This one's a bit longer, so I'm putting it in spoiler. This is from all the way back last November, but I still really like it.
“Well, Calvin McKinley-Soleil…” Paloma smirks like the pompous asshole that he is, turning his head dramatically in my direction. “The meeting is almost at its end. And you’re the only one left!”
I lock eye contact with him. If I were telepathic, I would be telling him to f*ck off. He smiles ever wider in response to my attempt.
“Well…” I clear my throat. Lee looks at me, intrigued.
“... My current project isn’t… great. I don’t think I would like to share.”
“Boo,” Paloma calls out. I stare daggers at him.
“HOWEVER, Paloma, I’m not THAT lame.” I slip a tiny yellow paper out of my pocket. “I wrote this during the meeting.”
“Oh. Boo,” he laughs even louder, but everyone else stays silent.
“... What’s it about?” Nicholas’ voice chimes in. I look over to them. They look scared, hoping I didn’t write about our encounter in the storage closet.
I give them a reassuring look. “It’s about a bird I saw today. Up on the cliff between Pennan and Crovie.”
“A… bird?” Hera speaks up, invested. She sets down her stack of papers and leans over the table. “That’s… not like you, Calvin.”
“I know. It’s just…”
I scan the room at everyone’s faces. They’re all interested in what I have to say, as always… but this time, it’s not out of interest. It’s intrigue… curious, concerned intrigue, that is.
“... Recently, I’ve realized that there are so many things about myself that I just… don’t really know. Like, I’ve never considered how I felt about the things that secretly made me angry. Deep down, the… things that I never knew made me upset.” Lee turns his head out the window. “I don’t know about this poem yet, really. It needs to change. I need to change. Not only myself, but the way I see things. The way I think about things.” I follow Lee’s gaze, and there it is again. The red bird. “Everyone has an enlightenment sometime in their life, an event or process that makes them realize… something. Something that sharpens their senses. Reminds them what it’s like to be truly human. Or, if not human, reminds them that they’re not. None of us are really human. At least, I feel like that’s the case.
“Because… what IS human, anyways? A species, a creature? Or is it a way? A way of thinking more or less than a way of being? Maybe I’m not human. My mind extends beyond the boundaries of what… human is. Human is simple. Human is carefree. I live with no physically manifested worries. All of them lie within me. Human can’t decipher those ruins. Some people can, but human they are not.”
After a few moments of silence, Lee speaks up.
“You’re right, Calvin. You’re a smart guy, just like your father.” He looks up at me, eyes red. “I know what human is. I experienced it firsthand. I’ve always struggled with the concept of being ‘human’. Used to get angry. Said that I felt ‘So f*cking useless as a human’.” He holds his composition book closer to his face. “But you’re right, you really are. The reason I felt so useless as a human… is because I was never really ‘human’ at all.”
Nobody talks in response. No one smiles, not even Paloma, who sips his cider solemnly and inquisitively.
Finally, Hera knocks her hand lightly against the table.
“... Alright. Meeting adjourned.”