REALITY SETS IN

An uncontrollable sadness suddenly plagued her. The reality was just now setting in. Her best friend was dead. DEAD. That's what her best friend was. She was pretty much the same thing on the inside. Without her friend she was dead. But a dead person was of no use. So she was of no use. She laid in bed almost the whole day, trying to consume time. She had never been so depressed in her whole entire life. Something just felt wrong. A life without Arcus seemed wrong. Nothing was right. She couldn't live without Arcus. It must've been just her imagination right?

From that day on, she kept a fake face of wellness, so she wouldn't worry the other gods and goddesses. But, as the days went on, that face of confidence wore away. The painful memories of her friend filled her mind at every moment of the day. She remembered all the fun she had had with Arcus. She was constantly nostalgic for the days when she and Arcus pranced in the flower beds. Spring began to pass, and the relentless heat of the summer started to come. The air became warmer, almost unbearably so. There was a constant heat, constant pain. Between the heat and the loss of her best friend, Flosi fell apart. Her heart had been irreparably shattered. Her face of confidence was completely erased by day seven of Arcus being dead. She was bearing even worse the Arcum. A life without Arcus would be impossible. The world could be set ablaze, and all poor Flosi would care about is the loss of her best friend. She wondered constantly if Arcus was in the afterlife, or simply dead. She knew the afterlife existed, from her visit to Custos. She remembered it as clear as day. Arcus was probably facing him once more. Except she wouldn't be joking around about how trippy it was that you could survive death. Because, she wouldn't survive death like she had. Arcus wasn't so lucky.

The current day was Monday. She had found Arcus dead eight days ago. She sat in her bed. Sunny was nursing her kits while her mate, Flame, watched with delight. But, Flosi wasn't delighted. The room felt devoid of joy. She remembered something that Arcus had told her. She said something about her being a tiger.

"Tiger." Her voice was scratchy and quiet, for she hadn't talked since Arcus's death.

"Tiger." She repeated, her voice filled with longing.

"Tiger, tiger, tiger."

For some reason, she needed to hear it. Her voice. She felt it. She pictured the moment where it had been said. She had just gotten back up to the window on her root for the first time. Arcus was awake, remarking about how tiered Flosi was. Then she provoked her, and Flosi had wanted to punch her. Then she uttered the word. "Tiger". She had used that word in a sentence. Flosi could no longer recall what exactly she had said. But she remembered the word tiger. Perhaps she was going insane. Did it really matter? Living was simply a requirement for the gods. So she carried on with it. Every day was excruciating. With Arcus gone, every second was. She would've gladly traded her life for Arcus's if she had the opportunity. But she didn't.