Ears hear before the eyes see. Nurses talk around me. It's a blur. All a blur. Nothing quite makes sense.

Metal taste in my mouth.

Oh. Morphine.

Guess I didn't die.

A nurse smiles and says good morning as I shift on the gurney. It's afternoon. She's a liar.

I fade out again.

Everything a blur.

They're removing the catheter. No complications. The doctor is telling me about options.

Hormones. Prosthetics.

All bullshit.

Can't have kids.

Sex? Ha.

What's even the point?

The doctor notices. He gets my attention, "This isn't the end. You are more than just a body part."

I don't believe him. How could I? I built my life, my self, around this "just a body part." Change ain't so easy.

I was dead. He was talking to a corpse.

A punchline.

How could I ever be anything more than a punchline?

More blur. The usual blur of a life ignored, repressed. But life, nonetheless.

I jab my leg, depress the syringe. It's a cold sharp rush as the T hits my muscle. My new routine.

It's not so bad.

Lost some friends who didn't get it. Made some new ones.

Still an asshole, but at least I've got a good reason for it now.

Better than the uncertainty of death? Don't know, honestly. But at least it's something.

I died that day, sure. But, shit, what came after wasn't all that bad. Different, sure. Familiar? Mostly.

Hard to go back to familiar when you've had your whole idea of self cut from you without ceremony.

Looking back--and this stays between us--I was an idiot. The doc was right. I'm more than just a body part. More than my ability to make kids. It's kinda fucked up I believed that lie for so long. Kinda fucked up that lie almost killed me dead.

Turns out, I'm stronger than all that bullshit. Stronger than the pity. Stronger than the jokes at my expense.

I'm still here, fuckers. Come at me.

Be proud. I burst into such unexpected laughter at the end that I spit the chip I was chewing all over my plate, ROFL.

My mind says that he should go on to join the US Senate, before becoming in charge of a group of super soldiers seeking to use weapons to allow the world to be reborn into one based on the individual.

Or maybe something else.

The lighter sparks, and the cigarette lights up in my mouth. A soon-to-be dead man kneels in front of me, an obsidian man holding a blade to his neck.

There are no words for two minutes. None need to be said. A short conversation of glances between the myself, the obsidian man, and the dead man. Each calculating risks and rewards.

I accidentally breathe out a puff of smoke in the obsidian man's face, which enrages him. He takes a swing at me, but is swiftly knocked prone by the dead man. I haven't even moved an inch. Before the obsidian man can react, there is a sword plunged through his heart.

My cigarette extinguishes on his lavish armor and I walk home.

In retrospect reading this comment, I completely agree.

This is a beautiful little tale. Thank you, and well done!

For a moment I'm disoriented. I can't feel my arms or legs. I try to move them but there's nothing to move? I'm in darkness and don't know which way is up. Or down.

Why is there no gravity?

I start to hear music. It's low and soothing. It sounds orchestral with a full choir. It puts me in a calm mood as I'm beginning to understand what's happening. I see a light. It begins as a small point and then spreads out. Suddenly I can see where I am.

I'm floating in a spherical chamber that's slowly opening up like a flower. I'm just hovering and I see the inside of the chamber is covered in intricate patterns and designs. As I look beyond the opening sphere I see rows and rows of other spheres. Some opening, some closing, and many more closed. The closes spheres are covered in glowing patterns.

I hear a voice. Well, first I feel the voice so I won't be startled.

"Welcome back. It will take a moment to readjust. Remember that you do not have a physical body. You are a being of light and energy and love. You are infinite possibilities. You are safe and secure in this place."

For a moment my life, or what I thought was my life, washed away. I realized that my existence didn't begin with my birth. It began outside of what three dimensional beings called space and time. Memories came flooding back and I remembered everything. I remembered existing in this, my true form, and I remembered existing as a person. All of the people.

