006 Those Things Send Us Down A Road

[speterman]

[Someone sure was missing from classes and didn't eat all day. His handwriting is different than usual, awkwardly paced, as if pausing when finishing some of the words trying to decide what to say.]

Can I get the homework and an idea of what we did in class today?

[Ink blots and a couple of smudges.]

It's odd how often humans consider themselves the superior species and assume all organisms below them are shallow and un-feeling.

There have been multiple examples - how animals can feel depression or even happiness just as us.

[Sure isn't as light-hearted as usual.]

Comments

[speterman]

[He stays silent, staring at whatever his eyes seemed to focus on, not that he was paying it any attention. If her words registered he didn't show any sign of it. When he finally speaks up his words are mirthless.]

I should have done something... Anything, I could have figured something out.

Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm not good company.

[He wraps an arm around her and leans against her a bit, he's never been one for allowing people to cheer him up.]

I would have rather gotten hurt if I could have kept him from getting shot. I would have rather have taken that bullet than him. He didn't deserve it.

[sugaredpotions]

You don't have to worry about being good company right now. That's my job.

And - I understand not wanting him to get shot. I do. Nobody wants someone that they love to be hurt, or be killed. But that goes both ways.

That man shouldn't have gone into the shop with a gun. At all. Your uncle shouldn't have been killed. But you don't - you don't have to beat yourself up over it. It wasn't your fault.

[speterman]

[There's the silence again, only after he takes a sip of tea he responds:]

You're amazing company. I - I want to do something to make it up to him, to prove him he didn't die in vain you know, like, he risked his life for me. He always told me he thought I was going to be someone special - parents always tell their kids that, right? I think he was wrong. What else could you tell them though? "No, I think you're going to grow up and let people down." That doesn't go over well.

[There's an unhappy smile on his lips for a split second.]