Sunset

How do I describe this feeling? We all have extraordinary power, yet all at the same time. Normally it's just one of us, holding all of the power, and all of the decisions. Bad cradles a small fire in his hands. I can see it reflecting in his eyes. But Good gently holds a white flower. He turns it slowly in his finger, and stares at the pedals as they revolve in front of him. They both look up at me at once, holding up their offerings. I reached for the flower, but the fire flickered to my right, and drew my attention.

"You know you want it." He begged, rolling it in his fingers. I started walking towards him, enticed by the flame.

"You want to ruin this now?" Good stated from behind me, halting my advance. "Not with what you have right now, you can't let him win this time."

"Sure you can." Bad added. "What's better to give as a gift? This beautiful little ember? Or that poor excuse for a weed that he's holding?"

"Fire burns." Good retorted.

"So does love." Bad counteracted with a smile on his face. Good stood there, slack-jawed.

"What?" Bad continued. "Surprised that I'm using your own words against you? You I'm actually listening when you speak, right?"

"I'm surprised that you remember back that far." Good said, astonished. 

"Just because I'm the 'bad' one here doesn't mean that I can't listen to anything. Just because—."

"But love burns well." Good interrupted. "It's a controlled burn. It burns so that it may provide life. Your fire isn't controlled; it will burn and consume."

"What you're doing right now," Bad stated, placing a heavy emphasis on every word, "is giving two definitions to the same thing!"

"No I'm not! I'm giving the right definition!"

"My fire gives life too. Everything that burns will come back to life. Think of a forest for God's sake! The forest burns down, but then it will grow back! That's just how nature works! A thing dies, and another thing comes in to fill in its place. And if it doesn't burn to a crisp, well then god damn; you know you found something worth keeping."

"Proof by fire?!" Good shouted. "That's not how this works!"

"Yes it does!" Bad screamed back. "Think about it for a second! I know that you're petrified by anything that could even so much as scrape you, but think about it! If something gets burnt, but still survives, you just proved that it could go through anything! C'mon Chris, you've done it before, haven't you?"

"Only because you were in charge for a few seconds;" Good answered for me, "and in that time you nearly burned everything down. Thankfully I was there to put out all of the fires."

"Did it work?" Bad ignored him. "Or didn't it? Did it survive the flame, or did it die?"

"It survived." I finally said after a few moments of silence, filled only by the brief crackling of the small fire.

"Don't listen to him God damn it!" Good shouted, still delicately holding the white rose.

"But he's right!"

"Perhaps," Good answered, "but I would rather test the flame retardancy after I do something good for it!"

"You mean to say that you're going to let him win," Bad mumbled, looking defeated, "and give her a flower?"

"Maybe," I said, seeing a figure off in the far distance, "but I'd rather do nothing and just go see who that is."

I tried to walk between the two of them, but they both put their arms up to block me.

"Not so fast," Bad said with a devilish grin, "you need to choose between the two of us first."

"No!" I screamed at the both of them, making them jump. "I'm sick of this! This is my head! I control how this works, and I want to go see who that is! Forget you two!"

"We won't let you." Good told me, now holding up his hand to my chest. "You need to bring something."

"Why can I never control this?!" I exasperated. "This is all just going on in my head, why can I never control it?!"

"Because you're mental." Bad stated, clearly.

"I don't want to choose what either you two have." I continued, ignoring him. "I want a middle ground. Why can I never have anything so much as just that?! Just a middle ground. Something between good and ba—." 

But a warmth in my hands drew my attention. I was holding a sunset. The magnificent colors reflected that of the fire. It burned like the fire. But it held a peace. It retained the beauty and elegance.

"Oh that doesn't count..." Bad mumbled.

"It does." good said with his distant smirk. He turned away and let me pass. She became more defined as I came closer. Average height, and long shoulder-length hair. But she was still just a white mannequin. But color came to her face as I stepped closer. But then the wind started to blow, and everything began to fade away. I started to run, I needed to see who she was. But then it slipped away, just like always.