Unikum februar 2020

And Emma more than enough filled that requirement.
“Yes, it has been a while,” Ryan responded,
not entirely meeting her eyes.
She awkwardly shuffled closer to him, not to flirt, as Ryan
knew Emma despised that game as well. No, this was to ensure
a conversation in the open could stay somewhat private.
“How’s the counseling going?” she whispered.
His natural instinct was to serve up another lie, but for
Emma, truth was a better dish. Unlike Doctor Lamb, Emma
wouldn’t swallow a single lie, she would rather puke it
right back up at his face. And Ryan owed Emma the truth.
“It isn’t really going anywhere. Just like everything else. It
feels more like wasted time, I know I did something bad, and
they know I know, yet, they want to ensure I don’t do it again,
even though they should know I never would,” Ryan spilled.
Ryan looked upon Emma. She was considering her next
words, her next line of attack, but what she didn’t know,
was that his defenses were already down. At least, for her.
“Ryan, why did you do it?”
It had been five months, yet she had never mustered the
courage to ask that question. Until now. Everyone else
in this boring world would never seek a reason, only
accept the inevitable result. Only accept that in the end
everything would be fine and dandy. But not…Emma, for
some reason. And so, she deserved an honest answer.
“I’m tired, Emma. Of this ‘perfect’ life, of this ‘perfect’
world. I want to feel something, to overcome some hurdle.
I want to struggle, I want to face challenges, I want to
feel alive,” Ryan whispered back, his voice shaking.
He’d expected Emma to be surprised, repulsed even.
But instead, she looked at him with empathy:
“And here I thought everyone else had forgotten
what it feels like. Do you know why I lied to
the authorities, Ryan? Because you didn’t do anything
wrong. It’s this…boring world’s fault.”
Boring. She’d called this world…boring. Before Ryan
could react, she hopped onto the tram he’d failed to
notice. Before he could stop her or ask her anything,
the tram took off. The tram was never late. And all he
could see of Emma, was her beautiful summer dress
blazing in the wind in its magnificent gray color.
His own tram arrived shortly after, bringing him to a
kingdom of sand, sun and sea. On such a beautiful day
as this, the beach was stuffed with people, all enjoying
their boring, peaceful lives. They were playing volleyball,
eating ice cream and drinking cold beer. Every time Ryan
laid eyes on a beer; a chill was sent down his spine. The
one time he’d gotten drunk, was the one time he’d lost
control, and the one time, he’d felt completely alive.
He went to the shore, watching the waves’ eternal
struggle of back and forth. He felt a comfort, watching
them, knowing that no matter how far they went they
always came back. And the pulling of the sea had a
hypnotizing effect on him. Almost like he wanted to be
pulled with the waves. He watched his reflection ripple,
and he carefully pulled out the scalpel to watch its
sparkly glamour in the sun. But as he glanced back to the
water’s surface, he didn’t see his reflection and scalpel
anymore, now, he saw the woman who’d been underneath
his scalpel five months ago. The pain and despair
inscribed in her every feature. And not even she could
stop Ryan from lifting the scalpel, drunkenly, to…to…
No, no, it didn’t happen, it hadn’t happened! Emma
had… had stopped him…hadn’t she? Emma in her
white uniform…no…wait, was it perhaps gray?
“SOMEO-SOMEONE! PLEASE, PLEA-
SE, OH MY GOD, HELP US! HELP!”
Ryan never cared for anyone besides himself, but as he recognized
the panic in the voice screaming, something moved
inside him. Something he hadn’t felt in far too long.
Adrenaline.
He ran over to where the panicked screaming had erupted
from. A small crowd of sheep had gathered around in
a circle, desperately awaiting a shepherd to herd them.
Nothing was supposed to go wrong in this perfect world, it
was supposed to be boring. But accidents happen, whether
these people liked it or not. Ryan broke through, staring
upon the scene that had caused such havoc. A cyclist must
have fell down the steep cliff down to rock slab separating
the beach and the cliff. Before Ryan, sprawled upon
the gray rock which was getting stained by the crimson
color of blood, laid the body of a woman, her mangled
leg the source of chaos. A bone sticking out of her flesh,
like a single, lonely, white tree in a forest of meat.
As he looked upon the beauty of the wound, he couldn’t
help but touch it. He lowered himself next to the woman,
no objections being raised as panic had engulfed
them all. His hands quickly stained with the essence of
life, which the lack of was slowly draining the woman
of hers. But finally, Ryan saw a different color than gray
in this boring world. He saw a hope, in all its red glory.
“What are you doing!?” someone yelled at Ryan.
Without even bothering to turn to the person
posing the protest he answered:
“I’m a doctor, let me help her.”
Because in a world where everything is predictable, it
is only the unpredictable that was not truly boring.
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