I'm so sorry for the delay! Technical issues ensued over the weekend (because why not?) and the wifi went down with it. But I'm back now! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Sometimes I think that it's better to never ask "why?"
Chapter 35
Try
The room is silent for a couple of seconds, Edd finding himself facing a situation he's not entirely sure how to react to nor handle. Now, could you please be so kind and explain to him what his sister just said to him and what she told him to do?
"…what?" Finally able to speak, and his voice is but a whisper.
"You're going to beat them up," Mel tells him, repeating the words for his fragile little mind once more. "Or well, beat them up and beat them up, one punch in the face should be enough and if a teacher were to see you, you'd still be able to explain that it was self-defense – I think at least."
"Wh-gh…mh-!" His brain won't allow him to process the information. "WHAT?!" he suddenly lets out, "you said- what?! Why am I-?! You-?! WHAT?!"
Mel simply looks at him as he falls apart in front of her. "Mhm."
"Mhm?!" Edd repeats. "Mhm?! What do you mean 'mhm'?! What do you- Why do I have to beat them up?!"
"To teach them a lesson," she tells him in the most blatantly way possible as Edd stares at her, mouth agape.
"A lesson?!" he says, "what kind of lesson does that teach?!"
"'Touch me and you'll regret it', that kind of lesson," she says with a monotone voice, as if her answer and reasoning is obvious. Well, to her it is. "Calm down, I just said I'm not trying to tell you to beat them all up at the same time, okay? That's both crazy and stupid, and it could be considered suicide, so don't do that."
"But you said-!"
"Just one punch. That's all you have to do and then it's over," hopefully.
Edd's eyes are filled with confusion, his mind refusing to make it make sense. "B-but! But I'm a pacifist! I DON'T FIGHT PEOPLE!"
Mel raises an eyebrow at his statement. "…except me apparently," she mutters.
Edd frowns at her words – yes, he did hear her mutter about him – and crosses his arms in disapproval of the whole discussion and turns his back towards her. Why does it always have to end with violence and blood? Taking a deep breath, he can feel the wound in his ear throbbing in pain, his heartbeat quickening as he gets more and more upset. Why does it always have to end up like this? In the background he can hear Mel let out a sigh, a very faint sigh, almost as if she didn't want him to hear it. He slowly turns to look at her over his shoulder, finding her eyes are looking down at the floor in front of her.
"I just told you that I don't want you to fight them," she tells him, almost sounding defeated. "In fact, you don't even need to… not right now at least. You just- you just… just teach them a lesson! Put your foot down! I tried to do that before but they didn't understand what I was trying to tell them."
He can't believe her, trying to justify violence like that. "Because you went too hard on them," he says.
"Actually, I might not have gone hard enough on them," she tells him. "That would be the reason why they're doing this again; they're not afraid to. Or rather; they're not afraid of you."
"…what?"
"They're not coming after me, are they?"
"N-no…?"
"Exactly, and that's because I've already taught them that lesson; 'touch me and you'll regret it'. They already know what I'm capable of and so, they back off. If they had lost their fear of that then they wouldn't have just come after you, they would've come after me as well, right?"
"I guess…?"
"Right. They know that about me, but they don't know that about you. Sure, they know we're siblings and that I would do anything for you, but they also know that I can't. I can't do anything and everything for you, even if I want to. They know I can't be there to save you every time."
Edd sighs, sounding like the weight of the world is resting on his shoulders. He lowers his head as he thinks about it, the point that she's trying to make him understand. He knows this point, his parents have already talked to him about it when he was younger; if someone is mean and bullies you or your friends, then you need to stand up to them. But… stooping to the same level as them…? Is that even… is that the right thing to do? It doesn't feel like it.
"I'm sorry Edd, but you gotta learn how to save yourself."
"By learning how to fight?"
"One punch," she tells him, trying to sound optimistic, "that's all its gonna take."
"How do you know?!" he throws at her, feeling triggered, pushed into a corner. "How can you be so sure it's going to be over after that?"
Mel sighs. You're not very good at explaining this, you know. "Fine…" she admits, "how about we try and look at it from another angle, hmm?"
