Amanda P. Animus: The Lover

         “Oh, no. I have never seen a child like her. She is truly amazing. You must be very proud to have her as your daughter.”
         Those were the kinds of things that the teachers said about me. They had always held me in some sort admiration. I was good at doing work. I was good at doing it efficiently. I was just me. I was a possum named Amanda P. Animus, and that’s all I ever wanted to be. I had a tough life. Shortly after middle school, my parents died. They were killed while I was in school. I did not remember much about it, but I remembered going off to live with my aunt that year. I still lived in the same school district as my friends, and I was thankful for that. When I turned eighteen at the beginning of my junior year, I moved back into the house I used to live in. It meant a lot to me to be there.
         It was in my senior year of high school that my life became something of an oddity. In late autumn, a new student joined our class. It was a hare, by the name of Jack, and he was a strange one. He appeared in our class after a fire drill, claiming that he was a new transfer student. He checked out, and I was told that I had to lead him like the stray puppy he seemed to be, since we shared quite a few classes. I have long since learned that there is no such thing as coincidence.
         Jack got along well with my friend. Yes, I only had one. I knew everyone in the school, but I had only one friend. His name was Eugene and he was a bleach-white hare with a few light brown markings under his eyes. He was always nice, always polite, and a little boneheaded at times. That’s why I liked him. I think that Jack saw it in him, too, even though he had only known him for a few minutes before befriending him. It only took an Anatomy class.
         Then, after only knowing that mysterious Jack for a single day, I began to take a liking to him that extended beyond just friendship. That afternoon, I was knocked out while in volleyball practice. I had sparked a little contest to protect the new girl on the team, and things got a little out of hand. They ended with a spiked volleyball smashing into my face. It was fun. I was told that Jack carried me home, Eugene leading him there, but not having the physical strength to do it himself.
         All the way, I dreamt about the day I came home, the day I found my parents dead. Then, the grey hare that sat on my couch tried to kill me as he had my parents. By some miracle, Jack appeared and saved me…
         Jack stayed by my side after that. He explained to world to me. He showed me the universe. We traveled through time and space in that odd machine of his. I saw the forests of Fenet and how they glowed a bright orange when viewed from the Placia Mountains at sunrise. I ventured into the sea of Calakali and found the sunken ship of Captain Moss, its crew still working as if they had never sunk. I ate dinner with my true mother for the first and last time on a planet that I didn’t even know existed… Yes, Jack showed me the universe, in all of its infinite wonder.
         But in the end, I had to save him from the same fate as his home world, and I knew the only way to do that was to trade my life for his. That’s why, even though I wanted to spend many more years with Jack, I had to do it. I had to end his brother’s search for me. He would have killed Jack to get to me. Then, he would have killed me. That’s why I broke into the Fairfields’ house. I needed to save both my home world and the planet I called home. I needed to save Jack. It was the only way.
                I just wish Jack wasn’t there to watch. I didn’t want him to come looking for me when I left the note. I just wanted him to know that I still loved him, and that I wanted him to be safe. I wanted him to survive. I didn’t care as much about the planets I saved. I cared more for him. They were just a bonus. But Jack found out where I was, before I could do it. That didn’t excuse me. I knew what I had to do. That’s why, despite my love’s presence… That’s why I still pulled the trigger.