Born to Die

Chapter Eight

We arrived at Kim Blake's house minutes later and I was still dumbfounded by the remarkable beauty of the houses we passed. Hers was no exception. It had perfectly trimmed hedges in the front yard, contoured by the most extraordinary white rose bushes I had ever seen, aligned directly in front of each window at the front of the house. The grass was the most beautiful shade of green and divided into two large square patches, along the gate, each of which contained a palm tree in the middle and in one long strip in front of the house, where the rose bushes grew. There was a water fountain in the center of the driveway, but it was not water that gushed from the tiny hole, but diamonds. "How is that even possible?" I asked, enchanted. "This place is magical. Quite literally." Jenny replied. "You sure I'm the one who needs a shrink?" She chuckled a perfect chuckle, and replied "you'll come to see the truth soon enough." Then she knocked on the shiny black door with the crystal knocker.

The door knob, also crystal turned almost instantly. And out stepped a girl with jade green eyes and dead straight silky black hair. Following her was the most innocent looking puppy I'd ever layed eyes on. He had long, soft white fur and the cutest big black eyes. He was a bundle of energy at her heels, jumping and barking for attention. I was starting to think that maybe coming here was a good idea afterall, that maybe despite all the bad I had witnessed in life, there was still hope... there was still a chance that by some miracle my suffering would finally be over and my pain will be a thing of the past,  freeing my future from its relentless grip. That's when it hit me. The smell. 

I wanted to run away, to leave this place and never return as soon as I noticed but I don't think that detecting an uncommon odour was reason enough, especially not when you have your shrink with you.  So I went into the house, trying to appear calm and... normal? Was that even a thing anymore? The inside of the house was no less extraordinary than the outside, with each room enchanting me more than the last as Kim took me on a tour. "What's in there?" I asked, reaching for a door knob, the only door in the house she had neglected. "Nothing!" She quickly blocked my view of the door with her body. "I mean,  not nothing. It's a door, surely there has to be something behind it. What I meant to say is that... well it is a hallway. No one goes in there, kind of an old tale about it being the gateway to hell or something stupid like that." Kim said. We moved on although I wasn't particularly convinced, I just didn't want to make a bad first impression.

When we finished exploring the house, Jenny, Kim and I sat down on the balcony, watching the sunset. Mallow, sat curled up on my lap, already comfortable with me. He seemed almost familiar. "So there is a funny story about his name. He had a twin sister, they were best friends. Her name was Marsh. So together they were marshmallow." Kim told us. "Where is she now? Marsh." Kim's face saddened, "she had an accident. She didn't make it. Vet had to put her down... Mallow had a really hard time adjusting after that. But he's stronger than he looks, aren't you buddy? Yes you are. Maybe someday you'll even save mommy's life, huh big guy?" Mallow barked at this and we all laughed. Then we watched the sun setting in silence. Watched how all the colours blended to make new colours and then all came together, as one. I guess that's how life is sometimes. It can be messy and disorganized and just a collision of unfortunate events following each other, one problem forming from another, just as one colour in the sunset stemmed from another. But in the end there has to be some good. There has to be some redeeming facet for our struggles. Some order to maintain the balance. So just as the world came crashing down around you, the pieces will pick themselves back up again and mend you with your world, as the colours come together to form one.

That's at least how some people might see it. Me? Well I saw life as something that starts off pure, innocent from all corruption, free from all worries and untouched by pain. It starts off as one colour. Easy, simple, perfect. But then as time goes on the perfection fades and is replaced by something else. By pain. Deceit. Lies. Worry. Fear. Sorrow. All the emotions I had grown too familiar with. That purity becomes tainted, darkened by the things we see and do in life; the things that are done to us. So darker colours slowly emerge from that one colour, destroying all that a person is, changing who they were, making them someone they don't want to be. And we have no control over it. It never goes back to the way it was. It always stays that way. The sun never again rises. It is forever dark. Just as I think the words, the colour in the sky fades, giving rise to the darkness of the night.