fabrecation | 026 [written]

[It's so bad now that Luke feels like he can barely get out of bed except for necessary needs. It's... honestly kind of strange. Sure, he's scared, and sure, he hates having to lay here and just wait for it to happen, despite writing and drawing to pass the time. But he isn't quite as terrified as he was just a month ago.

It's like he's accepted that this is happening in a quiet, somber sort of way.

There's pain every day, he's tired every day, he's thin and pale and looks as if he's just wasting away, as if he's all that's left after tiny pieces of himself slowly just... faded away. Even his hair seemed not quite as full as it ought to be.

He hated it, yes. But it's happening. And he's close to fading away completely, he knows that. Maybe that's why he's mostly okay with this. It can finally be over.

He'd only flipped through the journal to keep track of everyone. Now, though, he can't help being morbidly curious, in a way. So, making sure that he himself is out of sight, he writes slowly to the masses.]

If someone told you that you didn't have much longer to live, what would you do about it? What would you do with the last days of your life?

[It's a question that could be asked even by a curious healthy person, something to get people to think. He can think of it that way, and get answers that he might just need because of it.]

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That sounds like something a lot of people would do...

So how would you do it? Make them count, I mean.

I'd make them count by doing whatever I can to make the most of it.

That could be through helping others, or [The writing pauses for a moment.] just spending time with and doing things for the people important to me.

And just do whatever you could to make them happy, huh?

... Someone told me that once. After I made a really bad mistake.

That too. But I'd want to make sure my life at least affected someone else's. In a positive way, that is. If I could have that, I think I'd be happy.

Really? [He hesitates to ask more, but continues on.] ... Someone I knew lived by those words too.

It's what I'm trying to do, to be honest. After all that, I kept wondering what I could do to make it up to people. He told me to make everyone in the world happy, and even if I can't, put that much effort into it.

I know it's not enough, but... I'm not letting that stop me from trying.

It's a good enough start.

[Though it does make this kid wonder about something.]

But let me ask you something: How would you go about doing that exactly? Making everyone happy, that is.

[There's a small pause as he thinks about that. On his world, it meant just scrambling to make sure everyone had a home to live in, to save lives as well as cities. But...]

It'd be creepy if I just butted in to everyone's personal stuff just to make them happy, huh? But... like helping out when something needs to be fixed, or if a town is having problems, or being there if someone you know is sad. Stuff like that... I think that's what he meant.

[Well, that makes more sense. This person does seem to have the right idea; that much Rudy could agree with.]

I'm not sure if it's really possible to make everyone happy, honestly. But those sound like a good start. If those are the sort of things you personally value, then I think that's good enough too. [There's a pause, before adding:] Through our own actions in life, that in turn can have an impact on others' lives as well.

Right. And maybe they can have an impact on other people's lives as well.

[There's a small pause.] I know it's impossible to make everyone happy. But if you put that much effort into what you're doing, as if you want to do it anyway... I think you can go a long way towards it.