Enigma

–noun, plural -mas, -ma·ta ?[-muh-tuh] Show IPA.
1.
a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation: His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.
2.
a person of puzzling or contradictory character: To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.
3.
a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.
4.
( initial capital letter ) a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the early 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German and other Axis powers for military use through World War II.
Origin:
1530–40; < L aenigma < Gk aínigma, equiv. to ainik- (s. of ainíssesthai to speak in riddles, deriv. of aînos fable) + -ma n. suffix of result

—Synonyms
1. problem.

That's the Word of the Week--enigma...just in case nobody had figured it out yet.

Me and my friends--Rose and Maddy--decided to start having a word of the week, every single week. it consists of flipping through the dictionary, stopping randomly, then choosing the most interesting word on the current page and turning it into your own.

I read somewhere that if you use a word five times, it's YOUR word. So, I have made it my business to say "enigma" at least five times a minute, just in case it decides that it doesn't belong to me anymore.

Just saying things like, "This locker is such a fucking enigma! I put the code in right!" Or "Ms. L, this is such an enigma! I swear my homework was in my binder twenty minutes ago!" is a way of making a word your own, even though I haven't a clue whether that's really how you're supposed to say it.

Whatever. I guess it will always be an enigma! (<see what i did there? ^_^)

I've been thinking about enigmas since it became the word of the week, and I believe that I have found a true enigma to share with the world (or, at least whatever part of the world is reading this, which will likely be one person--if not, two).

And Luckily enough for all, that enigma sleeps about three feet away from me.

I am talking about my cousin, Nick, who has come to live with me and my mom since his failed attempt at suicide a few weeks ago.

At first, I couldn't understand why anybody would want to kill themselves. But I got to know Nick--as that generally tends to happen when you sleep in the same room as somebody. Nick is not the scary, self-indulged person that I had imagined. He's nice and mellow and smiles a lot.

He looks sort of scary, though. Like a strange Rupert Grint/Jesus crossover.

Okay, enigmas. Back on subject.

He's so smiley so much of the time, making quiet side comments that could make the most serious person in the world giggle. That's the Nick that never wanted to die, I think.

And then, his mood swings like a metronome and I can't get within twenty feet of him without feeling an immense sadness. That's the Nick that killed himself. The Nick that chews his lip and has strange secrets in his eyes.

Of course this only happens late at night, but it's enough to keep me from asking him why he tried to kill himself.

So there's my word of the week!