Brick My Heart

Buried within the city was a rusty old brick factory, where clay, sand, and shale were being crushed and ground into reddish-brown rectangular pieces. The pipes of the brick-making machines churned and spewed out smoke as numerous bricks were manufactured, fresh and young. 

It was another typical day at the brick factory. A new batch of bricks had popped out. Brickerina, one of the first bricks to come out of the machine, jumped to life and glanced around with curious perforations (the cavities on a brick). Many bricks followed, and finally, the last brick slowly stumbled out of the machine. As soon as Brickerina’s eyes landed on him, she knew. She knew… that they would be great friends!

The next week, she began attending BRICK (Brick Resources in Collecting Knowledge) to learn the ways of an ideal brick. 

On the first day of class, Brickerina tumbled into class nervously, eyes scanning the room full of other brickren (brick children). She glanced at the brick array chart, and she sat down in her assigned seat. A few minutes later, another brick rolled into the classroom. Brickerina’s perforations (cavities on a brick) widened in shock as she recognized the clay structure. It was the last brick from her batch! She watched as he plunked into the seat next to her. 

“Hey,” Brickerina greeted, smiling shyly.

“Hi! I remember you. You’re from my batch,” the brick replied, smiling.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Bricky, nice to meet you!”

“I’m Brickerina. I’m so glad we ended up in the same array!”

Over the next few years, Bricky and Brickerina learned more about the qualities of an ideal brick. This, naturally, made them grow significantly closer. They shared knowledge, dust, sun, clay, and most important of all, memories. 

Rays of light escaped through the window in their class at BRICK. It was senior year for Bricky and Brickerina, and they were excitedly chattering about their plans for the future to be bricks in the walls of important buildings. Very suddenly, Bricky bent over, pulling something out of his brickpack.

“Brickerina,” Bricky said, his tone more gray than a cement brick.

“Yeah?” Brickerina responded.

He folded (kneeled but brick style). “Brickerina. From the moment I met you, I have always thought that you are the reddest brick that I have ever met.”

Dust began to fall out of Brickerina’s perforations.

“I am the luckiest brick in the world to have been your friend. Now, I ask for more. (Off topic, but WHY DO BRICKS HAVE MORE RIZZ THAN ME…) Will you… mortar (the thing used to bind bricks together) with me?”

“Yes.” Brickerina’s voice wobbled. “I will. It would be my honor to be the clay to your dust.”

They embraced (as bricks do). They set the date of their mortar ceremony to two days later, since the next day was their graduation at BRICK. The two of them said their goodbyes, then returned “home” to rest.

The next day, all the bricks in the factory came for the BRICK graduation ceremony. Brickerina caught sight of their teacher, Bricken, crying out of pure joy. Brickerina confidently walked to her assigned place, excited to be graduating. Her eyes drifted to her fiancé, and she admired how straight and defined his lines were. Just then, Brick, the principal of BRICK, walked onto their stage made from inferior, undefined rocks. 

“Hello, graduating students of BRICK.” The microphone squeaked. “Today… we are here to celebrate your perseverance, courageousness, and…” Brickerina zoned out as the principal yapped about some “I’m so proud of you all” and some “You guys will all be assigned to buildings today!” 

Wait, what? Brickerina watched in horror as bricks were tugged left and right by the hands of the evil giants. 

 They were separating all the bricks into two piles, one labeled “S” and the other labeled “B.” Brickerina’s perforations widened as she realized that Bricky was in the “B” pile, while she was in the “S” pile. She desperately tried to roll out, but her attempts were to no avail. 

“Bricky!” she screamed, her voice breaking.

“Brickerina!” he yelled back, dust streaming down his bed face.

That was the last time Brickerina ever saw Bricky as a free brick. A few years passed, and through eavesdropping on the giants (which she learned were called “humans”), Brickerina found out that she was a part of a school, named something along the lines of “Stuybricksant High School,” while Bricky was in the walls of “Bricklyn Technical High School.” Bricky’s school had been built first, then Brickerina’s school. 

Her days here were quite boring. Every day, as she watched sleep-deprived students walk through the halls, grumbling about how many tests they’d failed, her yearning for her huzz ached more and more.

Similarly, in Bricklyn Tech, Bricky tiredly watched students who were just as tired ghoulishly drag their feet to their next class. One day, Bricky felt the force of a student leaning against his wall. An idea popped into his brain.

“Psst,” Bricky whispered.

The student frantically looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.

“Down here. Tenth brick Diagon Alley from the bottom left.” Bricky watched as the student slowly counted the brick layers, then finally located him.

“A brick? Am I hallucinating? I need more sleep.” The student looked extremely confused.

“I need you to do me a favor. Can you… punch me out of the wall?”

“Why are the voices making me do devious things?”

