Chapter Nineteen

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Chapter Nineteen: The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Will Rule the World

"Cold is the water. It freezes your already cold mind, already cold, cold mind. And death is at your doorstep. And it will steal your innocence, but it will not steal your substance." -Mumford & Sons: Timshel

(I also recommend listening to this song after the chapter. I could really put all of the lyrics at the top because it is just perfect.)

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 The curse of the human race is that we bleed. Blood courses through our veins and keeps us weakened. It seeps through our skin by a wound and covers our lives. When we bleed, we are reminded that we are temporary. We are not special, not one of us is. We have no significant ability that makes us more important than another. We are all as a kind limited- restricted- to the simple tasks that are necessary to keep us alive.

 We will never rise up to become something greater. Our humanly bodies prevent us from doing so. Too many of us are content with being equal. Too many of us do not aspire to become a greater force within ourselves. Anyone who wants can become a teacher, a mechanic, a CEO, but what does it mean for a mass of people to depend on you? What does it mean for the entire population of the earth to trust their lives in the hands of you?

  It means that you are set up to fail.

 The firemen have been here for four hours now. It took them a full two hours to douse the fire and end it completely. The next hour was spent waiting for the investigators to arrive to search the premises. Now what is happening is what has been going on for the past hour. A search and recovery team is digging around in the charred and still smoking remnants of my home. They start a small collection of recovered items; however, the pile is small enough to hold in two hands.

 If it wasn't for my dad I would still be in the same spot in my backyard on my knees. Once the fire trucks and officials came, I found myself in the middle of them as an obstacle. I didn't care. I didn't have what it took to move myself. Tony pulled me up from the ground and walked me over to the side of my garage. I instantly slid back down to a sitting position. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around myself. Tony sat down next to me. I'm pretty sure he was talking to me, but I couldn't hear him.

 The neighbors had been alarmed by the loud explosion and had all come out of their homes to look at the scene. I recognized most of them as they gaped at the disaster. They were very quick to find my parents and me. They opened up their homes to us, but we declined. They brought us a few blankets and jackets so we could stand the bitter chill. After a while, they all withdrew back to their homes for the night.

 I'm not sure entirely where the Avengers disappeared to. I know they did not want to be in the way of the firemen and neighbors. I am mostly sure that they congregated in my garage, which was unharmed minus a few dents from flying debris. Steve came out once. He asked my parents if they needed anything and offered his sympathy. He knelt down by me after but by this point I had already tuned him out. Steve had put his hand on my shoulder as he spoke, but I couldn't feel it. After he realized I was not going to respond, he got up and retreated back to the garage.

 Alex was the next person who sat down next to me. He attempted to comfort me, but I imagine that for him it was like trying to soothe a stone. Just like Tony's and Steve's, Alex's words bounced right off of me. He tried to hold me in his arms, but I did not respond. I remained in my position but fell whichever way he moved me. Alex remained with me for most of the ordeal. He leaves me for the first time only when my mom comes.

 "Monica..." Her words do not register in my brain. "Monica, look at me."

 Apparently everyone has had enough of my stoic self. My mom uses her hand to force me to look at her. My mom's beautiful face is stained with tears. Her eyes are an alarming color of red from the grief.

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