Why The Sun Sets Red

Chapter 1

Mamma mia (valse) - opa tsupa

“it’s been a long day today, he adjusted the large hikers backpack on his back, walked slowly and wearily, jumped off the fence, speeded up his pace slightly while descending the sloping  marsh on the side of the river, he could see his house now from a distance, the only place he could ever call home, a small wooden shack that was once painted red but now the paint is all worn out and only slight remnants of red is present, it’s located slightly below the bridge that connects the sides of the river, its location makes it very difficult to be seen by any person walking on the road or crossing the bridge, it can only be seen if you jump off the metal fence that separates the road from the sloping marsh.
A small wooden chair is placed outside the wooden shack, it looks old but still usable and is present right in front of some wooden logs that were probably lighted the day before, and since during this time of year the level of the water lowers, some fishes are present on the shores on both sides, some already dead and some struggling to get back to the water, he stands for a moment looking at this fish in front of his foot moving with all its power from side to side desperately trying to survive, he gives out a sigh and lifts the fish up and throws it back in the river, he then goes on throwing all the living fishes back in the river and then picks up the already dead ones, puts them in a box containing ice except one, that he leaves by the wooden logs, and goes into the shack.
The interior is pretty simple as there is not much space for anything really, only a small bed extending from one wall to the other and its side is attached  to the third wall, opposite to it on the other side is a desk with pieces of paper scattered all over it and sticky notes on the wall above it ,a chair is present in front of it with a black hoodie jacket on it and above the desk  a red light torch is hanging, next to the desk there is the door to the shack and hanging on it a yellow waterproof coat, there’s a window slightly open close to the door with short yellow curtains on each side, below it placed a huge wooden box closed with a lock and placed above it three pots of plants all of which are white daisies that are blooming out of season now which is odd…
He takes off his boots before he enters and then puts his bag to the ground and opens it, he gets out of it a slightly worn out carpet and places it in the center of the room on the wooden floor and then gets back to the bag and takes out a mirror, it’s wooden frame is a mess but the mirror itself is okay, he hangs it on the wall right opposite to the window, wipes it several times with the sleeve of his black and green checkered shirt and looks at himself,
His hair has gotten longer, it’s split from the middle and longer on front (reaching slightly below his ears) and then gets gradually shorter to the back, it looks very well taken care of actually, probably the only thing about him that looks okay, the sunlight coming from the window behind him makes it look a bit reddish rather than dark brown, his deep blue eyes look tired and the dark under eye circles are expanding by the day, his skin looks as pale as ever.
:I haven’t seen that face in a while! Damn man you look ugly! What the hell happened to you?
:Nothing. That’s what happens to me, nothing is always it, but you know what? You actually look alright aren’t ya, well that’s a sight! You seem quite happy with that mirror.
:yeah I guess I am, you know, I missed actually seeing you, we talk a lot but talking to a shadow with no face is not fun, and blurry reflections on the river are pretty bad, they make me look horrible.
: oh come on! don’t say that, you always look horrible hun hun… just kidding, but still, don’t say that, I’m your reflection dude we look the same and I’m pretty confident, you should be too.
: today is my birthday…
: … really? How old are you now?
:I’m 23.
:oh… I’m sorry to hear that man.
He moves now from in front of the mirror sits on the bed and looks at the floor, staring at the worn out vibrantly coloured new (to him) carpet.
:I even got you a gift…
A sudden loud knock on the door is heard, he suddenly jumped out of bed “ when did I even sleep.., what time is it” he looks at his left arm that has no watch on it , it’s 3:48 pm so he slept for about two hours, it’s still his birthday dammit, he rubs his eyes and walks towards the door ” who is it ?” he screams so that his voice can be heard across the thick wooden door, “it’s me son, I’m jade … today is your birthday.. I came to pay my condolences…” he stood in front of the door for a while silently while his eyes looked like they were tearing up, but they really weren’t, he opens the door for jade to come in.
Jade is an old woman in her seventies she had been looking after Nate ever since he came to existence.
She has grey hair that is usually covered with pale blue scarf, her eyes are grey, her skin is pale grey, she is basically all grey but in a beautiful way, if kindness was a person it would be her, she was the only family Nate had… I guess.
She walks slowly into the room with a box in one hand and a walking stick in the other till she reaches the desk, she places the box on it and sits on the chair and looks around,
Jade: I see you made changes in the room, you are becoming more and more adapted to your existence now, I’m not sure if I should be happy or not to be honest son.
Nate: I don’t know either, I’m still very confused and have no idea what’s going on.
She looks at his face carefully as if she’s trying to read his expressions, but they’re still as empty as ever.
Jade: I am not happy with the way you look though.. you look dead kid! (she laughs slightly trying to lighten up the situation, it didn’t work)
Nate: (Still with the same expression but now looking at the white daisies) don’t worry about me I’m not dead… and I never will for a while now, you see you have to be alive first to die.
A breeze of slightly cold wind goes through the opened window and the white daisies sway gently from side to side as if they’re enjoying the wind, Nate smiled at the sight and Jade smiled at the smiling Nate sight.
Jade now looks kind of relieved she takes a deep breath in and looks to the other side and suddenly her eyes lock on the mirror.
Jade: … you .. got a mirror?
Nate: Yeah.. you can’t get facial expressions out of shadows you know.. it’s much better this way.
Jade: (looking concerned now) well he sure will be happy now!! Are you sure about this decision? You know I don’t like him and I was against his existence from the beginning and now you are accentuating his existence!!
Nate: he exists anyway, there’s no point denying it… I’d rather talk to him face to face than to just ignore his voice…
They remain silent for a moment jade still looking at his face and staring to his eyes with determination, while he looks back at her right in the eyes proving that it doesn’t matter anymore, and then he looks aside breaking the silence..
Nate: Plus, his opinions are sometimes useful, he has a point you know.
Jade: I can’t believe this! Since when was this the case (she raises from her chair), I understand your situation but this will only make a mess out of you !!
Nate: Am I not, jade?
He now directs his eyes towards her, he knows the answer to that question but he wants to hear it from her, he is sitting on the bed opposite her lifting his eyes up to look at her standing in front of him holding with both hands her walking stick and looking obviously angry.
Jade: … I will not interfere, as I always did ever since I found you, do whatever you want to your existence, it’s all yours !!
She now walks towards the door, she is trying to walk fast but her legs won’t let her, till she gets out and slams the door behind her, which was not slammed as hard as she wanted to, but her arms failed her as well.
She stood outside his door and cried a little, she quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeves and walked on.
Inside the shack, Nate was holding the yellow curtains and looking carefully through the window, he felt bad for jade, but there was nothing to do, he walked to his desk where jade had left the box in her hands.
He opened it carefully and inside it was a note that said,
“so many existences has depended on yours, you just don’t realize it.”
And the gift in the box was a red watering can with white daisies painted on it, she clearly painted those daisies on, that’s what he thought.
A voice broke the silence.
: she didn’t seem happy about me.
Nate: (walks now to the mirror and sarcastically says) You don’t say? of course she isn’t!, but please don’t be offended you know she has never been a fan of you.
: she’s weak.
Nate: she’s kind.