A little confused, but also curious, Edd looks at Mel and gives her a shy nod.
"Right… okay…" she mutters to herself for a couple of seconds. "Alright, let's put it like this; if you see a snake, is your first idea or instinct to grab it and play with it like a toy?"
"Good lord no!" Edd gasps, almost feeling offended by the question. "Absolutely not!"
"And why is that?"
"Because it's going to bite!" he says, flabbergasted.
"Ah!" Mel smiles at him. "But how do you know it's going to bite?"
His face turns a pretty shade of red as he starts ranting. "Because-! Because that's what a snake does whenever it feels threatened! And you never specified what kind of snake it might be! What if it happens to be venomous? Why, that would be-"
"Because it's happened before!" Mel cuts him off. "Right! Someone – not you – grabbed a snake one day, got bit and had to suffer the consequences from that and they thought; 'Ouch! That hurt! I don't ever wanna do that ever again! I better make sure people learn about this so that they won't to the same mistake as me, yada yada yada,'" waving off the story at the end, she turns to look at him directly, to make sure he hears her about this. "It's a lesson you only need to learn once. One punch from you is like one bite from a snake. Do you understand?"
Edd stares at her silently for a moment. That… kind of made it easier for him to understand her point, though he's not going to tell her that anytime soon. Besides, he still doesn't like it, he will never ever like violence, no matter what. Also; "I'm not a snake," he mutters quietly, folding his arms over his chest and head lowered in disapproval.
"…what?" Mel asks, slightly confused.
"I'm not a snake!" Edd frowns at her. "Calling someone a snake means they're mean, a bad person. I'm not."
"…o-kay…um…" she scratches her elbow again, trying to think of something. "Then… how about a shark?"
"A SHARK?! How is that supposed to be better?!"
"Hey! Don't you dare say anything bad about sharks! They are lovely creatures that are known to be both curious and playful, some even forming friendships with divers!" Mel tries her best not to yell at him, she just speaks loudly, that's all. "They are literally the puppies of the ocean – it's when someone decides to try their luck by acting stupid around them or mistreat them that bad things happen! Mistreat a shark and they'll put you in your place, sometimes in pieces! Okay? If you don't want to be a snake then be a shark!"
With wide eyes he looks at his sister. He didn't know she had such a passion for sharks. "…fine…" is all he can muster out after that speech about sharks, but he soon finds himself again. "You know I hate you, right?"
"I do. But I love you so, checkmate." Mel tells him, giving him finger guns to further prove her point. She also chooses to ignore the look he's giving her.
"…how is that checkmate?"
"Beats me," she shrugs. "For all you need to know; it's checkmate because I say so."
His brows knit together as he tries to understand her logic, "but that… doesn't make any sense."
"Things seldomly do in life," she tells him. "That's what's supposed to make it beautiful and all, though I'm not sure how much truth that holds if I'm to be honest with you."
"I see…"
"Anywhoo," she yawns as she stretches her back. "Has anything of what we discussed made any sense to you whatsoever?"
He looks up at her, meeting her gaze as she stands before him with her hands on her hips. There's something about her that make her seem to be so… confident despite everything. How can she be so sure about this? How can she be so positive that if they do this… if he does this, it will all be fine in the end? Moreover; how can this make sense to her? He tries to find his voice to let her know all of his questions, but nothing comes out. He has to settle for a shake of his head; nothing about this makes sense to him.
The confident aura around her slowly fades away after he shook his head to her question, though she doesn't seem to be surprised that he did. "Yeah… I can't blame you for that, I suppose," she tells him, a faint smile on her lips. Is she trying to remain positive?
"I just don't understand why…" he whispers.
"Hmm?"
"Just… why? Why does violence have to be solved with violence? Isn't it the same as trying to extinguish a fire by using fire?" He sighs as he shakes his head, "I just don't understand."
She looks at him, not sure what to tell him at this moment. How do you comfort someone again? She sighs, "it didn't make sense to me at first either… and once you learn how to think about something, then it suddenly becomes obvious to you to think that way, and how do you explain what's obvious?"
