Keep on

What's life anyway? Compared to a comic book where heroes live, there you can die, be brought back to life, and die again. Hell, you can even break the record of the times you came back, almost every hero was brought back, and almost every comic book character had broken the record set by Jesus. "But life's not a comic book" thought Reginald, living is one thing, while living the life is another.
Reginald was in his hospital room, room 101, laying on his bed, exhausted, his hair has fallen down everyone one in the hall could tell that he was on chemo. He was just starring out the window waiting for something, maybe superman to save him, maybe flying monkeys to hold him. He was a comic book artist with a lot of characters, and with a lot of friends, but only one was close to him, they knew each other since they were four.

„Hey Reggie! What’s up man?” His friend came again for the fourth time this week to see him.

„Hey Steven, nothing much, same old same old.” And started to cough “Hey I heard that tomorrow it’s your first college day, how about that.”

Steven looked down, he was too embarrassed to look him in the eyes, not knowing what to say “Yeah, I guess.”

“What’s the matter?” And starting to heavily cough again “It’s college dude! Wild life and a lot of crazy s**t to do.” Said Reggie smiling at Steven, his face was tired, his baggy eyes had seen too much but he was still young and full of life. 

“I’m not you Reggie, you know I don’t have any friends at all…and now…”

Reggie grabbed his hand and held it with as much force as he had left in him. He knew that his time was up, nobody could help him now, just one chance.

“Dude listen, promise me one thing, just promise me this”

“Sure thing Reggie, anything.”

“Promise me that this time you will make some friends, and enjoy life, high school is over! Just do something, live a little!” Steven listened carefully to his gravelly soft voice, he was right, but there was a problem, the fear of being rejected, spitted and made fun of yet again.

“I’ll try my best man, but you know…I’m no good at making new friends, s**t, you’re the only friend I’ve got, besides  even after I moved to a new school I hadn’t had any luck, it was even worse and you know that.”

Reggie sighed and started to look at the window again, thinking if one of his comic book heroes would save Steven and leave him be.

“I know man, I know, but just do it for me, huh? Party like it’s your last day, drink like your liver will be gone and f**k like it’s your last hours on this planet.”

Steven started to chuckle his round face wasn’t serious anymore he started to catch some light, his , he was finally feeling like in the old days.

“There you go! Finally someone started to loosen up .”

Steven looked around through the cold white room, he felt trapped in there, the tiled floor felt the coming of something that was very predictable from day one, “Live life” that’s what he was trying to say, but what’s life, If he can’t even socialize what’s the point of all of this, or maybe it’s Steven that has a problem and not the others.

“Most definitely” he thought to himself “I’m the problem” I’ve never felt comfortable with anyone” even when he tried to be one of them, they would make up some lie about him, so as life kept beating him down again Reggie struggled in the real world where there is no reincarnation, resurrection or a coming back to life.

“Funny isn’t it?” said Steven as he looked at the white walls of death.

“What’s funny Stevie?”

“Well the fact that you’re the one who tries to cheer me up when I was supposed to do that for ya.”

“Yeah, it’s okay Stevie, I’m here for you, at least for now…”

“S**t seems like we all are going to die. You will well you know. And I will die slowly on the inside, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.”

“F**k,” said Reggie as he coughed again “what ever happened to us? The three of us we were…” Steven cut him off “invincible? Yeah I know. I do miss her though and now this s**t, I just can’t, I can’t take it anymore.” Reggie looked down at Steven’s T-shirt, it was shirt with Homer Simpson given by Reggie just because, he loved giving presents and buying T-shirt with every movie character.

“I know you still care for her buddy! But you need to move on.”

“Care for her? I still love her, she was the only….nevermind, I’ll try my best tomorrow is my first day.”

“That’s the spirit,” said as he coughed.

“Yeah, see ya Reggie!”

Reggie didn’t responded back he just went back to his imaginary world where life was a repetitive circle, where you could become invincible. “What’s the point of having life if you can’t have anyone there for you”, thought Steven as he sat at the metro station, why do people full of life are going to die and the ones who wants to be dead are still here, feeling s****y, working, studying and for what? For staying miserable all of your life, cursing their days every goddamn morning as they get up make their coffee and go straight to their businesses hating every second of their pitiful life while the ones who are outside the box are laying down in a hospital room getting chemo treatment.

 

Reviews

[Corset]

This little story is jamb packed full or everyday life and yet it honed in on a few full moments of what life is really about, love, cause without that love, or the search for the meaning of it, or missing someone really the point of life and living seems mute.The whole purpose of illness IMHO is to make you realize that you really do want to live, it's instinctual, and not only do people want to live they want some one to "make" them happy while doing it, but that is not their job, their job is to enhance not blow sunshine up peoples asses till they want to live. To ask someone for that is not really fair, I loved that line "
“Funny isn’t it?” said Steven as he looked at the white walls of death.

“What’s funny Stevie?”

“Well the fact that you’re the one who tries to cheer me up when I was supposed to do that for ya.”

“Yeah, it’s okay Stevie, I’m here for you, at least for now…”

Stevie is going to win this round, 'cause Stevie wants to truly live, whatever that means, good ,bad, the ugly, the beautiful all moments lived. I knew someone like that once, I would call to cheer them up but end up being the one cheered, I love people like that.

[Fire Mage Andrea]

Great stuff
Just needs a few adjustments : (just in case you're trying to get your book published. Then you can correct your mistakes before your agent sees them)

""his hair has fallen down everyone one in the hall could tell that he was on chemo"
if I were you, I'd put "His hair had fallen out and everyone could tell he was on chemo".

"He was just starring out the window" - should be "staring out the window" or even "staring out of the window."

"And started to cough" - maybe "He started to cough? How did the cough sound? Was it raspy, or hacking etc?

Good start to the book apart from the typos anyway

[Stephen]

"Party like it’s your last day, drink like your liver will be gone and f**k like it’s your last hours on this planet" ~~ I loved this line!

Umm, the story`s well penned, Nick .. here I find some mixtures of reality and fantasy indeed. You`ve well plotted the characters with the situations ~~ Nice one .. Yeah ... that`s a very good theme comparing "Comic books" with "life" .. Ummm ..Sounds interesting! In real life, once a pal washed away from his life never comes back to his own life but in movies or comic books ~~ Yeah, once they die, twice they get lived .. How funny ~~ It`s a wonderful chapter .. i`m pleased to read this sexy write!

[Nick.B]

Thanks, I really appreciate it

[Hatchling]

Nicely written Nicky. Keep up the good work