Played like a Guitar

Chapter 13 : The Boy Who Cried

"I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it."  - Mark Twain

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Renaissance paintings made me question what happened to art nowadays, as if painters suddenly stopped viewing the world in vivid colors. You could stare at them for hours, curiously interpreting the hidden symbols and stories behind them, but their true meanings would forever stay locked behind the creator's mind. After all, little did da Vinci know that he would paint a (literal) billion-dollar smile. Jamie shared my burning passion for art, strolling around, scrutinizing every piece individually. If only I could be granted access to his mind for just a second, maybe I could scratch the surface to uncovering the walking mystery that was this young man. Was he planning on surpassing each and every one of them someday? Did he consider adding painting to his long list of talents? Wouldn't be surprised...he had so many secrets I was yet to unlock. "That's too many to uncover in one day." - the voice stated. Tour by tour, and in roughly ten years I'll hopefully scratch the surface, my dear unconscious.

He stopped abruptly in front of a peculiar body of work, displaying a realistic representation of a little boy in front of a grave twice the size of his tiny body. Above it floated some sort of white silhouette reaching towards the sky, as if the soul of the dead left its body and ventured into the unknown. The young boy sobbed in misery, holding a ruby necklace which may have belonged to the deceased. He was surrounded by leafless trees, crows observing him cunningly in an environment as dead as the people buried inside. It was mostly painted in darker, duller colors but the boy's clothing and aura were purposely made brighter. Frightening and incredible, simultaneously. Although its essence appeared quite simple, the actual inspiration behind it raised curiosity. At the bottom right corner stood the painting's name, 'The Boy Who Cried'.

Jamie was more silent than I would've liked it, especially after the hilarious shenanigan we pulled off mere moments ago. His gaze was clearly fixed on this mystical work of art created by an unknown artist. A moment of reflection turned into a conversation I did not expect to have.

"I know we talked about this last time, but do you really believe there is more to death than just nothingness?" – he asked sorrowfully, as if his heartbeat was seconds away from stopping. Okay, woah, what's with the sudden mood swing? I don't have anything against these types of conversation, on the contrary, I quite enjoy talking nonchalantly but it was rather unexpected.

"I've given it a lot of thought as a ten-year old, sadly. Do I believe good people go to Heaven and bad guys burn in Hell forever? No. It's not as easy as that, we all did some things we might regret, that deserve a ticket straight to Satan's office and vice versa. Maybe we watch over the ones we love, spectating the universe freely. Or perhaps, we start over on a distant planet as a new creature, without any awareness of our previous life. We'll all find out the answer eventually, but it will already be too late by then, right?" - I gave him a comforting smile, hoping I could somehow manage to console him. His dead-serious, intimidating nature pierced through me, causing every hair strand on my body to straighten up. Also, that horrifying word, eventually. It may be in less than twenty four hours, years, or centuries but eventually it will happen. Disgusting.

"Remember when I told you I wanted to become a doctor to cure my death anxiety? Well, since that plan is no longer an option I hope I'll live long enough to witness an invention that makes us immortal, or at least prolongs our short lives. Like an artificial heart or some sort of contraption that regulates our body just as efficiently, something beyond nature. Wouldn't that be cool?" That way, eventually could kiss my derrière.

"Cool? There's nothing cool about it. The world's current state is already bad enough as it is with the tremendous overpopulation and global warming, and if life expectancy's were to rise up even more, our resources would deplete in a matter of years. Not to mention the fact that the wealthy would continue living prosperously and the poor would have no choice but to die. Plus, there would be great demand for an invention like that, and knowing how greedy world leaders can be, conflict would arise in no time. Besides, do you really want to have the body of a ninety year old for centuries? You wouldn't move a muscle, but now that I'm saying it out loud, you barely move anyways so I suppose it wouldn't be such a problem for you." - he insulted my lazy nature rightfully.