"Death..." Elise began her report about the philosophy of death which she took interest in. She actually volunteered for this. She never participated in this kind of things since she hates studying, but this kind of topic would be a waste if she would not be the one to report it, she thought.

Her interest about death started when her dad died 3 years ago. She knew it was an insult for her dad but after crying for him, she had decided to accept death as the end of everything. With that in her mind, she stopped longing for her dad and moved on. It helped her carry on with her life. Even her mom and Sarah were surprised on how fast she recovered from that shock. After her dad, her uncle who was the closest to her dad, died after 6 months. Her aunt told them that their uncle fell ill because of too much sadness when their dad died. She did not even cry during the funeral because her mind was already set with the thought that death is the end of everything. What is the use of crying when you already know that you cannot bring the person back? You are just wasting your precious tears to something that is already fixed. After a year, their grandfather followed their dad and uncle. Just like their uncle, their grandfather fell ill after the death of his sons. Because of those incidents, she started believing that her family might be cursed but good thing, nobody followed after him. After those incidents, she could not stop thinking about death. But no matter how much she thinks of it, the fact that she could not see nor feel her father's presence, made her believe that death is the end of everything. With that, she could not think of anything but just be curious on how death feels like. She wanted to die, not because of problems, but because of the curiosity on what lies afterwards. It was a weird thought but that was what she always wanted.

"Death..." Elise continued, "is a fact."

Everyone was all staring at her like she was talking a complete nonsense. What did she even mean by death as a fact?

"Death is a fact because all of us will die. It is a fact because after death... is nothing." She continued on. "Death is like a dead end, nothing lies ahead. After death is nothing. Death is the end of everything. I couldn't understand why people hate or are afraid with the discussion of death because all of us will die. There is no exception. We just have to accept that the reality of death is the end."

A guy at the back raised his hand for a question. With a sigh, she called him. She was the professor of the day so she should act like one. She wasn't doing a lecture but a discussion anyways.

The guy stood. She didn't know if it was a sign of respect for her or the guy wanted to debate on what she believes in.

"May I know who the philosopher behind that belief is?" the guy asked.

With a confused face, she scanned the books she had with her and looked for the answer. In the middle of scanning, she stopped and smirked. She closed the book loudly and faced the one who questioned her.

"We are all philosophers, and that is my belief, my philosophy. Do you have any violent reaction regarding my viewpoint about death?" She asked with a challenging tone in her voice.

The guy sighed and answered. "Yes, I want to say my philosophy about your topic." He began.

All their classmates fixed their eyes and ears to the two of them. They thought that it would be a good debate between them.

"You know why people are afraid when it comes to the discussion of death?" he asked her in which she did not answer. Instead, she waited for the guy to continue what he was saying.

"They are afraid of death because of people like you who views death as the end of everything. You view death so negatively that you make people afraid of it."