At the end of the story, Lorenzo met Olivia again ten years later. However, it is the last time that Lorenzo meets Olivia because she has dead. This ending does not surprise me at all because it is really hard for Olivia to keep the promise that she would never take drugs again. When Lorenzo and Olivia stayed in the basement, Olivia promised that she would try to avoid drugs, but it is not that reliable. It might be a way for her to make Lorenzo feel better and more confident. As for her, Olivia did not even know what would happen out of the basement. She could not control what situation she would get as soon as she entered the outside world. She might still have no job, and she would absolutely suffer from withdrawal from the drugs. She would still get much pressure to live because of the lack of money. Whenever she felt hard and desperate, she probably chose to take drugs again in order to get rid of the pressure temporarily. So it is not surprise that Olivia died of overdose.
However, the relationship between Lorenzo and Olivia does become better. If they have never stayed in the tiny cellar together for a couple of days, they would have never understood each other. They might still consider each other as an enemy. Olivia came into Lorenzo' life and changed him by letting him take off the mask he used to wear. The experience with Olivia gave Lorenzo a chance to change. For the first time did Lorenzo want to change himself and become connected to "others". If a long talk between Lorenzo and Olivia did not exist, Lorenzo may still be that antisocial and emotional. After that Lorenzo and Olivia maybe lose contact with each other for no reason, since the story did not show what happened in the following years. But it is clear that Lorenzo did changed from that time. So it is obvious that having a good communication with others is really important.
As for me, I've ever had an experience which made me realize that communication is so essential. I moved to a new school when I was at grade seven. At first I had no friends and I did not know how to get along with my new classmates. Whenever I'd got something interesting and wanted to share with someone, I found that I could talk to no one. It was the time I felt really lonely, but I pretended like I did not want to make friends with anybody. As a result, no one came to talk to me and I was alone for nearly a month. I was really upset and thought that maybe in this new school no one understood me. But then I found that I was wrong. There was girl called Rachel, who became my best friend at last. Once I worked in a group with her in my math class, I had to talk to her a lot because of the work. Under this circumstance we knew more about each other, and I found that we had a lot in common. She told me to be more outgoing and positive and said that everyone was not like what I imagined before. I took her advice and began to change. Just like Lorenzo, I changed from being a sort of antisocial and isolated to outgoing and optimistic. Just think about it, what if I did not have a talk with Rachel, were I able to get along with others well? Absolutely no. Everyone needs to be understood, and there must are many people like Lorenzo and Olivia who are willing to finding someone to talk to. Just open our hearts and we will find a different world.
