Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Theorem ❯ The Theorem ( One-Shot )

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THEOREM

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“What's the point in life?”

 

My mother started and looked over at me. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel of our car as we sat in the driveway, freshly bought groceries sitting on the back seat.

 

“What?” she demanded a little too sharply, voice on some border between hysterical and furious. She was assuming I was talking about killing myself, most likely.

 

“I mean,” I began, “what's the point? We're born and live for a few years and then we die and simply stop existing, almost like we never were to begin with. What's the point in all that?”

 

“Oh,” is all she said for a moment, her hands loosening on the steering wheel. Then: “Well, isn't that a matter of opinion?”

 

“What do you think?” I persisted.

 

She took a few moments to deliberate before: “Some people are religious and think that some sort of divine being—God—created everything. They also think that when you die, your soul either goes to Heaven or Hell.”

 

I wasn't phased and I wasn't buying it. “You're not religious.”

 

My mother's eyebrows knitted downwards. She scrutinized me for a while. “Why does it even matter?” she asked again, getting slightly frustrated. “You've never been a deep-thinker—”

 

“The guy who sits behind me in Physics killed himself last night.” My words came out coldly.

 

My mother's eyes filled with empathy. “Oh, sweetie…” she started. “Oh, honey, I'm so sorry to hear—”

 

“It's okay. I didn't know him.”

 

Her eyebrows came down into a bow once more. “Then why does it matter?”

 

We were back to square one again…

 

“It has me thinking, is all. What's the point in life?”

 

Her golden brown eyes flicked to me. “Simply because something happened that started the vicious cycle of life. Something happened—the Big Bang, God, whatever the hell you want to say—and the universe was created. Something else happened—evolution, divine intervention—and humans and animals came to be. I don't think there's anything that we can do to stop humans from reproducing. Human life comes and goes. There really can't be one specific point to it. Life is all a matter of opinion. If you think the point of life is to earn your way to some salvation from God, then that's what it is. If you think it's to make it through the day without losing your mind, then that's what it is.”

 

She raked a hand through her short, auburn hair and fumbled with the door handle. Absently, I heard her grab all four bags of groceries from the back of the car. I heard the car door slam shut. I heard the low clicking of her shoes as she went inside. A raindrop fell with a loud ping and my eyes were drawn to the windshield where it landed. I hadn't cried when I heard that boy died. I hadn't been able to.

 

Now, sitting outside in my mom's junked-up car, the sky cried for me.

 

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This WAS written exclusively for the May Drabble Contest on MM-dot-org… but I didn't enter, so meh. XP

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No names were given for the purpose of the story.

 

Criticism of any sort appreciated!