Chapter 26 - Level 15 [ part 8 ]. Tough conversation (1/2)
*Missis Granger POV*
It was more than a month since the boy, named Magnus started living with our family. In the beginning we were hesitant to take an unknown kid to our house, but we couldn't just leave him live on the street either. So, we took him in, after continuous pressure from our daughter Hermione.
However, the longer he lived with us, the more we liked his presence. After he came into our house, breakfast was always waiting for us when we wake up. He also helped with cooking of dinner and supper. Helped to clean house, despite working. And that was another positive about him – extremely hardworking.
To get money for study, he never even once considered asking us for money. He works 7 days a week and not part-time, but full-time and still finds time to help us in the house. He was a perfect kid if you ask me, but one thing about him was concerning. He is very talkative and always brings positivity whenever he is with us, but as an ȧduŀt I can see deeper beneath his façade. What I see there is a lonely kid.
Sometimes, when I wake up especially early, I see him sitting in kitchen after making a breakfast with a face that feels and look very different from his usual one. As if he contemplates live or thinks deeply about something. He is more mȧturė than some ȧduŀts and that's what bothers me. Kids get mȧturė so early only in few cases, and none of them are positive.
Sometimes, I want to just hug the kid and say that he can stop worrying about everything and just live happily, but just as I make a step forward, I think if I have a moral right to say so. I am not his parent and from what our daughter said he is also an orphan who lived alone since he was a kid.
My daughter is still young and not very thoughtful, so she never asked him why he as an orphan did not live in an orphanage like normal kids but worked since childhood. This question always bothered me, so I finally decided to ask him.
I woke very early that morning, but Magnus already made breakfast and was sitting there, staring into nothingness. I came up to him, thinking he won't notice me, but when I was 2 meters away from him, he instantly noticed and greeted me.
”Good Morning, missis Granger.”
”Good indeed but a bit too early for you, isn't it?”
”I am accustomed. Breakfast?”
”Later maybe.”
”Okay”
I didn't know how to ask this question, without offending him and apparently, he noticed my deliberation, so he said first.
”Is there something you wish to discuss, miss Granger?”
”Yes, there is and please don't be offended by my question. Magnus, I always wanted to ask you, why didn't you live in orphanage?”
There was a silence after this question. Not an awkward one, like when you ask an uncomfortable question, but a heavy silence that pressures you harder with every second. After a minute of this silence, he finally looked at me and asked a question of his own.
”Do you want a true reason or an honest answer?”
”What's difference?” I was confused by his question.
”Difference? There is none and that… is the difference.”
”I don't understand.”
”What do you see, when small one/two-year-old kids are playing with small kittens that were born not long ago?”
I thought for a bit, before answering.
”I see them having fun together, I suppose. They hug them, pet them and overall enjoy each other. Why do you ask?”
He smiled and laid back in chair. Then he closed his eyes and started speaking with a very calm and steady voice.
”And I see 2 sets of living creatures, let's call them… first and second. First creatures are void of mercy, with near unlimited wish for exploration and experimenting. In that process they were able to find second, whom they force to do their bidding. In the meantime, second has to comply to whatever first dėsɨrės, because second has no power to resist.”
After saying all that, he opened his eyes and looked at me.
”Now tell me. Which of the 2 answers we gave is a true reason and which one is an honest answer?”
I wanted to refuse, because his words were absolutely horrifying. How can somebody perceive it this way, but then I started thinking. And the more I thought about, the more I understood that his words contain some truth. That made me contemplate even harder, because I couldn't imagine how could he, a kid, come to such a description of the situation.
”This is…”
”This question is rhetorical, because it has no correct answer.”
”What do you mean?”
He smiled and said.
”It doesn't matter what I mean. What matters is what you think I mean.”
The more we talked the more confusion took over me.
”I though your answer is a true reason, but then you said it has no answer, so I honestly have no idea what you mean.”
”I never said so.”
”But…”
”I said it has no correct answer. You see, true reason is something void of subjectivity. However, as soon as you try to tell it you are actually conveying your honest opinion of that matter.”
I got a little frustrated after his explanation, so I asked.
”Then what's the point of asking what I want to hear, in the first place? You can't tell me a true reason anyway!”
”Intention, Expectation and Contemplation.”
”Huh?”
”If you pick true reason, then I should have intention to think and try to convey true reason with as little of my perspective as possible. It does not make it less of an honest opinion, but it helps you see true reason clearer. This is intention.
Expectation is on your side. When you expect to hear true reason, you will look for reason in my answer. Subconsciously you will know reason is not 100% true, so you will try to understand it on your own, thus probably understanding true reason on your own.
Contemplation is about talk we had before that allowed you to understand the intricate difference between honest answer and true reason. When you gave honest answer you didn't think much, but when I implied that I am going to tell a true reason, you mind started to contemplate over my words even before you fully comprehended them. That is why you feel understanding of my point slowly coming to you.”
”I …”