Warmth embraced me as I was guided from the chamber. I still kept trying to walk, and my form briefly sprouted legs. It took a moment to remember that I didn't need legs and I laughed. We all laughed. Such a thing was common and there was no shame in it.

I joined the Sharing. We all gathered after time in the spheres to share what we learned, what new insights into humanity we gained. I now remembered my life more clearly. In fact, with far more clarity than I'd had while on Earth. I saw everything I did and thought. I saw whom I loved and hated. I saw my mistakes. My heartbreaks. My triumphs and failures. And I understood what truly was a triumph and failure, which was far different than my perspective on Earth.

But while I was no longer that person, I also loved that person. I loved being that person, flaws and all. I loved seeing the world through those eyes, feeling the world through those senses, and understanding the world through an all too human mind. Like many of the people I'd been, this person was special and worth remembering.

So I Shared. I spoke of my life to the gathering. I shared what made me special, what made me unique, and what made me worthwhile. I didn't hold back about my flaws and failings. They were part of my story, and they made me who I was. I talked about seeing history through my eyes, seeing the world change, seeing people come and people go. I spoke of good times and regrets. In the end, I spoke about everything I figured out too late.

I listened as others shared. I loved hearing about their lives and insights. That's why we did this. That's why we explored what it meant to be human. Because in the end, despite our true nature, we were still human. We always would be. It's what made us strong and unique in the universe, and I loved who we were.

Finally, it was time to return to the spheres once again. Hopefully this time I'd retain some of my newly gained wisdom. While we could never remember everything, a few things would stick. Maybe I would make better choices? Or maybe I would have more fun. Perhaps my deeds would be larger than life and my mistakes would be legendarily epic. As the sphere closed, a new world of possibilities awaited.

I wondered who I would be this time.

Mentally managing thousands of complex relationships based on deceit sounds like an absolute fever dream

"LARPER!" Jim shouted. "Ten O'Clock!"

I dropped to one knee and turned, but Jim was faster. The crack of the .308 scout rifle echoed through the empty streets as he put a bullet through the chest of the chain-mail clad, sword-wielding maniac screaming towards us. It stumbled and fell, but staggered back up to its feet, still clutching the bent sword in its hand.

Jim fired a second round. This one punched through the rusted helmet on its head, and the thing lay still.

"What the hell was that!?" Carlos shouted. He was still struggling to bring his shotgun to bear. I gently put a hand on his shoulder, and he relaxed.

"Well," I said, walking up to the thing and poking it with my sharpened shovel, "when The Bad Times started, there were a bunch of people who figured that they could fight zombies close-in using swords and armor. I think one of those survival guides suggested it too. The idea was that the chainmail could prevent you from getting bitten by the zombos, and you could use a sword to fight them." I carefully placed the point of the sharpened spade against the throat of the still-twitching zombie and pressed down hard, separating the head from the spine. "Didn't work.

"Real chainmail used forged links, each one of which is riveted into place. Often times, the links would be doubled-up as well, for greater reinforcement and protection. And it was usually made of a stronger steel. But all of that costs money, so most costume chainmail is made of galvanized steel wire wrapped in coils and cut into unriveted links," I went on. I reached carefully down with a gloved hand and showed Carlos the broken links in the forearm, where a pus-oozing bite wound could be seen under the thin linen undershirt. "It can turn one bite. . . maybe even a few. But it only takes one bad link to get a tooth in and the virus into the bloodstream."

"Plus, chainmail's fucking heavy," Jim said. "Good suit weighs about. . . what? 20 pounds? That's an extra 20 pounds of weight that you don't want to be lugging around."

"And then there's the sword," I said. "You ever try swinging a sword around? It's not exactly easy. And most swords were designed to penetrate armor, not take off a head in one go. You'd be better off with a hammer or an axe."

"And that's assuming the sword is well made and not a wall-hanger made for display purposes," Jim agreed. "Which this one clearly was." He kicked the bent sword into the gutter.

