The One Thing You Can't Replace Novels & Stories

He knew what the reason was when he saw her, clutching the phone tight. He stared at her and asked, “It’s that old phone isn’t it?” She looked away and said, “It’s none of your business.” “I’d told you I’ll replace it!” “You can’t!” A second of silent came upon them as he remembered every word she told him that night when she sent him back home. ‘There are a lot of things in this world that are irreplaceable… Once you lose it, you can’t get it back. And right now, no matter what you do. You can’t replace them.’ Those were the words that kept him up all night.

When things got broken, we fix it, when a torn paper we buy a new one, when it already cannot be used, we replace it, we can all do something for everything, all our mess can always do something about it, but in reality, in people's lives, not all broken can be repaired over a night, especially if it is a broken soul...a damage heart and mind.

“It has everything to do with you. You’re the replacement. It always does.” The word hit harder spoken aloud. Replacement. People said it casually, commentators, fans, strangers online, but hearing it here, human to human, stripped of glitter and commentary, felt like someone had pressed a finger directly into a bruise I didn’t know I had. I tried to swallow around the tightness in my throat. I wanted to shrug it off. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to say something confident and gracious and above it all. Instead all I could think was: It shouldn’t matter. Why does it matter so much?

It seems like I have everything doesn't it, so why does it feel like I just lost the one thing that mattered most? Myself.

Each extravagance we appreciate in this world has a substitution. You can prevail with regards to nothing in case you're languid. You can't find everything in case you're lethargic. You can't have the cash for each costly brand in case you're static. You can accomplish nothing on the off chance that you keep on communicating your dormant mentality. You have no spot to go all through your daily existence in the event that you lie on one side and simply sit in front of the TV, feeling terrible and moronic. You can't procure triumph if you rely upon others.

The simplicity of it stripped away his last instinct to manage the moment. “I’m scared,” he said plainly. “That if I let go too much, I’ll become irrelevant. Replaceable.” She met his gaze, steady and unflinching. “You were never replaceable to me because of what you do,” she said. “You’re replaceable to the world. Everyone is. That’s not failure. That’s reality.” He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “And the people who stay,” she added, “stay because of who you are when no one is watching.”

“But the barrier is weakening every day, and we don’t have much time. If you find your One, if you can unlock the power that comes with it, you can help restore it.” I swallow hard, the weight of her words pressing down on me. I know she’s right. The barrier is crumbling, and with it, our kingdom’s protection. I can see it in the way my mother’s once-vibrant magic has dimmed, the way her strength seems to slip away a little more each day. If I don’t do something, if I don’t find my One, Altinna could fall to invasion. Still, that doesn’t make it any easier to hear.

Because some things? Some things never change

“And this?” “It can never replace any other thing in my heart. You’ve always mattered, Eleanor. Like the shining light your name means.” …

"Is that the problem? That he wanted to give you everything you needed?" "I can’t depend on someone else, Em, I can’t afford it." "We’re not talking about just anyone! We’re talking about Liam, he loved you from the first moment he realized what love was, you’re his life, for God’s sake!" "What would happen if there came a time when he wanted something that I couldn’t give him? Eh Em? He would look for it somewhere else! This is what would happen, and if I depended on him, I would be destroyed. Because I am replaceable."