The Flaw With Perfection

Chapter Fifteen: "The Flaw With Perfection"

Lou woke up to the sun shining in his eyes, but never again would he take the sun for granted, never again would he take life for granted.
He went to get ready for the day when he heard a voice calling for him, he went to the window to see who it was and to his delight it was Mandy. She wore the biggest smile Lou had ever seen. "Are you ready? Today's the big day!" She said while cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. 'The big day?' Lou thought, what did she mean. Lou tried to think for a moment then remembered and yelled back "I'll be right down!"
How could he have forgotten, today was the day he would get his own child. Since Mandy had permanently opened the portal anyone could walk through it and come back whenever they wanted...including him.
Lou's stomach churned with nerves as he put on his shirt, he looked down and saw all the wires and metal still showing from his chest and arms. Everyone said that they could easily fix him, but Lou wanted to stay this way, every time he looked at himself he was reminded of the imperfect masterpiece he was and he didn't want anyone to change that.
Lou then threw on his jacket and rushed out the door, Mandy was waiting for him when he arrived. She gave him a suspicious look and said: "so you slept in I see?" Lou didn't meet her gaze but smiled to the ground "only a little"
Mandy continued
"Today is going to be so fun for you, you're going to get your very own child"
"Though I'm not sure if any child would want a broken metal doll," Lou said good-humoredly.
They walked on to the portal, being accompanied by meaningless chatter.
As they reached their destination they saw Moxy, Ox and the others all gathered to welcome them.
"We have been waiting for you, Lou where were you?" Moxy complained, before Lou could answer Mandy cut him off
"well, someone decided to sleep in"
Mandy flashed Lou a cheeky smile and Lou only shrugged "I like my beauty sleep ok"
One moment past in silence then a moment later everyone burst into laughter. Lou enjoyed this, everyone together having fun, it had only been about a month since the incident with Lucky bat but Lou already felt like it had been this way forever.
After they had recovered from their fit of laughter Ox said: "well enough chit chat, Lou go through the portal!"
Lou's mouth went dry, he didn't know if he was ready for this, mabey he should wait another month then try again, he turned to Mandy and gave her a sheepish look but she only looked at him and said: "your ready" she then slapped him on the back, harder than what was needed. Lou stumbled forward and looked back to Mandy who was just giving her cheeky smile that he loved so much. Lou breathed in, then out, Mandys words echoed in his mind pushing him forward "your ready" he measured himself, and with that Lou was gone.
~~~
Darkness was all Lou saw, quickly followed by a bright light. Lou was being held by a young boy no older than five years old. All he could hear was the boy's excitement as he said: "Wow a cyborg doll, that's so cool!"
Lou felt relieved, he finely got his wish and he wasn't rejected.
That day was like a dream, he and his child did everything together, they had eaten lunch together, they had done chors together, and they even played a game that the boy liked to call toy wars, where the boy would choose him to verse another toy in a battle. Needless to say, Lou always won.

When it was time for bed the boy had already fallen asleep on the couch, so his parents carried him and Lou up to their room. Lou cuddled under the blankets but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't sleep. Lou then remembered he had something he needed to do before the day ended.
~~~
Lucky bat sat on a chair in the room, he had a whole shelf of books to read and cards to play solitaire with, but somehow he found himself bored. He looked out his barred window and saw the stars come out one by one. What had happened, where had he gone wrong, he didn't know, that was when he heard a knock on the door and a voice saying "can I come In?" Lucky bat didn't answer, he didn't think there was a need to, the person would come in whether he said he could or not, but to his surprise, he was sorely mistaken. The visitor just continued to knock and ask if he could come in, eventually, it became so annoying that Lucky bat gave in "fine! ok! You can come in."
The knocking then stopped and the door opened.
It was Lou.
"I'm sorry I didn't come and see you earlier, the day got pretty busy"
Lucky bat only shrugged "it's not like I care"
Lou smiled seeing the playing cards still on the desk. Without another word, Lou began to dish out the deck into three piles one drawing pile in the middle the other two consisting of seven cards each. Lucky bat looked puzzled but Lou paid that no mind
"Do you want to play go fish?" Lou said, Lucky bat thought for a moment and then remembered how bored he was, so he sat himself down and simply said: " do you have a seven of diamonds?" Lou smiled and replied "go fish"
~~~

Mandy had bean walking for half the day now, ever since Lou had left she felt lonely. For the past month, they had been spending every day together and now the thought of not seeing him every day saddened her.
Mandy sighed and was about to walk home when she heard footsteps, running footsteps, coming straight towards her. Before she could even turn around something collided with her, almost knocking her off her feet but then she felt a hand catch and steady her.
Mandy looked up and saw Lou smiling down at her "I always get even" Lous smile was so bright it could have blinded someone.
Mandy regained her balance and asked "what are you doing here, you should be with your child" Lou walked around her and said "he had fallen asleep and I had to still go see Lucky bat, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to slip away, but don't worry ill be back in the morning before he wakes up"
Mandy had been meaning to ask this for a while so she did "why did you designate yourself to be the person to visit Lucky bat every day again"
Lou stopped and looked off into the distance
Almost as if he was looking at a distant star.
"I know how he feels, to have what you think is everything one minute, then have everything was taken from you the next" Lou cleared his through "so I just thought I would be the best person to see him"
Silence filled their ears before Lou went on to change the topic
"I've finely found the flaw with perfection, it's that ultimately true perfection is unattainable and even if you strive for it your whole life, you will never truly grasp it, all it will lead you to would be unhappiness and discontentment"
Mandy gave Lou a look "how long did you take to think all that up?"
"All of last night"
They exchanged a chuckle.
Lou then saw an opportunity, he leaned in close enough to see the flexes in Mandy's eyes, raised an eyebrow and said "we have all of tonight alone together, so what do you want to do?"
Mandy crossed her arms bit her lip and smirked "well..." She said
"Your it!" She tagged him and ran off laughing like a child "oh no you didnt!"
Lou called out, he rolled up his sleeves before starting into a run to catch her.

Though she had a head start, Lou knew that he would catch her, just like she had caught him and showed him the light.

THE END.