“What do you mean?!” cried the red-coated youth.

“It’s just going to be out of control,” the black-haired youth replied, his hair fluttering softly. “Nevertheless, if we seal it, it’s possible for one of us to live—”

"Don't say that!" The red-coated youth’s face scrunched up as he stared at the back of the black-haired youth.

The two of them entered a silence that brought peace and harmony to the ethereal white space that was filled with ankle-length water. The black-haired youth looked at the reflection of the water, noticed the petals that floated about, and looked further down as he saw his face, obscured by his shoulder-length hair. His hair danced along with the wind.

“Then why not me?!” The red-coated youth broke the silence who couldn’t contain his emotions anymore, his unwillingness blowing the petals away as they flew out spherically, breaking the water into small waves. “I’m sick of everything...everything that has happened so far, please!”

The red-coated youth frowned as his hands trembled. The black-haired youth stared into the water which was calming down after the red-coated youth’s outburst, slowly a tear left his right eye as he was still looking at the reflection and his tear dripped, sliding across his hidden face, reaching his chin, and barely clinging onto it.

“I can’t live without you—you were always there for me! Losing you would mean losing a part of myself. Is this how our friendship is going to end?” a deep melancholic look was etched into the face of the Red coated youth as he reminisced all the memories he had with the black-haired youth. His friend wouldn’t budge no matter how many times he pleaded and begged. He closed his eyes, sighing, and he wished nothing more than to grab the hand of his friend and escape.

All the while the black-haired youth was silently listening to his friend cry his soul out, the tear let go of his skin, and as if time didn’t want that to happen, it slowed down—he could see the tear ever so slowly reaching the water. The red-coated youth stepped forward, and right at that instant, the tear plopped into the water.

Time stopped.

The world around them lost color, and this continued for a fraction of a second before everything resumed.

The red-coated youth stood near to his side, and he noticed a tear fall down into the water, feeling like something foreboding was going to happen. At that moment, darkness shrouded his surroundings, but oddly enough, it didn’t reach the black-haired youth. The petals began to decay, dyeing the water crimson.

“Wha… What’s going on?” The red-coated youth tried breaking out of the darkness, but it was binding him too strongly, and wouldn’t let him move past it. He reached for the black-haired youth, but to no avail—the darkness shrouded him as he saw his friend for the last time, and to his dismay, the black-haired youth was now bound by purple ethereal chains.

“No, don’t!” yelled the boy.

“Farewell… My lifelong friend” The black-haired youth turned, finally showing his teary face, smiling. Before the red-coated youth could say anything, the water swallowed him whole.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Thud!

“Ah!” A young adult who looked to be around twenty-two was jolted awake, screaming. He managed to calm down and noticed a book on the floor next to his foot. He picked it up, but before he could sigh in relief, he heard whispers and murmurs.

“Um… Teacher…” A sweet voice came from his front. He looked forward and noticed where he was.

He was inside a classroom, laden with quirky, kiddy drawings, lots of pictures of kids and teachers doing projects together, and fourth-grade children all sitting in their chairs in silence. He didn’t know whether these kids were planning something because of their eerie silence or he’d scared the shit out of them. He’d bet on the second answer.

“Are you okay?” asked one of the female students.

“The lesson was so boring that I almost fell asleep while writing down some notes” to avoid stressing the students, he scratched his head with an awkward smile.

“Teacher, you’re so funny…” The whole class erupted into a big laugh. It was rare for a teacher to make such jokes in the middle of the class.

He smiled and held the book while trying to resume the class. He was glad he managed to divert the situation so that they wouldn’t ask him any more questions. Ever since he was a child, he’d always fall into a deep trance whenever he was busy or free, and this painful memory kept getting him in the most unexpected moments as well.

He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead as he wanted to leave so he could relax, and as if heaven had answered his prayers.

RRRRRRRRRRing!

The bell rang, marking the end of the period.

“Aaah!” The whole class got frustrated by the end of the period since they had a lot of fun joking about how clumsy their teacher could be.

“It’s alright, students, we’ll continue tomorrow. See ya!”

He picked up a few books and put them inside his bag. He held onto his bag and was ready to leave while all the little kids kept bidding him farewell as they waved at him.

 “Bye-bye, Sir!” He reciprocated their waves and goodbyes. He left the classroom that was still full of life and unending energy, some of the hyperactive kids stood on top of their tables just to see him off, showing their love to their teacher and the period he held, along with their mischievous nature.

He chuckled under his breath and continued toward the Professors’ Quarters.

It appeared as though this was going to be his last day in school. On the other hand, he was an active-attending teacher. And just the sixth period was over—

“Hey, look!”

He heard a boy shout as if he saw something that might have scared him. This led him to pause for a second and look back, but to his relief, it was something else entirely. “The teacher forgot his hat!”

He smiled it off and slowly marched back to the class which was now in chaos.

“Ah no!” The class grew worried and didn’t know who should give him the hat.

“I will!” The class monitor took the top hat and rushed out of the classroom, giggling like she stole a cookie from the pot on top of the shelf. She bumped into someone, looking up as she saw the teacher.

“Teacher?!” She couldn’t hide her surprise and embarrassment. She held the hat up and looked away. “Y-You forgot your hat!”

“Oh, my hat!” He feigned ignorance. He took the hat and put it back on gracefully, and this resulted in the girl giggling at his antics.

“What’s wrong, Grace?”

“We like you with your hat, sir! You look so cool!” She looked at him with her starry eyes.

“Ah, really?” Her comment took him by surprise. He brushed it off with a smile and patted her head, thanking her for the compliment.

Grace replied with a “You’re welcome!” and hopped away back to her class with a bright smile.

He stood there and waited for her to enter the class. As she neared the door, he sighed, and when he saw her stop at the door and smile while waving at him, he reciprocated with her. He resumed going to the Professor’s Quarters, but he was caught off guard by her proudly announcing that she’d gotten a pat on her head as if it was the biggest achievement anyone could have gotten from that class.

“Noooo!” The class felt like they’d been cheated and roared playfully, saying that she stole their chance at getting a head pat and being praised by their favorite teacher.

The teacher just shook his head and smiled at their antics.