The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 3

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"You can't run from your shadow. But you can invite it to dance."

Tanya Geisler

Perched atop the concrete bench, he sat, his gaze intently fixed upon the gravestone a few feet before him. The field was silent—only the wind whistled its forlorn chant, and every so often, a raven croaked in the distance.

Garfield had forgotten how tranquil the ambiance of the graveyard made him feel. It was as if the world stopped every time, just to give him a moment to cope with the somber emotions buried in the trenches of his heart. The emotions he'd rarely display. Though he wore his heart on his sleeve, as many people told him, Garfield made sure that part of him—the beast hiding within his shadow—remained entrapped inside his mind.

"I met a girl a few weeks ago..." he started, pretending for a moment that his mother was sitting in front of him listening intently like she always used to do. "We met in an elevator," he chuckled to himself. "She has quite a temper, really. We were stuck in there for almost an hour, and she absolutely seemed to hate my guts. I don't know... There was something about her. I can't really pinpoint it but... I was drawn to her somehow. You could call me crazy," he smirked, knowing his mother would be heckling him about it yet also going on about love at first sight and destiny. Though Garfield didn't fully believe in that stuff, it always made him happy watching his mother's eyes sparkle to life as she spoke. "It's weird. I have this sort of attraction to her. I kind of want to see her again, but the only thing I know about her is her name... Raven."

He waited, wishing to gain some sort of sign like those stereotypical scenes in movies where the protagonist had a big moment of realization that set up the resolution of the movie. Alas, nothing happened.

Garfield chuckled again, but there was no humor in it, "Of course, you can't really give me any advice, can you?"

No response.

"... I really wish you were here. You have no idea how much I miss you."

He sighed before standing up. He approached the gravestone carefully. His hands grasped the stem of the Cardinals (her favorites) tightly, not wanting to let go. He leaned down and laid them in front of the stone reading 'Rita Farr, Loving Mother and Wife.'

Then, he buried his hands inside his pockets and strolled away. He made one more stop before he left, placing a red rose gently in front of his ex-girlfriend's gravestone. "You don't really deserve this, Tara... But even after everything you did, I really can't help still loving you," he whispered.

Garfield headed out of the graveyard, his eyes fixated on the shadow of his silhouette in front of him as he walked. He couldn't help but wondering what life would've looked like if he'd never gotten so close to that ape on that day twenty years ago. Would his biological parents still be alive? Surely, they would have returned home that year, ready to celebrate their successful business trip. They would've spent Christmas together, stuffing themselves with turkey and cookies like they always did, waking up really early that morning to walk to the park together, their hands tightly locked to each other as they readied themselves to watch the sunrise.

He would've never been taken in by that tribal king. He would've never gotten so close to dying that day one of his parent's nemesis ordered his minions to assassinate him, a poor defenseless six-year-old. Would've never gotten taken in by his parent's coworker who constantly pushed him around and treated him like shit, all simply to obtain his parents' inheritance.

But then again, he also wouldn't have gotten adopted by Rita and Steve. He would've never spent those precious Christmas nights with the Doom Patrol, celebrating their recent laboratory research publications. He would've never met his high school sweetheart, Tara, who provided him with the kind of affection he'd always craved for and also acted like the best friend he'd never had. But she wouldn't have betrayed him by hiding her illegal activities behind his back and sleeping with the fucked-up man that gave her the job.