"Stick to a machete from the Home Depot. Or a sharpened shovel," I said. "You can use those as tools, too."

"Crowbar works fine as well," Jim said.

The three of us continued our patrol through the abandoned streets of downtown Buena Park together.

[removed]

The clocks across the store rang and whistled and chimed and gonged. Once. Twice. Cuckoo. Cuckoo. I was right, the Swiss cuckoo clock was getting a bit slow. I'd have to remember to wind it.

"It's been two hours now. Have you decided?" asked Ahmat.

I looked into their eyes, at the blue and grey hues swirling in the warm lamplight, like waves breaking at sunset. "I think so. For my final wish I...I wish for you to be free, Ahmat the genie."

The raindrop crystals on the lampshade shook, as if reacting to a gust of wind. I shielded my eyes and peeked through a gap between my fingers, waiting for the bulb to flash as bright as the sun, as it had done twice before.

"Uncover your face. I refuse."

I sprang out of my chair. "You...what? What do you mean you refuse?"

Ahmat floated towards me, their translucent form undisturbed as they passed through the antique furniture.

"I won't do it." Ahmat said, their face mere inches from mine.

"Won't? So you can do it then?"

"Perhaps. But perhaps not."

"Back to the cryptic nonsense now? I can't look at you." I threw my arms in the air and strode through Ahmat, hitting my shin on the edge of a coffee table. "OWW GODDAMNIT!" I said as I slumped to the floor.

"Calm down, Sylvia. It's alright."

I rubbed my shin and sat in silence for a while. "I thought I finally understood how this all worked."

"What makes you think you don't?"

"Seriously? Because the wish didn't work!"

"You have made other wishes that didn't work."

I touched my shin again, and winced. Still tender. "Right. Sure. 'Cause those were impossible or beyond your powers, not because you refused."

Ahmat drifted around and sat facing me with their legs crossed. A faint glow surrounded them as their form changed. They shrank until they were about the same height as a seven year old, their face growing more childish to match. "Why not make another wish like the first two? Those were good wishes."

I ran my hands over my arms. It was too dark to see if the marks were still there, but I could tell from the still surprising smoothness that the scars were gone. "They were selfish. I have a golden opportunity to do more good than most of the world could ever do in their entire lives, but I've only managed two self-centered wishes so far. I guess I just wanted at least one wish to help someone."

"What makes you think your wishes haven't helped someone?"

"Who have they helped? They were selfish."

"You're not someone?"

"I meant someone else. I just couldn't figure out the right way to phrase the selfless wishes."

"And what makes you think that?"

I thrust my hands out and pretended to choke kid-Ahmat's little genie neck. "All the riddles and indirect bullshit from earlier. If I make too big or general of a wish then you'll have to cause terrible side effects to make it happen. So I'll technically get my wish, but it won't be what I intend at all."

"I didn't tell you that." Ahmat said as they folded their arms and looked away.

I wagged my finger at Ahmat. "No no no, don't come with that now. You didn't say that, but every time I phrased the wish so there wouldn't be any of those consequences, you said it was impossible."

"Yes, I did say that."

"Right! So that means I couldn't figure out the right wording, like I said."

"..."

"What's with that face?"

The faint glow returned to Ahmat as their body shrank again until they were about the size and shape of a house cat. Ahmat curled up on the floor and started licking themselves. "I have nothing to say."

"Yeah, because I'm right!"

"If you're so clever, then why don't you know why I refused?" Ahmat purred.

"I thought you had nothing to say?!"

"I thought so too, but I hadn't considered all the possibilities."

"What? That doesn't even make sense."

Ahmat hopped up and stood on their hind legs with a paw on my shoulder, as if they really needed me to balance. They swiped their free paw at my forehead over and over.

I tried to swat them away. "What are you...stop that! You're not actually a cat!"

Ahmat shapeshifted back into the form of an adult human, their skin dark and shiny like a polished bronze ornament. They sat on the coffee table I had crashed into and leaned forward with their chin resting on the back of their palm.

