One day, when life was reflected

Unlike my mother, my father has an intense dislike for cities - instead, he prefers to live in the suburbs. He has a house tucked away in a remote corner of the woods by his home. On the weekends I'd go there - I have a feeling that my mother did that to be rid of me, at least for two days - and spend the night at his house. There was something about my father's house that relaxed me, unlike my mother's home, which was always chilly and cold.

On the day I arrived at the house, I'd always go swimming in the nearby lake with Father. It was clean and clear, so much that you could see the bottom from the surface. Even more than that, we always seemed to have the entire lake to ourselves. Nobody was there to intrude. It was great.

One time, Father broke his arm - that meant no swimming. However, I still visited him as usual that weekend. Instead of swimming in the lake, we just sat by it, watching the sun set. In silence, I reflected upon life. This, by some coincidence, was in the same week when I had met Eris. Naturally, I thought about her and what she said to me - it had been nagging on my mind ever since.

There was something about the woman that was captivating, something that stuck in my head and surfaced at the oddest moments. It was like I could not forget her, nor the strange conversation we had.

I wished to meet Eris again - see her face, ask her more questions. Which I still do today. However, I had not seen a trace of her ever since our original meeting.

I lost myself in my thoughts, and before I knew it, the sun had started to set. I snapped back to reality and stared through squinted eyes at the sun in the lake's reflection. The sun seemed much brighter, much hotter than usual. I became aware of the burning on my neck once more. It was uncomfortable, yet thrilling. I hated it, yet I wanted to feel it more, wanted to experience the pain in more pronounced detail.

I don't know why - I don't think those thoughts often, and usually I hate all kinds of pain. But this pain was exhilarating. It was like a gift given to me by Eris - after all, it had started on the day we met.

When the sun set completely, an emptiness engulfed the pain, and it went away. Everything seemed darker than it usually was, more saturated and gray.

I went to bed shortly afterwards, my sleep filled with dreams of Eris. She was telling me that I could know everything. All I had to do was shake her hand. When she extended it to me, I reached over to shake it - however, I couldn't extend my arm far enough to touch it. When I moved, she moved, never letting me shake it. My entire body burned, feeling a fire that wasn't there. All throughout this I was acutely aware of the coal-studded ring - made of iron, looking more like a chain - on her right hand.

When I woke up, I felt like I had gotten no sleep at all.