Coward

Aiden looked tired. He looked like he wanted to die at that point. He didn't have a reason to live. He's been annoying his mother with his mere existence for quite some time now and he just felt like ending it all for a moment. However, when it came to actually pulling it off, the willpower he mustered up until that point fizzled out.

"Some other day maybe." He mumbled as he walked out of his room and headed to the living room.

"Ah, Aiden! Glad that you came down. Get to the dining table. I have prepared something for you." His mother, who had all smiles on her face, spoke.

Aiden was confused. He was never a good son, which is why he found it hard to understand the reason behind her smile as she talked to him. Like, even he would have found it difficult if he had a son like himself, so this kindness that his mother showed him was almost suffocating.

"Look, I've prepared your favorite food!" His mother smiled as she led him towards the dining table. And indeed she did prepare his favorite food. And he simply didn't know how to react at that point.

"Why are you doing this?" His voice cracked a little as he asked that question.

"What do you mean? I knew it was your fav—oh, wait. Are you talking about the money? If that's the case, then don't worry about it. I got a bonus at my job, so I thought it would be nice if I get to make something for you." His mother spoke.

"Why do you care for me? Why do you do all of this when I've done nothing for you?" Aiden was tearing up as he said that.

"What are you going on about? You've done plenty of-" Before she could complete what she was saying, she was interrupted.

"What do you mean I've done plenty? I did nothing. All I've done is to exist. And yet-" Aiden continued crying as he said that.

"Aiden. It's fine. Don't worry about it. It's gonna be okay." She smiled as she spoke.

"I tried killing myself today." Aiden mumbled at that point.

"... Then?" His mother looked like she had something to say, but she stopped herself at that point.

"I chickened out. I'm a coward, mom. I can't do anything, not even killing myself." He spoke.

"Hey! Not killing yourself isn't an act of cowardice. If anything, it is an act of bravery. You know, a person needs an enormous amount of strength to just stay alive. So, you're hella strong." His mother smiled as she said that.

"You're just saying that to make me feel okay. In reality, I'm just a coward." Aiden mumbled.

His mother sighed. "Well, if you're that adamant about calling yourself a coward then fine! You are a coward. But I'm glad that you're a coward and I'm glad that you're alive cuz you're my reason for staying alive. So, I can't just outright ask you not to have these thoughts because that would be an impossible task to ask, but just remember that your mother loves you so much." She spoke.

"I do know that, mom." Aiden gave out a faint smile as he said that. "I guess I should leave now." He got up at that point.

"Aiden, the food-"

"I'll take it with me." Aiden spoke as he took the food and walked towards his room. At that point, he really didn't have the energy to work with the sort of optimism that his mother gave off. But before he left the room, he turned back towards his mom. "Thank you. For believing in me. For everything." He said before he quickly left the room.

#

"What's going on, Mrs Francis?" A woman asked as she saw Aiden's mother looking a bit concerned.

"It's Aiden. I mean, I haven't seen him smile for quite some time now and it's concerning. I would like it if he smiled genuinely for once, you know?" She mumbled.

"Hmm. I don't know. What did your son like doing before the incident?" The woman asked.

Mrs Francis went silent for a while. Whenever someone talks about the past, she feels a slight ache in her heart that makes her want to tear up.

And it seemed like the woman noticed this as well. "I'm sorry, Mrs Francis. I wasn't meaning to do that." The woman mumbled.

"Ah, it's fine. It's all fine." Mrs Francis gave out an awkward laughter as she said that.

"Anyhow, is there anything that he likes doing recently or has talked about trying?" The woman asked.

"Hmm, I remember him talking about that new game that just released. He's been wanting to play that, I guess." Mrs Francis spoke.

"Ah, Dynasty, right? Yea, my son's been talking about that as well. And we are planning to buy him the VR machine for that because if we delay it any longer, he'll kill us." The woman laughed as she said that.

"The VR machine. Isn't that costly?" Mrs Francis asked.

"Of course it is. But sometimes, you just gotta do things that make your spawn happy, right?" The woman spoke.

"Yea, but who calls their child spawn?" Mrs Francis chuckled as she said that.

"Well, I thought it sounded cool. But if you thought that's weird, maybe you should hear what my husband calls my son." The woman chuckled.

"Yea, I'll decline on that. It's probably something like beastmaster6000 or something." Mrs Francis shrugged as she said that.

"The fact that you're so close on that says something." The woman laughed before bidding adieu.

And once the woman left, Mrs Francis took out her phone and stared at the message in front of her. It was an ad for the virtual reality pod. And she basically had her thumb placed on the buy button.

#