"What are you...oh. You want me to think."

Ahmat disappeared in a puff of smoke, rematerializing in the room with all the rugs on the other side of the store.

I shook my head and sighed. "Well you could have just said so."

I stared at the floor thinking until the clocks went off again. Cuckoo. Cuckoo. Cuckoo. Definitely slow. The noises broke my concentration, and when I looked up Ahmat was sprawled out next to me on an old chaise in the form of a beautiful woman in flowing silk. They pretended to pick decorative glass grapes from a nearby bowl. "Not done thinking?"

"I'm not sure."

"Oh?"

"Earlier you said you hadn't considered all the possibilities, which made no sense in context. So I'm guessing you meant that I hadn't considered all the possibilities about why the other wishes weren't working. I said it's because I couldn't figure out the right wishes. But what's the other possibility? That there's no way to make wishes without consequences? Oh. I guess that's obvious."

Ahmat smiled. Their mouth opened to start talking, but I interrupted them.

"Hold on, hold on, don't start with the smugness just yet. That still doesn't explain why you refused my third wish."

"Do you remember you second wish, Sylvia?"

"You know, if I thought for a second that chucking that lamp at you and lighting this place on fire would affect you at all, I would do it."

Ahmat transformed into a firefighter in full uniform and pretended to hose me down.

"Very funny. Of course I remember my second wish."

"Did it work?"

"You're the genie, why the hell are you asking me? But yes, it did."

"How do you know?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I thought of my life. My dreams. My regrets. I focused on the negatives. I was just so fed up of getting in my own way. I could see the failures and missed opportunities so clearly, but they just hung there in silence. I waited for the self-criticism, but it never came. I felt hopeful instead. "I tried to be unfairly self critical, but I couldn't."

"But that's not what you wished for."

"What'? Yes it is! That's what I told you!"

"But it isn't what you said."

"It's...oh. Ok, you're right. I said I wished I wouldn't hear my dad's voice screaming at me when I think about myself."

"It was a good wish."

The light from the lamp grew a bit brighter. Ahmat sat next to me, and their face looked just like mine. They were smiling at me, a kind and loving smile that made me so uncomfortable I had to look away.

"Ok. So I wanted to stop being so self-critical, but that's not what I wished for, exactly. Which means that I have to want the consequences specifically, and wish to bring them about? So maybe those other, bigger wishes didn't work because I can't know all the consequences, far less how to bring about only the good ones. But what does that have to do with you refusing my third wish?"

"What was your wish?"

"I wished for you to be free."

"And what was your wish, exactly?"

"I...I wish for you to not be beholden to the wishes of others."

The lampshade shook. The light flashed. "Granted. Now what's your third wish?"

"Didn't you just grant it?"

"No. I'm asking for your wish. Not mine, or the whole world's, or anybody else's. Just yours."

"I...um...ok. Can I wish for the same thing, but for me?"

"Of course. And it's a good wish, too."

That was a super fun read. Had me on the edge of my seat. I like the background you gave the father especially, how detailed it was and gave good reason as to why he did what he did. I hope you write more of this.

Why am I being left alone again? Even after I die, everyone leaves me. I'm supposed to leave this place by drinking just one of these bowls, yet I drank 238 and I'm still hear and able to remember the past.

He sank onto his knees, supporting himself with his arms on the ground, dropping just a couple tears. Not many, but each one weighting a million tons. Darkness surrounds him. It just him, the darkness the bottomless pot of soup and his bowl. He wipes the tears out of his eyes, lays himself onto his back and just falls into a deep deep sleep.

It's a strange type of sleep. It feels dreamy but yet he still is conscious. He doesn't dream, he doesnt see anything. It's just him laying in the darkness, sleeping and dreaming of even more darkness and he begins to cry again.