“OMG, just do it. I need to see the love of my life.”

The student raised a skeptical eyebrow, then proceeded to draw back and punch the wall as hard as they could.

The whole wall fell thanks to the power of caffeine-induced adrenaline, and all the bricks scrambled free. Bricky was prepared for this. His wall had been opposite a NYC subway map, and he had studied it intensely. He began rolling towards the Atlantic Avenue train station to take the 2 train. 

On the train, Bricky observed that a lot of humans were “sitting” (as humans do) on solid purple bars. He hopped on, following. His landing made an embarrassingly loud thud, and all the humans turned to look at him, but soon dismissed it as normal NYC subway activity. They had all seen worse. Very soon, the train arrived at Chambers Street.

As soon as Bricky hopped off this train, he was confronted with a tall mountain of stairs. He began rolling up the steps one by one, careful not to fall. Soon, he got to the top, only to exasperatedly sigh, confronted by not one, not two, not three, but FOUR flights of stairs to choose from. How would he know which one would take him to Stuybricksant? He spotted an orange-haired guy in a nearby shop, and so he tumbled over and hopped onto the counter to ask for directions. The orange-haired guy nicely pointed him in the right direction, and he thanked him, happily hopping back down to go up the stairs. 

Finally, he was on the street. Rain was pouring down upon dozens of people (and a brick) as they strolled down the street, walking rapidly and lamenting about the rising price of coffee. He quickly rolled. 

After what seemed like an eternity of crashing against the ground, he finally reached the final boss: the bridge. The bridge towered over poor little Bricky menacingly. He shuddered, then proceeded to slowly plunk up the annoying number of stairs. 

As he rolled on the bridge, he spotted students who looked like they were dying, students crashing out, students laughing in pain, and many more. He reached the end of the bridge and rolled back down, turning once he reached the bottom.

Reaching the back doors, he scanned the walls. His eyes drifted to a bright red color. He recognized that shade. His journey had been long and difficult, but it would all be worth it. 

“Brickerina!” 

Brickerina looked up in disbelief. “...Bricky?… Is that you?” A cascade of dust rolled down her bed face. “W-what happened to you?” Her voice was almost inaudible, shaking. No. It wasn’t her who was quiet. It was Bricky’s consciousness fading away. He looked down at himself, and he found that he had become but a few wet, clumped particles of clay. He summoned the last of his energy, speaking.

“Brickerina.”

“No. No! Don’t do this,” Brickerina spoke between gasps, her voice trembling.

“No, Brickerina. Listen to me.”

“I won’t! How could you do this to yourself, for me? You could’ve lived! You could’ve been happy!”

“Brickerina! Listen to me!” His tone was threatening. “I want you to remember! Remember. I will always love you, conscious or not. I would have no happiness without you, so don’t you dare say this wasn’t worth it. I would much rather disappear by your side than live a life without you.”

“Enough! I won’t forgive you for not living for me.”

“I may not have been able to live for you, but I want you to live for me! You will if you love me! Promise me you’ll live for me.”

Her sobs filled the air as nearby bricks side-eyed them. “I love you. I love you so much it hurts. I can’t love you. You’re going to leave me. I love you so much I wish I didn’t.” 

“PROMISE ME.”

“I-I promise.”

“I love you too, and my death will not stop me from loving you. You are the strongest, kindest, most beautiful brick in the world. I will love you from wherever I go. Always remember that I am by your side…” His voice faded, and so did his consciousness, the dust of his brick dispersing into the wind.

Brickerina desperately clawed at the ground in an attempt to get out of the wall, but her actions were to no avail. 

“Bricky? Bricky? No. No. You can’t just leave me like this. NO. YOU SAID WE WERE GOING TO MORTAR TOGETHER WHEN WE GREW UP. BRICKY.” An anguished, ugly, hollow sound emerged from her, the sound of something breaking within her, her edges shattering into particles that felt like glass.

She cried. She couldn’t stop crying. Her voice was hoarse and her whole brick hurt, but she just couldn’t stop herself from weeping. She knew it was bad for her, that she would break down too, but she couldn’t help it.

Five days later, she had decided. She knew. Bricky was the whole meaning of her life. Now, he was gone. 

Her voice was but the sound of the wind. “I’m sorry, Bricky. I-I’m not as strong as you thought. I can’t keep my promise. I’m sorry. I want to be with you.” With that, she underwent apoptosis, and her consciousness faded. Maybe her soul floated to be with Bricky forever, in a different realm. Or maybe they both disappeared forever.

Are you sad? Don’t be sad. Imagine being sad over two bricks when you have four piles of homework to be done? Yeah. Exactly. That’s what I thought. (Also, don’t tell them I told you this, but these bricks were never alive in the first place. They’re just two bricks.)