It’s funny how people can be really creative with so many new ideas that can change the world, but never get the chance to show it.
He was one of my best friends, a really nice guy, but quiet. A gentle giant some might say. At least the people with good hearts said so. He was rejected by most, liked by few. I was the few. He would always come to me with something that he would want to say but he would not say it, He was too self conscious about his ideas. He thought everyone would laugh at every word that dared to grace the presence of the ears of the student body.
He told me much of his experiences of a day in the life of him. He had VERY special musical talent, but his music wasn’t quite mainstream. No one in school was really into his progressive heavy music. As a result, people thought of him as the Creeper- the scary kid scaring kids- the one in the black- and most of all- “the loner.” He had experiences such as this; once, he played one of his songs in the park by the school and attracted a crowd. The problem was that it was the wrong crowd to attract. When he was finished, he looked up at their disappointed faces: Cold. Brutal. Rancor. He asked how it sounded, not knowing what kind of feedback he would get. The first verbal comment to leave their lips was “Wow you are a freak!” and “Why do you even try?” he heard them say he should give up. To go somewhere else where he wouldn’t be able to Burdon the people of the community.
He began to receive their words of hatred. He felt his reasons for existing were dropping like flies. “I honestly have no reason for waking up tomorrow!” he would say. I loved him like a brother and even closer than that sometimes, But he felt that when he is only liked by very few on earth, mostly unaccepted, that at least God would be on his side in heaven.
The next day, my father was reading the newspaper and called me downstairs. He had an uneasy look on his face as he told me to read the headline. I had a feeling what I was going to read. With my palms sweating, I slowly reached for the paper. I looked and as the single tear rolled down my cheek I read, “Local boy commits suicide!” “The boy was found deceased on his bedroom floor with a pistol in one hand and a note in the other.” The note read “Dear cruel world, I am leaving this brutal fire with my soul on my one shoulder and an angel on my other. I thank my few friends for standing by me in my time of need. Hopefully you and I will meet in a higher place than this. I am with God now and I know here, I can find peace and acceptance in his arms. And to the people who don’t think I am worth it, may God change you!
That second I was filled with so many emotions. Sadness-melancholy-hatred and grief. As I passed his casket to pay my respects, I knew he had at least me as a friend. Whether it was here on this planet or in a higher place of peace. He was the future of the world, but his magnificent ideas were shut down and stomped into the dirt like a cigarette bud! I hope the next outcast will change the world, if they are treated better, we will be better, and their ideas will advance this planet we call home, but that is up to you and the others.