Always Gets Better

Part II

The girl was once again looking up at the sky. This time, however, she was lying down on the soft, green, grass in a little park near the base of the magnificent tower. She glanced to her left, to see the blue eyed man watching her carefully. They lay there, looking at each other in silence for some time, until he spoke.

"Do you have any pets?"

The girl stared at him in confusion. What was this man talking about? Is this why he had brought her here, to ask if she owned any animals? He was clearly insane and wasting her time. After all, she could have been gone by now.

She realised that he was still watching her, waiting for her to answer.

"Yes, I have a fish." She said, not wanting to seem impolite.

He nodded slowly to himself, then asked another seemingly pointless question.

"Does it have a name?"

"Rosa." The girl muttered uncomfortably.

"And what would happen to Rosa if you disappeared?"

He looked her in the eye, and she thought for a while.

"I'm not su- No, this is ridiculous."

The girl got up to leave, but the man grabbed her arm.

"No, this is important. What would happen to Rosa if you were gone?"

The girl stared at the hand gripped tightly, urgently around her arm, and stayed silent.

"Who would feed your fish?"

She gave a sigh, and looked at the man's face.

"I don't know, nobody I guess."

"And what would happen to it?"

She did not answer.

"What would happen to it?" He repeated again, louder and slower than before.

"It would die." She stated bluntly. Just wishing that the man would leave so she could go back and finish what she had started.

"Yes, it would die. So that's one other life that would be taken, apart from your own." He whispered. "Just think of how many people you would be affecting apart from yourself."

The girl looked at the man in shock. He had only just met her and now he was trying to talk her out of the only thing she was sure of?

"Why do you even care? It's not like you know me, I've never seen you before in my life." She spat, but the man shook his head.

"It doesn't matter if I know you or not. You're going through a tough time, but it always gets better." He fixed his gaze onto her, his sparkling blue eyes piercing into her soul. "No matter how dark it gets, there's always a ray of light that shines through. You just have to wait for the clouds to pass."

The girl laughed and rolled her eyes.

"That all sounds very deep and meaningful, but I think I'll be going now. It was nice to meet you..." She trailed off, realising that the man had never said his name.

The man smiled.

"Call me Custos."