A Franc or Two - Les Misérables [IN EDITING]

Philosophy - Chapter 24

The first portion of the walk to your "home" was extremely awkward. Neither one of you spoke up- and when you did, your conversation would flop completely. It seemed for a while that you would be content with nothing but the fact that the both of you made an effort...

However, you soon found that you had a lot more in common than you had originally suspected.

You found yourself engrossed in both an entertaining and deep conversation.

"You really did that?" you asked with a chuckle, cocking an eyebrow while feigning concern for his sanity. His childhood stories were quite interesting. "I would have never suspected that you would be the person to try stealing bread for the hell of it."

Enjolras continued to keep his gaze straight ahead as he shrugged slightly. The both of you had noticed that your quick pace had slowed to a stroll, and neither of you seemed to mind.

"It used to confused me as to why people did it," he said. He didn't acknowledge the fact that his hair and eyelashes were getting dotted with snowflakes. "I went undercover on the streets once, actually— when I was a teenager."

"Did you, now?" you asked, kicking a little bit of snow just because you felt like it. "For how long?"

"Just a day," he said, letting out a bit of a sigh. It was as if only a day was a disappointing amount of time. "It... opened my eyes, I suppose. There was a young girl I met that made me really wonder why people would live in conditions such as this- especially since she seemed so content... It was almost like she was happy, more or less- or like she was able to find joy in almost anything. It was impressive, to say the least. Not many rich people can do that."

"Well... it tends to be the happy people who die first," you said. "No happy person gets to live more than a few months out on these streets. Take me for example- I certainly wouldn't say I was the person I used to be a few years ago... hell, not even a few weeks."

Enjolras turned to you with a furrowed brow.

"Oh?" he said, tugging his coat a little closer to him. "What makes you say that?"

"It's... complicated, I suppose," you said. Your hair stood on end when a gust of wind blew right at you, and you felt goosebumps rise on your arms. "Every time something good happens, it seems as if something else comes along that's two times worse. It makes me afraid to enjoy the good moments."

The two of you walked in silence for a moment, perhaps to take a moment to think about what you had said, and you noticed the gears in Enjolras's head begin to turn.

"That's a sort of philosophical statement right there," he said. You noticed that he began to slow even further as he strolled alongside you, and you matched his pace. "Now that you say that, I feel like many people think that way- that they're afraid to enjoy life because they want it to stop hurting when things turn sour."

You gave a nod.

"Exactly," you said. There wasn't much for you to say after that, although Enjolras still seemed to be on a bit of a roll- he was still thinking.

"Someone once told me that moments of suffering make moments of bliss that much more worthwhile," he said. He finally glanced over at you. "Can you guess who might have said that?"