Name:
Ana Johnson
Age:
24
Gender:
Female
Appearance:
Biography/History:
Ana grew up in France, the daughter of a Rabbi and an artist. Her mother, the Rabbi, taught her the basic tenets of humanity, the instructions for a moral code, and raised her to be a respectful and helpful member of society. Her father, the artist, showed her the beauty of the world, the beauty of song, the beauty of people, the beauty, even, of the Gods. She was most captivated, though, by the beauty of the stained glass windows. One portrayed a hand, reaching down to the Earth, grazing the face of humanity with a tender touch. It was not a God- it was the Cosmos herself, lending a grace to the world, praising it for its inherent, innocent beauty. It was something special to Ana, it was something important.
She studied art history in college, driven to the study by her fascination with the visual beauty of her Synogogue. Graduating at the top of her class, Ana found work at a museum in Argentina, and moved her life to the country. They adored her there, but she was not happy; her job was to acquire new works and appraise old ones, not to express and celebrate their value in terms of beauty, but to consider everything in terms of money and status. She turned in her resignation letter after a year, turning down a six figure salary, and moved upwards to the United States of America.
There, she used the money she had acquired in Argentina to found a small kindergarten academy for gifted children. Her definition of gifted was rather all encompassing, encouraging any child to show off their interests. Soon, at the age of 22, she was the headmaster and favorite teacher at a thriving school for tiny children. The kids absolutely loved her, showering her with praise, and gifts, and love. She was everything to them, and they were everything to her.
Then, she fell asleep, one fateful day.
When she awoke, she was changed. She knew the truth of the world- there was no beauty, none that could be preserved, not even in the pure heart of a child. She still had a reason to live. She still had her children. She still had her school. She still had her empathy. She went to work.
Police tape lined the outside of the establishment. Each step closer got more and more difficult, as she saw why there were so many emergency vehicles surrounding the building. As she saw the little girl, no more than four years old, lying dead on the sidewalk. She had had the Dream. And she had climbed to the roof. And she had jumped. Devastated, Ana broke. She cried for what felt like hours, weeping incessantly into the shoulder of a policeman. He drove her home, and gave her a small apology. It wasn't enough.
Ana went to sleep that night, but woke, to find herself atop a skyscraper, with no recollection of how she got there. Peering down at the street below, she walked to the edge. And she let herself fall. A net, near the upper edges of the building, caught her, the sort meant to protect and ensure the safety of window washers and painters and the like. She laid there, still, watching the empty sky with eyes devoid of tears.
Ana walked down the dozens of flights of stairs, and found herself alone, on the streets. She flung her body in front of a truck, and let it slam into her, defenseless. Somehow, she woke in a hospital bed, the nurse smiling over her with pity in her eyes.
Ana took a syringe of air, and injected it into her IV. An embolism formed, and she felt consciousness slipping away. But, still, a medical miracle occurred- and she survived, with her doctors none the wiser.
Ana drank bleach, ate arsenic, stabbed herself, slit her wrists, everything she could think of, without getting a gun. And still, she survived, everyone looking at her with that awful pity in their sympathetic eyes.
So she resigned to her fate, and accepted. The Gods granted her twofold, a mission, and a power. It was then that she felt the pain. Every single aspect of her person throbbed with a pain she had never known, the natural pain of being human, the pain normally kept hidden from our perception. For the first several days, she could not move, it was so severe. Even breathing- especially breathing- forced her bones to move, her chest and stomach and throat to tense up... everything was excruciating.
Finally, she could stand. Hours later, she learned to walk. And she walked into a police station, and grabbed an officer's gun.
And shot herself, in the head.
And nothing happened.
Personality:
Before the Dream, Ana was a kindergarten teacher- she was the model of empathy. She loved her children with all her heart, and they loved her back in equivalent strength. She was soft and gentle, and outspoken about human rights. Her entire belief system was founded on the basis of a peaceful morality.
After the Dream, she lost her mind completely to the pain. She is incredibly depressed, and shows little emotion at all, seeming to be resigned to a fate of eternity. Her eyes are empty, and her soul is gone. She still maintains her empathy, clinging to that one last piece of humanity inside, but it only causes her pain to intensify. She cannot sleep, so she sits awake at night, staring into an empty sky. That lack of rest has taken a toll on her- she sees hallucinations, and speaks to them, believing them to be real; she has a short temper, but when angry, remains calm. To the poor observer, she always seems to be at peace- it is only those who know her pain, the pain that cannot be soothed, that can see the emptiness inside.
Power:
Ana cannot die. She is conscious, always, and feels every single pain normally dulled to human senses. Even when her body has been completely destroyed, her mind can still feel the pain as each cell tries to knit her body back together, the pain of each part's reconstruction. The weight of her body straining each bone and muscle, the pull of her hair on her scalp, each individual process of digestion crawling in her intestines, the pounding of a persistent heart against her chest... She lives in absolutely horrid pain every day of her life, a pain which can never cease.
Theme Song:
This Year by the Mountain Goats