I just want everything to stay the same: a life that never changes, a story that never ends. Yet life doesn’t give a shit—just like the rest of those people. I know it now, better than ever.
Do you remember those times of happiness? The memories, once so vivid and clear, now seem to fade into bleakness. Why does it feel like their warmth is slowly disappearing, leaving behind only faint traces? They flash in my mind out of nowhere, haunting me—always chasing me. I keep falling for them, time and again. Even now.
“Goodbye, Axka.”
Those words—I still hear it sometimes, pulling me back to that day, the day when everything felt fragile. I wish those weren’t the last words I heard.
I waved to my friends, holding onto the moment for just a heartbeat longer. Our eyes met—an entire conversation in a single glance. Then I turned and ran, the city pulsed around me— its familiar smells and sounds fading under the weight of my memories.
The setting sun burned on the horizon, its warmth fleeting—just like everything else in life. Ahead, the hospital loomed, cold and unyielding. Its sterile walls clashed with the soft evening light, a place where time seemed frozen, indifferent to life or death.
And as I stepped inside, the present blurred. Voices from a distant past tugged at me, pulling me deeper into the fog of memory:
“Croak! Croak!”
The raven’s sharp call cut through the haze—a sound buried deep in my mind, now surfacing—out of nowhere, like a fleeting thought from a time long past. Its voice mixed—familiar, yet distant, as if it belonged to a chapter of my life.
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“Close your eyes, my child…”
My mother’s voice, soft yet threaded with quiet dread, came from some distant corner of my mind—a comfort laced with warning. A faint siren wailed in the distance, ghostly and far off.
“Promise me, Axka…”
Her voice trembled, cutting through the dense fog that clouded my mind. Fragile yet insistent, it was a grounding force clouding my thoughts.
“…never leave his side. Even in the darkest moment, be the light he clings to…”
The words echoed around me, like a sacred oath. They carried the weight of something final, something I couldn’t yet grasp.
Then—suddenly—the roar of an engine. The sky cracked open with a violent flash, light blinding me
“Hold the goddamn kid!”
The voice sliced through the chaos—panic and anger fought for dominance. The sounds of people shouting, their words muddled by the chaos. Pain and confusion filled the air, the deafening bangs muffling every cry until all that was left was an eerie, hollow echo.
The departing plane’s rumble filled the air, growing fainter as it left me behind.
“Please, I just wanna… go home…”
The words slipped out, soft and desperate, lost in a deep, unknown territory filled with unfamiliar faces. But there was no home left. Only recollection—relentless, suffocating.
I need to stop reliving these memories, each one dragging me down—but I can't seem to break free…