"I guess I can understand that," he says, "it's just… not very obvious to me right now. In fact, it's quite the opposite of it, and it hurts to try and convince my brain of anything else right now."
"Well, if that's the case," Mel walks up to him and flicks him on the nose, causing him to yelp, "maybe it's about time to let the brain cool down some. Give it something else to do. You've been through enough for one day as is anyways."
Rubbing his nose, he stares at her in annoyance and is just about to say something to her when there's a loud knocking on the front door. Before they're able to turn around towards it it's already been kicked open. There really can be only one or two people who would do something like that without thinking twice about it, and it just makes Edd a little irritated that they don't know better by now – he's told them multiple times, after all, to not do that. Sure enough, on the other side of the door stand none other than Ed and Eddy themselves, in person, ready to find the third part of their trio and drag him away to who knows where.
"Double-D!" Ed cries out in joy and rushes towards his friend, giggling like a child. He scoops him up in his arms and gives him a big hug. "Rolf's chickens laid eggs and they're ready to become baby chickens now! We have to hurry!"
And with that, all Mel is able to see of her brother is the top of his black beanie over the shoulder of the very tall Ed as he runs away with him in his arms. She barely noticed Eddy in the middle of the commotion, but he soon makes himself appear out of nowhere as he hurries through the door.
"See you later Double-Sis!" He calls over his shoulder to her before he runs out the door, chasing after his friends. "Hey guys! Wait for me!"
Mel stands there for a few seconds, watching them run out of her sight. "Come back soon," she says to no one, then she stares at the door that's been left wide open like that. "At least they didn't break it down this time."
Edd sits down on the porch, rests his head in his hands as he watches life on the farm carry on with it's day, it's routine. Taking a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air despite it's smell, and he can feel how his mind slowly but surely stops aching. He lets it all out with a heavy sigh, though thankfully no one's able to hear him at the moment. Eddy is far too busy trying to start a business with Rolf while Rolf is busy trying to keep Ed out of the chickencoop. Just another day on the farm, I suppose. He watches them run around like that; Ed laughing in the way he does with his arms filled with chickens, Rolf running after him yelling, a shoe in hand as he threatens to whack him if he doesn't stop, and then there's Eddy trying to keep up whilst coming up with ideas that he tries to talk to Rolf about. Watching Ed being so happy over the simplest things, showing that big, goofy smile of his… it's really easy to feel jealous sometimes. How can he be so free to be so happy over the most common or simple of things? What he'd give just to be able and free his mind of all of the "what if" scenarios that keep playing on repeat, even long after the event itself has happened and passed.
He puts his hands on the porch behind him, leans backwards a little bit and looks up at the sky. The clouds are beautiful, as always, floating around in the sky, performing all kinds of shows for those who wish to see. He observes them for a while before he lies down, puts his hands on his stomach and allows his imagination to take him places he's rarely visited. It helps him reflect on things sometimes, and with another deep breath he closes his eyes and begins to ponder on the matter at hand, the question that burns in his mind; How do you explain what's obvious? Well… when something becomes obvious to you it no longer needs an explanation nor a reason; it's basic knowledge, a reflex waiting to happen because it's instinctual by this point. Like how you quickly remove your hand from something hot when accidentally touching it, or when you accidentally cut yourself when using a knife. You don't need to think about it; it's a reflex. So how do you explain that to someone who's never experienced it before? I guess it makes sense for Mel to have a hard time figuring that one out.
He ponders for a while, but then a shadowy silhouette moves in front of him, preventing the sunlight from reaching his face. A frown adorns his forehead, slightly irritated at whatever it is that's moved in front of him. Opening his eyes to find out what it is, he finds the face of Rolf leaning over him, inches away from his own face.
"Enjoying the warmth of the sun, Double-D Ed-boy?"
"Wh-?!" Caught by surprise, Edd flies up from his position and scratches his eyes. They always tend to tear up whenever he's in the sun. "A-apologies Rolf! I didn't mean to fall into slumber while you're handling Eddy and-?" he pauses his apology, noticing the calmness behind Rolf, "E-Eddy and… Ed… where are they?"
