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Description
Fading... fading... fading.
I feel lost under all the pressure of what's to come. I don't want to think it was all a waste... but I feel myself slowly drifting away, and asking, "Why?" I needed to be alone... away from my imagination, to compile my thoughts and search for an answer.

As I walk, deep within my thoughts... pen in my hand, and pondering my purpose in this game, I failed to realize the Egg Hammer beckoning close to me. "Dammit!" I yelled, blocking its attack with my weapon. Unfortunately, I left an opening and it swung its hammer again into my chest, slamming my avatar into a tree and causing me to jerk in my chair.

I close my eyes, getting ready to feel the familiar jolt one gets when they die, when a blue streak flashes by and strikes robot, sending it into a million pieces of data. The blue blur spins around me, and I realize who it is. "I'm not thanking you," I joke.

"You're not welcome," grins the hedgehog. "Hmm... you look shorter, or maybe it's the fact your friends have gotten taller."

I wince in my headset, "You're one to speak, you're only 3 ft tall in this game!" I pause, and look up at the starry sky graphics above us. "Over a million stars... and over a million users."

Sonic looks around, "Speaking of a million users, where are your friends and your characters? Did you lose them? I could find them in a flash!"

"No, I just wanted to be alone for a bit."

"Oh, in that case, I'll leave you alone. I'm just running a system check at the moment. C'ya!" He burst into the familar blue streak he was famous for, sending the trees rustling and leaves swirling.

Running...

I watch him blast off, and suddenly find myself yelling," Wait! Sonic! Can I ask you something?!"

He skids to a stop, turns arounds, and stops in front of me. "Yeah sure."

"Mr. Sonic... why do you run?" What a stupid question for me to be asking, I thought, he's a developed NPC who's programmed to run... it's not like he has a choice.

I was expecting him to say it was for fun, as what most people say when asked about the purpose of their hobbies. Like when I am asked why I draw.

"Huh... why do I run?" Sonic scratches his head, but then smiles. "Well, why shouldn't I run?"

"Well... you're always running, don't you ever get bored with it?" He stares at me for a moment, and I guess he figures out what was on my mind, since I was suddenly gripping the pen with two hands, even though I am right-handed.

"Obviously I run because my programming tells me so," Sonic rolls his eyes in a silly manner, and suddenly his expression turns serious. "But I have no complaints. I may only be an NPC, a video game character, a fictional computer coding, but I know enough to say that running is freedom. You run too, in your own way, not as fast as me. Sometimes you run backwards. Sometimes forward. Run as far as you want, in any direction you like."

"What...? I don't quite understand..."

"But know where you are going," he said with a wink. "It's better to mark a path in your life, otherwise you'll end up getting lost." He turned away from me, then asked, "Now I have a question for you... why did you start drawing?"

I close my eyes in my headset, searching my thoughts. My childhood memories come up, "For fun?"

"That's what fueled you, but what made you draw?"

Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks. "I drew... because I wanted my imagination to come to life. I didn't want Windy, Nazo, or Kiei to simply be kept in my head. It wasn't for pride, for attention, or for school... I just wanted to make them as real as possible. So... other people could see my thoughts too. And hopefully, I'll become skilled enough so they get as real as my mind pictures them." I let the pen spear slide down my write hand, looking down at its metal tip. Even though it's night, the nib stills shines. "Besides... I was given this gift, there'd be no good in wasting it."

Sonic, nods with a grin and gives me a thumbs up. "Never forget which way you are headed, and why you chose to do so. Remember this and you'll keep running towards the end." Then he turned and ran off into the night.

I'm not a very good artist, or a gamer... but I love both, regardless of skill. I guess, that night, I found the answer I had been looking for all along... I had just forgotten when I was lacking confidence.

Now I know that if I ever feel like quitting, all I need to do is answer, "Why did I do it?"

Description
Fading... fading... fading.
I feel lost under all the pressure of what's to come. I don't want to think it was all a waste... but I feel myself slowly drifting away, and asking, "Why?" I needed to be alone... away from my imagination, to compile my thoughts and search for an answer.

As I walk, deep within my thoughts... pen in my hand, and pondering my purpose in this game, I failed to realize the Egg Hammer beckoning close to me. "Dammit!" I yelled, blocking its attack with my weapon. Unfortunately, I left an opening and it swung its hammer again into my chest, slamming my avatar into a tree and causing me to jerk in my chair.

I close my eyes, getting ready to feel the familiar jolt one gets when they die, when a blue streak flashes by and strikes robot, sending it into a million pieces of data. The blue blur spins around me, and I realize who it is. "I'm not thanking you," I joke.

"You're not welcome," grins the hedgehog. "Hmm... you look shorter, or maybe it's the fact your friends have gotten taller."

I wince in my headset, "You're one to speak, you're only 3 ft tall in this game!" I pause, and look up at the starry sky graphics above us. "Over a million stars... and over a million users."

Sonic looks around, "Speaking of a million users, where are your friends and your characters? Did you lose them? I could find them in a flash!"

"No, I just wanted to be alone for a bit."

"Oh, in that case, I'll leave you alone. I'm just running a system check at the moment. C'ya!" He burst into the familar blue streak he was famous for, sending the trees rustling and leaves swirling.

Running...

I watch him blast off, and suddenly find myself yelling," Wait! Sonic! Can I ask you something?!"

He skids to a stop, turns arounds, and stops in front of me. "Yeah sure."

"Mr. Sonic... why do you run?" What a stupid question for me to be asking, I thought, he's a developed NPC who's programmed to run... it's not like he has a choice.

I was expecting him to say it was for fun, as what most people say when asked about the purpose of their hobbies. Like when I am asked why I draw.

"Huh... why do I run?" Sonic scratches his head, but then smiles. "Well, why shouldn't I run?"

"Well... you're always running, don't you ever get bored with it?" He stares at me for a moment, and I guess he figures out what was on my mind, since I was suddenly gripping the pen with two hands, even though I am right-handed.

"Obviously I run because my programming tells me so," Sonic rolls his eyes in a silly manner, and suddenly his expression turns serious. "But I have no complaints. I may only be an NPC, a video game character, a fictional computer coding, but I know enough to say that running is freedom. You run too, in your own way, not as fast as me. Sometimes you run backwards. Sometimes forward. Run as far as you want, in any direction you like."

"What...? I don't quite understand..."

"But know where you are going," he said with a wink. "It's better to mark a path in your life, otherwise you'll end up getting lost." He turned away from me, then asked, "Now I have a question for you... why did you start drawing?"

I close my eyes in my headset, searching my thoughts. My childhood memories come up, "For fun?"

"That's what fueled you, but what made you draw?"

Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks. "I drew... because I wanted my imagination to come to life. I didn't want Windy, Nazo, or Kiei to simply be kept in my head. It wasn't for pride, for attention, or for school... I just wanted to make them as real as possible. So... other people could see my thoughts too. And hopefully, I'll become skilled enough so they get as real as my mind pictures them." I let the pen spear slide down my write hand, looking down at its metal tip. Even though it's night, the nib stills shines. "Besides... I was given this gift, there'd be no good in wasting it."

Sonic, nods with a grin and gives me a thumbs up. "Never forget which way you are headed, and why you chose to do so. Remember this and you'll keep running towards the end." Then he turned and ran off into the night.

I'm not a very good artist, or a gamer... but I love both, regardless of skill. I guess, that night, I found the answer I had been looking for all along... I had just forgotten when I was lacking confidence.

Now I know that if I ever feel like quitting, all I need to do is answer, "Why did I do it?"