"Richard Cory"

By Mona

Disclaimer: All Kingdom Hearts characters are © Square and Disney. "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson is in the public domain.

"A good song tells a story," Demyx said. He and Roxas were sipping sodas in the lounge of the Castle That Never Was. "Take 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."

"Hmm?" Roxas asked.

"In a two-minute song, Jim Croce introduced us to Leroy Brown. We feel like we know him. A man so immense and badass that all the other men simply call him 'sir.'"

"We can almost feel his breath," Roxas observed.

"Exactly! Songs have been used as storytelling devices since…"

The door opened, and Axel stepped in.

"Demyx," Axel said. "You were supposed to go to the Conception World six hours ago!"

"What?!" Demyx whined. "Saïx said you had to go!"

"I'm passing the buck."

"But I hate that world! Those demon snowmen creep me out."

"What are you complaining about? You nullify ice."

"I'm weak to physical."

"Oh, yeah. Sucks to be you. Well, Demyx, I could do this assignment myself, but it'd be a real shame if all your Duran Duran CDs melted," Axel said with a sigh.

"Fine. But if I get hurt, I'm telling Saïx you were the one who rigged his iPod to only play Jethro Tull."

"Allegedly," Axel corrected.

Demyx stormed out.

"Say, Roxas, now that I'm free, wanna go to Twilight Town and watch the sunset?" Axel asked.

"And get sea-salt ice cream?" Roxas sounded hopeful.

"Sure."

"I'd like that."

Fifteen minutes later, Axel and Roxas were sitting on the ledge of Twilight Tower, eating bars of sea-salt ice cream. Music played softly on Axel's boom box.

"So who's singing here?" Roxas inquired about the current song playing.

"Simon and Garfunkel," Axel answered.

"Oh, yeah. 'Sounds of Silence.'"

"Among other things."

Roxas licked his ice cream and listened to the lyrics. The song was apparently from the point of view of a poor factory worker who envied a rich man named Richard Cory: "So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read 'Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet in his head.'"

"Wait, what?" Roxas cried. "He shot himself in the head. Why?"

"Cause he did in the poem?" Axel responded.

"Poem?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah. Edwin Arlington Robinson's 'Richard Cory'."

"Whom?"

"He won the Pulitzer three times. You didn't study his work in school?"

"If I did, I have no memory of it."

"Let me see if I remember it." Axel took a deep breath and began to recite:

"Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed.

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

"Good morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich – yes, richer than a king –

And admirably schooled in every grace.

In fine, we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light.

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head."

Roxas looked amazed. "Wow! You knew that whole thing!"

"It's nothing. Robinson was my dad's favorite poet. My mother insisted I memorize different poems. She called it part of my education. Just don't make me recite anything by Shakespeare."

"The poem still doesn't answer my question, though."

"Why did Richard Cory blow his brains out?"

"Yes. He had everything. So why?"

"Why do I think he did it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, everyone was content to wish they were him, right? They put him on a pedestal and worshipped him from afar. But did a single person try to be his friend?"

"I guess not."

Axel shrugged. "Suicide is often born out of deepest, blackest despair. Having a friend could make the difference between losing hope and pushing on."

"But if I were Richard Cory, I'd be happy! Parties every night! Orgies on my yacht!"

"Pretty odd statement for someone who can't feel happiness."

"Axel?"

"Yes, Roxas?"

"They say Nobodies can't feel pain. But the emptiness I feel. And the pain. How can Xemnas say it isn't real? And if I can't feel pain, do I really want to? Do I really want to be human?"

"You're afraid if you become human, you'll be miserable?"

"Richard Cory is just an ungrateful bastard," Roxas declared. "He has everything, and he's still unhappy." He pointed to the streets of Twilight Town below. "Humans are the same way. They don't know what they have. We Nobodies are like the singer – we want to be Richard Cory, i.e. human. Which leads me to another question. Why did the singer still want to be Richard Cory after learning that Richard Cory killed himself?"

"Envy's a powerful thing."

"Those ungrateful humans…they make me sick. They all deserve to die."

"Case in point."

Roxas finished his ice cream. "Man, I'm thirsty. This ice cream's so salty."

Axel produced a small flask. "Here."

Roxas opened the flask and took a sip. His face scrunched up. "What is this?"

"Russian water."

"You mean vodka? Is it even legal for you to give me this? Oh, who cares? I'll drink it anyway."

Axel took out another flask. "Bottoms up." They clinked the flasks together and chugged.

Five minutes later…

"And I curse the life I'm living, and I curse my poverty," Axel and Roxas sang off-key, slurring half the words. "And I wish that I could be, oh, I wish that I could be Richard Coryyyyyyyy…hic!"

The End