Your soul is like a mirror showing your true self. Its shards won´t bring you any luck if once shattered
"Lifty!" Shifty woke up startled, reminding himself of the gruesome happenings of last night. He looked next to him hectically, to his relief Lifty was lying next to him, but something was odd.
"Lifty? Are you awake?" He noticed his brother shaking slightly. Was he once again mad at him? He sure knows that he didn´t stand a chance anyway, besides, it was him telling Shifty to run anyways. Even if Lifty now has something to criticize, this time his demise was not his fault.
"Lifty? Hey, wake up…" Shifty cooed, but nothing happened. He still lay in his bed, his shaking somewhat intensifying. Shifty couldn´t bear this any longer and stood up. Going around to look him into the face he noticed his eyes pried wide open. He could tell that dying in this place is everything but pleasant, Lifty's gaze however was almost scaring him. He never saw him that shocked.
"Hey Lif, it´s alright. He won´t …" But suddenly Lifty started to speak weakly "no… I…he…he just…" Lifty tried to explain to his brother what happened to him last night, every little detail of the sordid mutilation he had to endure while Flippy thoroughly relished the ordeal he has put him through.
He couldn´t. Suddenly he bursts into tears, hiding his face inside the pillow and began to cry. Shifty was mostly the tougher one of the two, he has seen him in tears often, especially after every time he dumped his brother for his own salvation.
He thought of comforting him but managed to do so poorly as he tried to speak up "He isn´t here and he won´t come here. You can be sure of that. Besides, it definitely couldn´t be worse than last time he killed you…" It couldn´t be worse than last time? He didn´t even saw the atrocities Flippy did to him and now he still dares to judge the degree of pain he was put through?
Lifty instantaneously stopped wailing and became mute. He slowly got up from the pillow his eyes still watery, but this was just the remains of his woe. He looked directly at his brother with an unemotional expression "If you say so…did you get what we were there for?"
Surprised but also relieved at the change of topic Shifty got out the strongbox and demonstrated it proudly "Of course, you know that I would never let you…" Shifty stopped there, stuttering to find a more fitting way to end this sentence. "Never let me what?" Lifty asked in a tone you mostly only hear from persons who try to be friendly and neutral but get slightly pissed nonetheless. Not let you die in vain was his thought. But every time he let his brother die was tremendously futile as he died himself only a few moments after.
This time was different, he escaped.
"Lifty listen I´m…" but he couldn´t finish the sentence, he couldn´t help but feel uneasy as his brother spoke at him again awfully monotonous "Not it is fine. I told you to leave and you left. There is no reason for you to apologize. I´m glad that you managed to get the strongbox, could you already check its content?"
No, he couldn´t. He basically just woke up and looked for his brother. "No not yet but this shouldn´t stop us to do it now, right?" He smiled nervously avoiding his sibling's glare. It did not take him much effort to open it as it wasn´t locked. Opening it he indeed noticed a large amount of money. Not enough to improve their standards but definitely something to work with. He put the money on the little desk which is placed right before their bed, but noticed a little piece of paper "Huh?" it was folded abrasively, and he had to unfold it step by step, revealing a small but still readable inscription telling "Was it worth it?" He looked confused as he unfolded it further revealing a photo "What the…" he was shocked as the picture has shown his brother, lying dead in the room he has just escaped barely. His hands are perforated, his knees just a bloody pile, but the most shocking view was the exasperated expression Lifty had on his lifeless face.
"What is it?" Lifty wanted to know why his brother got so startled all of a sudden "Oh it´s…it´s nothing I just…got overwhelmed by the amount of money which was actually in. I never expected us to have some luck you know? Heh…"
Lifty raised his right brow in suspicion as he couldn´t tell whether his brother was lying again to him once more, but it wasn´t that unlikely as they barely have some luck. "So…what are we going to do with it now? Pay the rent first?" "Pay the rent first." Shifty assured. Having something to eat was important but keeping a home was top priority.
After counting the amount of cash, they actually got out of the strongbox, Shifty recognized that it was just enough to scratch a living. After paying the rent there will be even enough to fetch up a meal for a single person.
"I´ll be right back Lifty, I´ll look out for something to eat for both of us." Shifty tried to assure him but he knows it the better. He knows that if they´re finished with the little amount of food he can buy with the little rest of the money they will go hungry to bed once again.
The moment he went out of the house he noticed Flaky at the other end of the street. Even though the most people despised the two brothers, Flaky was never ashamed to talk to them and this was just that what Shifty needed right now. Someone to talk to.
"Hey Flaky, how's it going?" The red porcupine shrieked a little, mostly getting surprised by anyone talking to her on a sudden. "Oh… hi Shifty, I´m fine. I´m heading to the store to get something to eat." Flaky put on her gentle but shy smile, even if she would dislike you, you wouldn´t be able to tell.
"Oh, what coincidence. I´m heading to the same direction, may I accompany you to this short direction?" He asked. Shifty didn´t really care for Flaky but it was a comfortable alternation to walking alone once again.
"Of course you can. How is Lifty doing? Are you two coming along well?" There is something that Flaky really dislikes, and that is awkward silence. So, she tries to start a conversation.
"Well, yeah we do…I guess?" "You guess?" Surprised by his reservation she asks further. "Is there something wrong between you two?" Shifty gets a bit nervous at this question. He doesn´t know what happened last night, the only thing he knows is the way Flippy has left his brother, the remaining question still bugging him.
"Was it worth it?"
