A lamp hung softly from the ceiling of the room, its radiant light illuminating the entire space. A body rested on the bed—an IV line was attached to the patient's arm, supplying nutrients to the patient through the vein.
The beeping of a heart rate monitor near the bed indicated the patient's stable heartbeat, the air in the room carried the pungent scent of medicine, many various medical equipment was neatly arranged on the side.
The television mounted on the wall become the only entertainment for the room's occupant and it's now showing a very familiar and currently trending anime on social media:
One Piece.
This anime, which tells the adventures of the main character, Monkey D. Luffy, and his journey to becoming the Pirate King, is not only full of comedy, but also highlights the gray areas of worldly morality.
Where they set an example using the character perspective and action that white is not always good, and black is not always evil. Because in the end it's all depends on each person's beliefs and perspective on the world itself.
However, even humans are not immune to the influence of news and existing rules; they ignore the truth in favor of what they believe, and they went as far as to deny it to maintain what only they saw and understand without reconsidering that even the eyes can be deceived.
Because fundamentally, history itself is written by the victors.
"Freedom..."
"I want it..."
A voice sounded from the occupant on the bed, his voice is low and breathless yet clear with want. A young man, who appeared to be 15 or 16 years old, clutched the remote in his hand with complicated expression.
His soul yearned for the freedom of the world, but this weak and diseased mortal body confined him to a hospital bed for almost his entire live. He sometimes wondered, why did God give him this fate?
Lucas sighed, his reddish-brown eyes filled with a mix of complex emotions. He should be grateful; there were many children out there living in greater hardship than he was.
He was still able to live comfortably even with this weak body and lacked nothing to complaind because his parents could afford all his medical expenses and given him a lot of things despite barely present.
His life was better than the children living on the streets, why wasn't he grateful? Was it because he couldn't experience the so called true life and instead always dependent on machines and medicine to survive?
Living without experiencing the true meaning of life, trapped in the same room, the color of white haunting every crevice, the familiar pungent scent of medicine greeting him every time he woke and lull him to sleep.
Routine check-ups, every time, without fail, visits that came once a month or once a week, doctors and nurses leaving after they were done, leaving him in the silence of his own accord inside the room accompanied only by the machines hums.
Lucas turned his head and stared out of the window, the moon hanging high in the sky, the lights of the buildings looking beautiful in the distance. He pursed his lips, trully a beautiful sight, one he could never touch.
No longer hearing the sound from the television, Lucas turned his attention to the show he was watching, and saw that the episode he was watching had ended, and there were no updates for the next episode.
Lucas turned off the television and placed the remotel on the bedside table. He slowly lay down on the bed and stared dazedly at the ceiling. He stretched his right arm upward, his palm opening as if reaching for something. An ironic smile crossed Lucas's lips, a caged bird, that what he is.
Iron bars enclosed a young eagle, cowering, unable to flap its clipped wings to resist. Lucas close his eyes as his arm slowly lowered, feeling exhausted and drained all of sudden despite not doing anything.