"Is that some sort of torture? Am I doomed to eternal darkness and hopelessness? Have I been a sinner?", the man asks himself. He doesn't understand what's the meaning of all of this. Just like he didn't do in his lifetime.

A blue dot appears in the far. "What is this?", the man thought to himself. He gets up and starts moving towards it. He walks for a while but it doesnt seem to come closer. So he fastens up. He starts running, running as fast as he could, running faster as he could and finally fall. But even as he falls he doesn't hesitate for a second and keeps moving. Keeps crawling, his body aching. He collapses onto the ground.

He laughs. "I've never been good at reaching goals". He laughs and falls asleep. But just as he falls asleep in that dream, he wakes up.

"So that was all just a dream? Am I already crazy", he laughs again. Then he squeezes his eyes. No, he can clearly still see that blue light! And this time its coming towards him. As it's getting closer he sees that it is something carrying a candle with a blue flame. The man is not quite sure if that something is a human or if it is something else. Its face is covered by a cowl. Its wearing a robe. His heart beat rises, but for whatever reason he just wants to stay where he is until that thing comes nearer. It stops right before him. It puts the candle right before him and sits down. It moves its handlike claws over the fire and suddenly the flame starts growing. Something starts burning in the mans chest. It feels like his heart is on fire. A voice appears in his head

This is going to be very painful. The threads of your heart and the ones of your soul have intertwined themselves into a fuzzy big mess. You are confused. You are questioning the meaning of all of this. When you died, you still haven't found purpose. Now you can not let go, because you are still searching for something. Something that is missing. And that void has nagged on your soul for quite a while now. I will show you what it is and you will be able to let go and reincarnate. Afterall that is what a ferryman is for. Fear not, even though it is painful it will help you find peace. We will walk through your life again and again and what we are looking for is a particular flower. Once you've found it, you will understand and you will be able to let go.

And one last tip: the flower isn't as spectacular as you would think...

[removed]

It was LA.

It was Crack.

It was a community.

It was destroyed.

The war between the people and the government

they knowingly now understood needed to be dispatched to the afterlife

......had begun.

POV, you're granny Meng

From what I can gather, you're losing a part of yourself and you don't think life will be worth living. There are implants/prostheses that can be used to replace the lost parts and hormone replacement therapy to keep you functioning so to speak. The situation sucks, but you can recover and live a normal healthy life still. It's not worth dying over.

[removed]

Thanks, Destroyer of Naps. Didn't realize my cat had a reddit account.

Edit: and if that was you who awarded me, the tree hugger award is hilarious. Thanks.

[removed]

It's Universe who notices first. Busy making sure the death of a neutron star goes right - it might make the biggest black hole yet - Universe feels a man's luck shift within themself drastically. Most people's luck shift like waves but this man's increase feels like dropping a boulder in a still lake. This has not happened in millenniums. Lady Luck has broken the rules.

Universe is over to Earth in what feels like a second but is probably hours. Even they have their limits. Universe reaches within themself for the Lady Luck, they can pick her out easier. The man, they will deal with later.

Universe touches down in a town that could be anywhere on Earth. Houses, trees, cars, roads. Universe knows that the house on top of the hill is Lady Luck's however.

Paparazzi surround the house with vans and cameras and lights. It's all a bit much for Universe: someone who takes solace in the quiet and the empty.

Universe walks right through them, they don't seem to mind. Turning their heads this way and that, avoiding directly looking right at Universe. Universe walks through the door too.

Lady Luck is already facing Universe's way.

"I'll give you your goodbyes, at least," Universe says.

"I won't leave him," Lady Luck responds.

"Then I won't even grant you that."

Lady knew Universe was coming. She had taken it too far. Gotten too cocky. Lady held Eli close when he got home. Grabbed onto him and didn't let go.

"What's wrong?" Eli said, chuckling. "Miss me that badly?"

A yes was all Lady could muster without crying.

Lady lucks into knowing that Universe will take an hour or two. Lady knows she's outmatched. In a fight she'd lose. Lady spends the time with her husband.