Rolf looks at him a little confused, but soon smiles at him. "Rolf has sent them to clean the chickencoop," he declares proudly, pointing towards himself with his thumb.
Edd looks at him in horror. "O-oh? Is that so? Do you think that is a wise choice?"
"Eh, half-wit Ed-boy will not leave Rolf's chickens alone, so Rolf put him to good use, just like nana did with the man's foot in the old country."
Nevermind… now he looks at Rolf in horror. "A-uh… uh-huh?"
"Now Double-D Ed-boy, please explain to Rolf what is causing such problems for you to fall asleep on Rolf's porch in the middle of day like a pig in the mud."
"Well…" should he explain the situation to Rolf? If so, then how?
"Double-D Ed-boy is in deep thought, no?"
He nods to the young farmer. "I am," he sighs, "I'm just not entirely sure how to explain it, if I'm to be honest." He looks at the ground for a few seconds before he looks back up at Rolf. "I'm stuck with a situation that is supposed to be obvious to me, but it's not. A solution to a problem should not be identical to the reason behind the problem! It's like trying to put out a fire by using more fire! It just… it doesn't make sense to me."
Rolf looks at him, holding a hand up to his chin in a thinking position. It seems like he sort of understand the issue the smart Ed has… but then he turns around and leaves the overthinking Ed-boy alone to ponder and suffer in silence. Or, that's what Edd thinks. After a few minutes Rolf returns, dragging a big rock with him and places it in front of the clever Ed-boy. Edd looks at him, follows him with his gaze as he walks away again only to return a short while later with another rock, much smaller than the first one. He stands next to the big rock with the smaller rock in hand, standing in front of Edd with a calm expression on his face, the expression on a wise old man.
"Double-D Ed-boy," he says, eyes closed in all his wisdom, "has all the wisdom of Rolf slipped through that sock on your head?" Then with no explanation, warning or reason, Rolf roars loudly as he lifts the smaller rock over his head and smashes it into the bigger rock with all his might. The bigger rock breaks into pieces, pulverizing in front of them. Rolf then turns back towards Double-D, smaller rock still in hand, still intact. "One mustn't have to learn the same thing again, too-smart-for-his-hat-Ed-boy. Do you remember? Only a rock will break a rock."
Watching Rolf stand before him in triumphant wisdom, one hand on his hip, the smaller rock in the other, eyes closed… only a rock will break a rock… a solution that is identical to the root of the problem… is that the answer? If they weren't afraid anymore, they would've come after Mel as well, but they didn't. He looks up at the rock in Rolf's hand. It's a lot smaller than the other rock was, but that didn't prevent it from breaking the bigger rock into pieces, defeating it so to speak. If he tries and see himself as the smaller rock… he can win over the bigger rock, but… it still required a great amount of force for it to happen, but only for a small second, only once. One punch, that's all it's going to take. One mustn't have to learn the same thing again. Wait… Rolf didn't say that about the jocks, he said it about him – Edd. Wait a minute…
Rolf watches him in silence, allowing him to think about it for as long as he needs without any interruptions as he can literally see the focus in the birdbrain Ed-boy's eyes. He also sees the moment something appears to come to light in the Ed-boy's mind, finally revealing itself to him, giving him the answer that he's been looking for. Crossing his arms in triumph, Rolf smiles proudly at the Ed-boy.
The Kankers! Th-they did that with the Kankers, didn't they? With the reverse psychology, and it worked! It worked… because they didn't expect to get the same treatment thrown back at them. I didn't go hard enough on them. Is that what Mel tried to tell him? Reverse psychology – throw their own torment back at them. A slight frown adorns his face as he makes the final connection, looking down at his hand, folding his fingers into a soft fist. Teach them a lesson. A lesson that they only need to learn once; reverse psychology.
He looks back up at Rolf, reaches out his hand and grabs his to shake in gratitude. "Thank you, Rolf," he says before he leaves the son of a shepherd on his farm, with the other two Ed's remaining in the chickencoop.
Rolf waves after him, happy to have helped a friend in need. Then he turns his attention back towards the chickencoop, ready to face the possible mistake he made when he sent two Ed's in there without any form of supervision.
Song: Try – P!nk
