A boy and a girl walk side by side on the rough forest path. The soft trickle of a stream along with the melodious birdsong penetrates the silence, filling the area with a sense of peace and serenity. The children walk in complete silence, with only the occasional crunching of a twig underfoot.
Soon, the stream begins to grow larger and become louder, before widening into a river that crashes over the rocks with a loud splash. The path in front is slightly dampened by the splashing water, and faint footprints are left behind where the children stride. The path soon gives way to a wooden bridge overlooking a waterfall leading into a deep ravine.
The girl stops suddenly, and the boy walks a few steps forward before noticing. He turns around to look at the girl, who is standing with her head down, her long blonde hair waving in the slight breeze. She looks up into his eyes, her eyes deep blue pools of unbearable sadness. She shifts to face the waterfall, extending her hand as if to reach for the heavens.
“If you knew that you were going to die in a few minutes, what would you say? If you had a piece of paper, what would you write down?” the girl asks quietly. The boy ponders her words for a few moments before replying, “Well, I would tell everyone how much I loved them. How I would miss them, and that I wouldn’t want them to be sad.”
The girl walks over to the wooden railing, and leans back against it. Arching her back, she allows her hair to dangle down over the edge. Droplets of water splash into her hair, allowing her hair to glitter in the beams of sunlight that filter through the canopy. “Why would they be sad?” she wonders out loud, directing the question to the young boy.
“Well, that’s obvious. It’s because I would be dead,” he responds with firm conviction. The girl stands up straight and shakes her head.
“If death itself was the cause of sadness, then wouldn’t we be sad when a tree died? Or when the wind dies out?”
The boy looks at her in slight confusion. “We wouldn’t always miss a tree, or the wind.”
“Exactly. Therefore, death itself is not the cause of sadness. We grieve when people die because we miss them. When someone dies on the other side of the world that we didn’t know, we may be a little sad, but we don’t necessarily grieve their death. We never knew them, so there is no way that we could miss them. We grieve because we don’t want to imagine a life without a special person in our life. We grieve because they will never speak again. We grieve because we will never get to see them smile, laugh, or cry again. Death itself is not inherently a sad thing, it’s the aftermath of it that is sad. People view death in a negative light, but I don’t believe that it should be looked at that way. Death is a means of bringing something to an end permanently. When you graduate from 8th grade, you are happy because you won’t need to go back. Isn’t that essentially the ‘death’ of 8th grade for you? You might be a bit sad due to missing teachers or friends, but that is just the aftermath.”
The boy scratches his head gently. “I suppose that makes sense… but, when you say that, how are you defining ‘death’? Is it the death of a living thing, or just a means of an end?” he responds, attempting to string his words together.
“The definition of death is ‘the cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism’. However, based on that definition, some of the expressions we use in our daily live make no sense. For example, when you say ‘Awh man, my phone died!’. Your phone isn’t a living organism, therefore, by definition, it cannot die. Although, you can think about it this way. We created the word life, and the definition of it. We did not, however, create the concept of life itself. So who are we to define it? I believe that one should form their own opinions on the definition of ‘life and death’ in their own mind. When your phone ‘dies’, you are sad because you can not interact with it until you charge it up or get a new one. It follows the same pattern as death.” The girl lets out a heavy sigh, then climbs up onto the slippery railing and holds her balance.
The boy gasps, calling out, “Don’t do that! You’ll fall!”
The girl looks at him with sadness. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” She extends her arms out to her sides and begins walking, placing one foot in front of the other. After a few minutes of silence, she asks out of the blue, “Why do you live? Are you afraid of death?”
The boy thinks for a moment. “I live so I can keep having new experiences in life. If I were to die, I would no longer be able to have those experiences. I live so that I can be successful when I grow up, get a job, and raise a family. I live so that others can enjoy my company. I am afraid of death… I don’t want to die. I want to keep living, so I can keep having experiences.” he responds thoughtfully.
The girl turns to look at him once again. “Why are humans afraid of an inevitable end, known as death? It happens to all of us. Why do we so desperately try to avoid it? Some humans will sacrifice others just so they themselves can live. But why? Why should they have died? If you died, maybe they would still be alive. It will come upon us, whether we like it or not. And experiences… but does any of that matter after you die? Once you die, you die. There is certainly an unknown factor; we don’t know what lays beyond the veil of death. But why are we afraid of it? Shouldn’t we look forward to it? It’s a new experience. I am excited by the prospect of death. It’s a new experience that I look forward to. Why does everyone else cling to life? I can’t quite understand. If I were to step off this railing right now… nothing would matter anymore. Life is meaningless. All you do is prepare, prepare, and prepare. But for what? In the end, you only gain death. So why not die younger?”
Suddenly, the girl loses her footing. Her right foot slips off the railing, and the other one follows. Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t appear to be too afraid. She closes her eyes, ready to hit the water. Suddenly, her descent stops with a jerk. She opens her eyes, finding herself dangling over the edge, the boy holding on to her. He appears to be struggling. If he makes one wrong move, both children will end up meeting their doom in the water grave that bubbles below. He is risking his life.
She looks up at him, genuinely surprised. “Why…..? Why would you save me? Why would you risk your own life to save me? Don’t you want to live?”
The boy looks down at her, determination shining on his face. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let you fall. If I fall as well, then so be it. I won’t give up without making all the effort I can to reach a desirable outcome. If you are looking forward to death, why not wait a bit longer? Like you said, it comes to all of us. What is the point in dying earlier? I suppose there is no point in living longer, but you should still enjoy your life while you have it. Even if you see no meaning to life… make one for yourself. Even if it doesn’t matter to you in the end, fight for it! Fight for anything desirable! I will do all that I can to save you right now, even if that comes with the risk of my demise. If you are going to die someday anyway, then enjoy your life while you have it.” With a loud grunt, he yanks back, pulling her back up over the railing and onto the bridge.
They both sit there for a moment, panting heavily. The boy makes the first move, wrapping his arms around the girl. “You don’t have to deal with despair all alone. Please, allow me to take some of that burden. You shouldn’t carry that all yourself. Come on, let’s go home.”
The girl looks up at the boy, tears slowly trickling down her face. “I… I’m sorry…” she nuzzles her head into his chest and lets out a lamented cry.
The boy hugs her tighter. “You’re not alone. You’re never alone. I’ll be here for you, for as long as we both live.”
The two children stand up, and begin to embark on their journey back home.
