Lolabear

One day, she decided she’d set off on a journey to find Truth. She packed a small bag full of clothes, food, a little money, and a map. She walked and walked for many days, until days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Over time, she grew and grew and still, Truth was nowhere to be found. She never gave up. At the close of one long day of searching, a hard gust of wind pulled the girl’s map from her hands and carried it away, until it became a blur in the wake of the setting sun.

What could she do now? She’d spent so long searching and for what? Now her whole journey had been pointless. She felt she’d never find her way back and she wondered how she’d ever be able to find Truth now; now that she had no idea where she was going. She decided to keep walking north and hoped to find someone who could point her in the right direction.

One day, she happened to stumble onto Truth’s twin brother, Lies. Lies started to take over her world and she grew even more confused and even more lost. But he’d promised to guide her to Truth and so she trusted him and followed him.

Lies lead her into a part of her magical land she’d never been to before. It was dark and cold there, full of bad things. Her thoughts became clouded here and she lost sight of what she was originally looking after. Lies corrupted her. Here, she wasn’t herself. Here, she was different. Here, she wasn’t good enough. But she tried. In this land of endless nights, the girl stopped eating - Lies told her she was too fat. The girl became ill. She stopped caring about everything she’d once cared about: family, friends, Truth, Love, and Happiness. She started taking pills to calm her nerves. But two pills turned into four, turned into eight, and she grew even sicker still. Lies told her she’d never fit in and she’d never find Truth, Love, or Happiness. So to deal with her pain, she started to cut. Not in an attempt of suicide, but to make sure she could still feel something after being numb for so long.

After a while, Truth came to visit his brother in Lies’ homeland. He came to preach to all that would listen, in hopes of being able to save the few that had lost their way but still had a small flicker of hope inside.

He stood on a wall of brick, calling to the townspeople that slinked out of their homes and shops to come listen. Most that listened thought what Truth said was nothing more than hogwash. They’d been so unhappy for so long, they didn’t believe that they’d be able to find Happiness or Love anywhere else. Most turned away from him, moping sluggishly back to their residences, tuning him out as they did so.

“There is more to life than this, than what you’ve been taught to think here. I can show you,” he said, “if you’ll just come away with me.”

After a short amount of time, Truth had only three bystanders left to listen. “So, what do you say?” he asked.

One of the three turned away, a look of disgust washing over his face. All that remained was the girl and another, someone she didn’t know. A boy of about the same age.

“I’d like to come with you,” the girl said.
“As would I,” said the boy.

And off they went.

Over time, the girl’s wounds healed to nothing more than mere scars, and she regained some of the color in her face. And for the first time in a long time, she was starting to smile again. It felt new to her, like it was the first time, every time.

As they walked, she grew closer to this boy and to Truth. Truth had a way of speaking in a way that comforted her, even if what he had to say wasn’t so positive. The girl thought that the boy must have felt the same way about Truth that she did, because he seemed to soak up all that he could. She thought he was growing close to Truth as well.

Again, days turned to weeks, turned to months.. And for a while, the girl thought that maybe she’d be able to find Love with said boy. He made her feel real and alive, like she’d never felt before. He promised her that when they got back to the land of magical things, they’d find Love and Happiness together.. But for a long time, she’d felt like she’d already found those things with him.

Day after day they walked together, harmoniously, as if it was meant to be. They smiled and laughed together, they made many memories and lots of silly inside jokes, and they grew to trust each other.

One day, as they were walking, the girl knew that they’d found Love together. She felt it. So she told him so, and he agreed. He told her he’d known for a long time that they had, but that he wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear it. But now he was sure that she was. So together, they dwelled in Love. And with Love, came Happiness.

However, Lies had decided to follow the three and every so often in the dead of night, he crept near, planting his untruths in their dreams while they slept.

Pretty soon it started to take it’s toll. The girl started to feel distanced from Truth and her faith in the boy dwindled. Happiness came and went, but never seemed to stay for long, though Love never left completely.

A while later, the girl started to feel that Truth was no longer around. Somewhere along the lines, they’d lost him; left him behind. Now when they needed him the most, he was nowhere to be found.

The boy started become friendly with Lies again, who’d made his appearance known after some time. Since Truth was gone and Lies was all that was left, the boy started to put his faith and trust into something he knew would always be there for him if he let it. The girl didn’t like it, not one bit. She started to distance herself from the boy, like she’d done with Truth, until eventually, they were so far gone from each other, she knew there was no going back - that things could never be the same.

After this realization, Truth came back to her and told the girl that he’d had to leave to let her make up her own mind. That for him to be real and honest, she’d had to come to the right conclusion herself. Truth told her that what she’d felt for that boy had been more honest than anything he’d ever seen in all the years of his life, which was saying a lot because he’d been around for centuries. Truth told her that it would hurt for a long, long time, but that the boy had been a confidant of Lies the whole while. This stung, but she believed she’d know deep inside that it was so. Truth promised he would never leave her side again as long as she tried her hardest to stay true to herself.

And so, though brokenhearted and fearing of all things faux-happiness, faux-love, they walk, even now - today, just as any other, trying to find their way back to their magical world full of magical things. And they hoped more than anything, that they’d find Love and Happiness again along the way. And that someday, the boy would to.