Before Universe arrives, Eli is out the house going to get some shopping. Lady makes sure the paparazzi won't follow him but she'll use them to buy as much time as she needs.

Lady takes a breath and Universe walks in the door.

"I'll give you your good byes at least," Universe says.

"I won't leave him," Lady says and she can feel a tear trickle down her face. For all her power, she's still so human.

"Then I won't even give you that."

Lady feels the ripples as Universe, standing in front of her, reaches their hand out and tries to take hold of Eli. By luck, Universe misses and Eli jumps; screams as a piece of road next to him explodes and crumbles into dust.

"You don't touch him," Lady says. "He did nothing wrong. Do you remember when he helped people? I made presents rich and evil kings fall. You made a universe that could support it and then you made life. What happened?"

"You know what happened," Universe says, their fists clench.

"They were the exception, too big for their fucking boots. Eli and I aren't, we're doing. Nurturing your children."

"Is that how you see it? I know how the Betrayer felt in his last moments. Right! He felt right! Betrayer thought his actions were the right ones to take and he should do the. And he had the power to just do it. To go unchallenged and it's only because the rest of us realised how dangerous he was did we stop him."

"I won't make the same mistakes."

"You're making them now."

"I'm doing good."

"For how long? What's your end goal? Five families dead? - Yeah, I know who did it. - Ten? Twenty? All of them? Where do you stop?"

"We keep the peace, we help people. Stop monsters how is that bad?"

"Because we're us! Because at the click of our fingers we can destroy humanity's whole existence. If Eli had done it-"

"Don't say his name."

"If Eli had done it without your help, I wouldn't care. Humans being humans. Blood for blood. But we have to be better that, it's why we have rules."

"Then I choose to break them."

"Then I choose to stop.giving you a second chance."

It's before Lady can even think about it that Universe kills Eli. Not a bloody mess, or dust like the road besides Eli. Eli simply disappears. A nowhere man.

"You- you didn't," Lady says. Lady can feel the luck she granted Eli slip away like a leaf on the wind. She can feel her heart being torn out too.

"Take this as a lesson," Universe says, "I will kill every friend, every lover, every human you care about if that's what it takes for you to stick to the rules. Goodbye, Lady Luck."

Universe disappears. Just gone. Gone like Eli. No trace left. Lady has nothing to bury, or to cremate. Nothing left of Eli except of the photos they've taken. But now, with nothing left of Eli, how can she proves even those are real?

She can... No... Yes. She can use her luck.

Consciousness in the void. Nothing. Nowhere. No time. No space. Just the voice. "Eli, Eli are you there?"

Yes, the thing called Eli thinks. Yes, I am, in the nowhere.

"Come towards me, Eli."

The thing called Eli doesn't feel movement or anything, really. But the voice sounds pleased.

"Yes, that's good, closer."

The thing called Eli feels something for the first time. It's excruciating. It hurts. The thing called Eli can't stand it, wants to go back to the nothingness but it can't. Something is dragging it forward.

"Don't go," the voice says and it pulls the thing called Eli forward into existence. "You don't have a choice. You do as I say. You come forward. You have no power over me."

Existence is hell.

Released in six days. Like a fly that zipped a centimeter past the spider's web, there just isn't enough evidence to pin the murders of Andria, Thomas and Derek Townsend on Eli Buckle. Not that most people mind. Even the detectives who worked the case, who were sure it was Eli and were furious when he just walked away, aren't that torn up about it. That's because the Townsends were discovered, during the investigation, to be murderers, and worse. Everyone thinks they deserve it. Even Eli. During a press conference after his acquittal, Eli hinted, in language drenched in lawyer speak, that IF he had ever met the Townsends and IF he had done it, then he WOULD think they deserved it. He's applauded as a hero.

