Sempiternal

Depression. It’s not a small thing. It’s giant. It kills people. Whether we notice it or not. That’s the problem for Arthur, a 19 year old boy who has been abused his whole life. Every day, he would wake up, eat, get beat, repeat. Then High School started. And it all got worse. He met Jak who consistently cared for him, hell, Jak was the reason that Arthur was considering being either gay or bisexual. Then came Foster. The guy who would push Arthur. The guy who would make Arthur hurt worse than he ever did before. Arthur followed his daily routine, get up, get dressed, try not to let his father break his ribs, then walk into school with Jak like nothing happened. On his way to class, he accidentally bumped into someone.

“Oh shit, sorry” Arthur exclaimed as he looked up. Arthur looked to see who he bumped into then his stomach dropped. It was Foster. Arthur could feel the fear in his stomach. Foster shoved him against the lockers hard, hitting Arthur’s head off the locker causing Arthur to raise a hand to his head. Foster saw his hand raise and saw it as an opportunity.

Arthur felt Foster put his hand against his head, Arthur then felt his head crash against to lockers, then felt nothing. Foster had slammed his head against the lockers so hard it had rendered him unconscious.

𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜

Arthur felt a pounding in his skull. His first reaction was to raise his hand and block because he thought his father was on top of him again, beating his skull in, he opened his eyes and realized that he merely had a headache. The school nurse looked at him and he saw the eye roll. “How are you feeling” Arthur felt irritated by the question. He figured it would be obvious that he was in pain, but he guessed not. “Feeling like the rich pampered white boy just slammed my head into a locker” the nurse giggled at his comment. Arthur admired the nurse. She was 23 years old, and Arthur was merely 19. The nurse looked as if she was still 18. She was popular amongst the school because she was still a virgin. It kind of surprised Arthur that someone that good looking hadn’t had a sexual relation with anyone before. “Are you staring at me Arthur?” The nurse said to him, he felt himself blush and he said no. “Arthur honey it’s fine, I work at a school full of horny preteens.” Arthur smiled a little at this, she was the only woman that looked that good and still had a sense of humor that her dad didn’t buy for her. The nurse moved closer to Arthur and leaned to him to take his temperature to make sure he wasn’t going to throw up. Arthur found himself reaching up and twirling the nurse’s hair. The nurse moved so that her face was leveled with his. “Arthur, what did you think your doing” Arthur blushed heavily and reels his hand back “Nothing ma’am!” The nurse giggled aloud and patted his head. “Arthur listen. I’ve had millions of people this year alone attempt to touch me, be happy you’re cute.” Arthur blushed so heavily he pulled his hoodie over his face. The nurse laughed aloud and sent him on his way.

After school, Arthur went home where he had to face his father. “How was school?” Arthur was a bit confused by this question so it took a few seconds to answer “It wa-“ Arthur’s father hit him in the head “Took too long to answer, I don’t care” Arthur looked down and walked to his room and he heard his mother walk in. He stopped and hid in the corner and watched “Hi Honey” his mom said to his father. His father ignored her and watched the T.V. “Honey wha-“ his father cut her off. “Will you shut up?” Arthur walked to his bedroom and put his headphones in, hoping that he could drown the argument out. About an hour later he heard a thump and screaming. Arthur ripped out his headphones and ran to the living room. Once he got to the living room he saw his father holding his mother down, punching her in the head mercilessly. Arthur saw a lot of blood. Her nose and jaw was very visibly broken. But she was screaming through the gargled bloody mess. His father was going off worse than ever. Arthur ran and attempted to pull his enraged father off of his mom. Arthur was then thrown backward into the T.V. “You’re going to watch this happen. If you look away I’ll do the same to you!” Arthur’s father then balled a fist, and slammed it against his mothers chest. His father hit her as hard as he could, smiling while he did it. Arthur heard his mothers ribs crackling under the pressure of the punches. His mother’s lungs had very visibly collapsed. His mother made a finger gun before she quit breathing. Arthur screamed and ran to his fathers bedroom and grabbed his fathers gun. He ran to the living room and took aim. Arthur’s father looked and yelled at him that he was too scared to shoot. “I’ll kill you too!” Arthur pulled the trigger and unloaded a round in his father’s face and killed him. Arthur dropped the gun and screamed. He screamed as loud as he could. He screamed as the sudden realization of what just happened washed over him. He heard sirens off in the distance as he ran and locked himself inside his father’s room. Arthur held the gun and looked at it and felt the memories flooding him. Jak, the boy he cared about the most, his first kiss, and the boy he had lost his virginity too, well, at least willingly, and that he still loved. The school nurse, the lovely lady that had always made Arthur smile, the lady that made Arthur forget about Foster, the lady that made Arthur forget his father. And he had wasted it all with one gunshot. And now he must throw it all away. He heard the door behind him get destroyed and he knew that he needed to make a choice. It’s now or never. He turned around to face the officer. “Son, put the gun down. It’s alright.” Arthur could feel his eyes hit with tears. “Tell Jak I love him.” Arthur raised the revolver to his chin and felt the thoughts of his family, Jak, the nurse, and all the smiles. He screamed aloud and pulled the trigger. When the bullet began to penetrate his skull, time froze. He felt happy. He felt relieved. Live long Jak, I love you. And the the bullet traveled through his head. The bullet penetrating and crumbling Arthur’s skull. He felt it enter his brain just before the lights went out. And there he lay. Arthur had committed suicide and left his entire life behind, and he ended everything.