fandomhigh | Carpe Diem: Making Your Lives Extraordinary, Period 4, Class 1

Drake was in Serious Mode (or at least pretending to be) when the class gathered. He was also unashamedly ripping off one of his favorite movies, and he didn't care what anyone thought about that. "the human race is filled with passion," he began. "And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, 'O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?' Answer: that you are here; that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

"We are food for worms, kids," Drake went on. "Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold and die. But each of you also have in your hands the power to make your lives extraordinary. Don't wait until it's too late to make your lives even one iota of what you're capable. Now, that's heavy stuff for a summer workshop, right? But I'm just here to push you down that path, to help you see just how amazing and invincible each of you are. It's going to be ultimately up to you, but if I can help nudge you in the right direction, then my diem, it's been carpe'd.

"So, it's the first class, and I'm going to be a little lazy. Actually, you're going to do all the work and help me decide just what we're going to do for this class. I want you to each tell me your name, age, where you're from and a little about yourself...and one thing you want to do before you die. I gotta tell you, anything involving death and violence is going to be right out, because I'm a lover not a fighter. Try to come up with something fun, something that could be shared with others...something within the power of one awesomely hot demon. And I'll see what I can do.

"Oh, and I already randomly choose some TAs by throwing darts at the class roster -- MiniDrake, Didi, the job's yours."

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"I'm Didi," Didi said, glancing around the class. "I think most of you have heard me say this before, but I'm a human embodiment of death for my universe. I know how quickly life will go for most of us."

Not everyone, though.

"I've been human almost a year, and I've done pretty much everything I'd want to do -- and so many things I never imagined. But maybe I'd like to learn to surf."

That would be Madison, giving some mildly panicked sideways glances in Didi's direction.

Did 'embodiment of death' mean she was a reaper? If so, was she a light reaper or a dark reaper? Madison hadn't seen any black wings since arriving on the island, but now she was nervous.

The only wings Didi had were metaphorical ~~except in this icon~~, but she smiled lightly, trying to put the dead girl at ease. She was mildly surprised to see someone in her condition walking around, but who was she to judge?

"Hi," she whispered, once Drake's attention was elsewhere. "You're new, huh?"

Madison nodded. She wasn't going to try to make a scene in class so she stuck with a simple question. "You're a student here?"

"Sure looks like it," Didi confirmed pleasantly. "Why, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah, I am," Madison said. "I just... what exactly does it mean to be the human embodiment of death?"

"Death has to be human for one day a century in my universe. My day this time is running a little long," Didi explained off-handedly. It might not have been the most helpful explanation, but it was what she had. "Don't worry, I'm not here working."

"So how'd you die?" she asked.

Madison's eyes got very wide and she glanced around to make sure no one else had heard that.

"How... I mean... you can tell?"

"I can," Didi said. "Not sure about anybody else. Is it a secret? I don't tel secrets."

"I figured you'd be a tough one to figure something out for," Drake grinned. "You've already got an extraordinary life going for you. You good with being my minion for the class?"

"Sure," Didi answered. "I haven't done the TA thing yet. I'm excited to give it a try."

"I may have cheated with the dart throwing a little bit," Drake admitted. "How could I pass up Death as a TA for Carpe Diem?"

"You couldn't," Didi said solemnly. "I would have done the exact same thing."

Carpe Diem: Making Your Lives Extraordinary, Period 4, Class 1

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