He couldn´t get rid of this question, it seemed as if it tries to penetrate his mind. "Shifty?" Torn from the thoughts he shakes his head "Nah, everything´s fine. He is not feeling too well today so I´m going to buy refreshments on my own. At least I´m trying to do so…"
"What do you mean with trying?" Flaky may be shy, but she´s the most uncomfortable if people are living in distress. For her there are no good and bad people. In her point of view everyone has its flaws but also any good traits which are just to be discovered. Shifty thought for a moment whether he should share their problems or not, but what would it matter anyways. "Well we don´t have much money and I can only afford a meal for a single person. We will sure share it but that just means that we´re about to go to bed hungry."
"No, you don´t. I´m sure I have enough to share to facilitate that you two can go to sleep saturated. Tell me what you guys eat mostly!" Shifty was now completely puzzled at her sudden kindness. He knew she was a caring person, but this move depicts her as an altruistic paragon. "You really would…"
"Yes, I would, and I will!" Flaky said determined "Despite the fact that we´re just some low-life thieves, robbing and raiding to buoy up ourselves?"
"You two are no low-life beings, there is nothing like that to me. Yes, you two may be thieves but you two have so little things to hold on. Besides, it won´t kill me to pay a little more than usual. So, tell me now what you guys eat mostly."
He could hardly believe his luck "We´re both eating a lot of meat… but it´s ok I know these are rather expensive…"
"Meat you say? Which one?" He stood there, stuttering with an open jaw "Ehem, it doesn´t really matter which one…"
"Fine, then we go fetch you both something to eat!"
With that said Shifty followed her soundless, barely holding back the joy rising inside.
"It was barely enough for us both to eat" Lifty thought to himself. It is indeed a shitty world they live in, their situation of hardly surviving everyday wasn´t about to brighten his mood. He finally got out of his bed but stood still there as yesterday's happenings are flashing before his eyes again. Only thinking about the torture gave him a phantom pain in his knees and hands. Suddenly, he was torn from his thoughts as the doorbell began to ring. "Tsk, who could that possibly be… I bet he forgot his room keys again…"
He opened the door expecting his brother, but as he saw which person was standing in the threshold his chess tightened in distress, impeding his breath. "Hello Lifty." Flippy said as gentle and polite as he could muster. "P…Please don´t hurt me! What do you want, I´ll give it to you but please don´t…"?
"Calm down, I´m not here to hurt you! Why would I do so? I just came here because as I opened my drawer tonight I noticed my strongbox missing. You don´t have a clue what could have happened to it?" Flippy asked kindly. He foreboded that these two rascals had something to do with it, who else would steal a strongbox hidden in the cupboard of someone's own bedroom?
Lifty hesitated to answer but decided to tell him the plain truth. "Look Flippy, I´m sorry okay? We… we stole it from you last night, we needed the money to pay the rent for our apartment and get something to eat, we didn´t mean to spite you, we just…" Flippy was overwhelmed by Lifty's sudden outburst but muted him instantaneously.
"Hush! Look I don´t care for the money I… just want the strongbox back. Could you please give it back to me?" He beseeched. "S…sure wait right here I´ll give it back to you." Lifty promptly dashed to his bedroom and got the strongbox. He returned to the front door and handed it over to flippy.
"Here you go. I´m sorry we didn´t mean to steal something of such importance from you…" He lied. During a heist they never actually cared if the belongings had some personal value to their victims. That´s the reason why he is in this predicament. "You know the box itself isn´t that important to me…" Flippy pulled a barely visible string of the strongbox and revealed an undersurface containing a photo. A picture of him standing between a mouse and a chameleon. "These two were my best buddies in war… They´re not among us anymore, so I would like to commemorate the good times I had the pleasure to work with them…"
Lifty stood there silent. He never really thought of something like this, that something could contain such personal value to a person. He just thought of getting money as efficient as thievery can be. He couldn´t help but feel a little miserable for that action. Especially because of the fact that Flippy just somehow gave them the money they stole.
"Flippy… why are you telling me this?" They never really were friends. Sharing such private information confused Lifty.
"That you guys have my strongbox can only mean that you both were in my bedroom and opened the drawer with the medication folder, containing some vivid information about me…I don´t think that it matters anymore as you guys did not only steal my money but also my privacy."
"Your privacy? Don´t you think that such information could be important to everyone since you´re the savage maniac killing all of us? I really do not intend to be disrespectful right now but didn´t you ever get to the conclusion that it would be a great idea to share such information, so people could act appropriate towards your disorder?"
Lifty couldn´t help it but getting angry, disconcerting Flippy. Suddenly Flippy had enough of this. He came in here to take back what belongs to him and didn´t even bother to demand his money back and yet this green nincompoop dares to judge him?
"And what would that matter now? What would that change? Most people don´t even remember the way they died! Not to mention the fact that we live in this cursed town with no way to escape, don´t you think that even with this knowledge a trigger would be pulled? Well I have for what I came for, thanks for giving me back my belongings! Have a nice day!" Flippy said turning around and going away, madly pissed at Lifty's reaction.
"Tsk, good riddance!" He went upstairs, ready to go back to bed as he couldn´t muster any motivation and courage to do something. But just before he got there he noticed the unwrapped paper and the photo lying next to it. It didn´t take him long to unwrap it, reading the same question which got Shifty so startled. "Was it worth it?" The moment he got up the picture he began to realize that whoever the second person in Flippy was, it was toying with them.
Suddenly tears start to form up in his eyes, he fell to his knees and started to whimper silently. "Yes… yes it was! He survived, and the heist was a success… even though I didn´t make it. But what does that matter, right? I´ll be reborn again no matter what, so if that means I can make his life more comfortable by dumping myself… then this is the way I´ll go for now on."
With that said he crawled to the corner of the room, hugging his tail as he silently cries himself to sleep.
