The Life That Was Lived

He absolutely has to replace his air-conditioning. It's too goddamn hot in the city to have one this old still.

Felix gets up out of bed, grabs a spray bottle filled with lukewarm water, and sprays himself.

"I should've put this in the fridge..." he mumbled before spraying the air around him in a desperate attempt to stay cool in the summer. It doesn't work.

Felix stumbles through getting ready for his day, putting on some comfortable clothes, a t-shirt and some shorts, before stumbling out the door.

Felix has been living in this neighborhood in Upper Manhattan his whole life. A lot of people would feel desperate to get away from the city after having been there as long as he has, see some nature, find someplace new, but Felix has never really felt the need to get up and get out there. He figures as long as he can make a living, he doesn't really mind living anywhere. He does want to see nature sometimes but whenever he gets the urge he just goes to Central Park.

After walking out the door Felix feels even sweatier then when he was in the building, apparently the AC did more than he gave it credit for.

After walking down the street for a while, Felix finally arrives at his destination, his parent's apartment building. He moved out a while ago but it was so close by he still saw them all the time. Today he's visiting to see his little sister, as it's her 17th birthday. He feels lucky this was on a Saturday, as he really doesn't want to miss work right now.

This and a million other thoughts race through his head on the walk to the building. Felix has always thought fast, going from topic to topic like you'd skip songs on a playlist. This didn't really make him smart though, he was a little above average, and he thought a little above average at a pace far above average. Of course he doesn't realize that this is unusual, as people very rarely, if ever discuss how fast they think, him included. This does have some side effects, Felix has trouble enjoying a lot of tv-shows and movies due to them moving at a pace he considers incredibly slow. When he saw the Godfather, Felix nearly fell asleep from how slow it was moving to him.

Felix buzzes into the building, and heads up to his parent's apartment on the third floor. His family was never particularly rich, but they've never wanted for much, and reflecting that, their apartment is full with a reasonable amount of things.

Hungry, Felix spots some fruit on a nearby table, he grabs a peach and bites in.

"Those aren't ripe yet." His sister tells him.

Felix keeps gnawing at it anyway, he knew it wasn't ripe as soon as he bit in, and he really doesn't like the texture, but he feels like he has to finish it now that he bit it. Also he's hungry.

His sister laughs at him.

"You look like a weasel." She says between laughs.

The two get to talking. Felix and his sister Mel get along just fine, Felix is attached to his whole family a great deal, as he expects most people would be, and visits them often. Mel annoys him a little though, she likes to laugh at him an amount he considers to be a little too much, and almost never when he actually tells a joke.

The day passes uneventfully. Felix's parents come back home after finishing the shopping. The family talks, eats, drinks, and celebrates Mel's birthday.

"I wish I was turning 18 already!" Mel complained. "17 is such a nothing year... 16 I was able to learn to drive, 18 I'll be an adult, 17 does nothing for me!"

"Don't be in such a rush to get older! I'd kill to be your age again!" Felix's father, Matt replied.

"Yes, sweetie, your father's right. Being your age is far better than being our age. I can't do half the things I could when I was your age." Dorothy, Felix's mother, said.

"I didn't say I wanted to be your age, I said I wanted to be 18!" Mel shoved a piece of cake in her mouth and stared daggers at her parents.

Felix was having a good time, a really good time. Not just because of the friendly banter going on between his family members, in fact Felix was zoned out, and did not hear any of what they were saying. He was savoring the cake however, he hadn't had it in a long time. The cake was baked by his mother, and made him think of better times. That's not to say that these aren't good times, just that he'd had better ones. Or so he thought. Not just the cake, but the music playing in the apartment was also uplifting his mood. Getting hit with a combination of flavor and sound made Felix feel like he was on cloud 9. And even beyond that, Felix was glad that his parents had bought a new air conditioner recently, and he felt far cooler than he had all day. For that, he was grateful.

Felix thought all of these things and a few others within the span of about ten seconds.

The night wound down, and Felix decided to spend in the night in his old bedroom. After all, his apartment is probably sweltering by now, and he'd rather just enjoy the cool air here.

Felix went to bed that night, feeling pleased and content, and for once, his mind was blank.

The rest of his family also went to bed that night, tired after the day's events.

For Felix, this was as it should be, an unremarkable day fading into an unremarkable night in a life full of small pleasures.

This was as it should be however, not how it was.

The next morning, Felix woke up to find his uneventful life has been broken into, and trashed, much like his parents apartment.

It started out as shock and anger, but after finding his parents, all quickly melted away to despair.

Mel had died.