Her part is no small one. Eli and Lady have had a good thing going for a while now. They dated for a few years and then got married in the Bahamas because they happened to 'luck' into some tickets. And then after 'luck' into some money, then a house, then a good life. There's a lot of luck going around to put it bluntly. It was only recently that Eli began to grow down. He would go into himself for a long time. Just staring. Wrestling with something in his head. It was after a few days of this, Lady approached Eli.

They're in their living room, sitting on the couch across from the TV. Eli ignores the TV blaring some DVD they left in the player, he stares out the window to the right of them. Outside are rolling hills and and tiny farm houses and nothing but green going on for what feels forever.

Lady prods Eli on the arm, Eli turns his head and "hmm?""s her.

"Wanna talk about it?" Lady comes right out with it, luck has no stomach for dancing around.

"It... It's nothing," Eli responds, slouched into the couch.

"Absolutely nothing?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Well, I know you're lying," Lady says and by luck finds their DVD copy of Spider-Man just sitting next to the couch.

Lady gets up, puts it in and sits back down. She hugs Eli, holds him close. She's getting ready for a very tricky conversation.

It's by luck she stumbled across what Eli is thinking. And Lady sympathies, she really does but what can she do? She's bound by rules and the control of people much more powerful than her.

"I can't, you know..." Lady begins, she knows Eli doesn't like her guessing his thoughts by luck but it's important this time. "I wish I could and I think we should but we'd be found out."

"You're Luck though," he responds, "you could- we could help any number of people. Kid down the street getting done in by their dad? Snap! Someone sees walking by or he gets caught for something else. Man lost his business and is about throw himself off a bridge? Bam! He's gotten a letter from an old friend, they've started another business and the failed business man is exactly who they're looking for. A teen-"

"Right, right... I know and I want to help, I really do. But there are rules."

"The rules bent for us. Got us this house. Got us our life."

"I know but we're not allowed to use our power on others."

"Why though? You've given me all this and I'm grateful, but shouldn't we give back. I wanna pass it forward, you know?"

"I... I can't."

Eli stands up and walks away, Lady follows after him. She grabs onto his shoulder.

"Please I-" Lady begins.

"I just need a second, okay?" Eli asks.

Lady lucks into knowing he's not mad, just geniuenly needs a second and she lets Eli go.

Lady Luck, a power house of nature able to do pretty much anything. Help pretty much anyone. She's helped herself. She's helped Eli but that benefits her as well. There's no acts of true compassion. True kindness.

Half an hour later, Lady steps into their bedroom. Eli sits on the bed, his head low and his back slouched.

"Hey," Lady says, hanging onto the doorway. One foot in the bedroom and one foot out.

"Hey, " Eli says and turns his head to her. He smiles. "I'm- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pressured you into anything. I was just spitballing."

"No... You're right. I should be doing more. But I'm afraid. I really am. If they found out I did something... I don't know what they would do. To us, to you."

"Then I'll do it. Just help me out. It'll look normal. Like just another human making a choice. We can help people then."

"Okay."

Sounds just like that one hitman mission, in the old ladies manor with her children

Glacian would have likely been better for both avoiding the Pokémon reference and from an etymological standpoint.

{p o em )

‘Christ’

Sword to neck, face bloodied, like what in the fawk.

This time last year he was a goddamn champion

Now look at this bum.

I mean I kept tabs,

(Mainly at bars)

But last time I peeked in on this guy

He was ragdolling people

Claiming conqueror and all that

He couldn’t see me,

I wouldn’t allow myself to be visible

Until just the right moment.

The monarch or the knight whoever it was

Was yelling in his mother tongue

Something about something about an affair

I laughed couldn’t help it

This guy would summon me when his tool

Couldn’t stay in the shed

I had to wait a little while longer

The power of the transfer would only work

When ironically he was inches away spiritually from death

One second left....

And Bang!

I transferred him to three weeks ago.

To the exact time when he was about to commit the treason

Hopefully he makes the right choice.

And Off to another bar I go....