"Papa! Can we get that?" A child asked. A man smiled at him and nodded.
"Thank you!" He hugged the man.
As I glanced at the father and son, a feeling started overflowing. I felt like crying.
"Here. That would be 239 dollars." The cashier placed the bag on the counter. I nodded and paid with a card before leaving the store. Dad...? I don't even remember hugging him. No... for last five years, we barely even talked. I felt scared in his presence. Every time he would come back home, an instinct would overtake my mind. An instinct telling me that my life is in danger. To hide, to run away. I took out my phone while walking back home and started scrolling through Instagram. Nothing new... nothing interesting. I checked my screen time and it was barely 12 minutes of daily average. Yesterday was my birthday. I had just turned 16 and I had lots and lots of messages. Maybe over a hundred? Meaningless. I hated these people. Being kind to me now...? Did they forget what they did to me?! But because they're my relatives, I have to be kind to them. That's how things went. I was the one who always understood. I was the one who always adjusted. 'It is out of love.' This was not love. It must've been easy.
I must've been easy.
But lately, things hadn't been the same. I think I changed too much. What did I do to deserve this? Why was I the one who ended up being lonely at end?
I entered the apartment complex and took the lift to an empty penthouse. Busy, again? I placed the bag on table in dining hall and went straight to my room.
"Master, you should avoid going out by yourself. It could be dangerous." My butler spoke.
"What of it?"
"You could be kidnapped in worst case scenario." He responded.
"That would be burdensome... My mom and dad would have to then think about the image they have. I would become a burden yet again. How about you shut up and mind your damn business? Leave me alone." He left the room after sighing. He was disappointed in how I acted.
I walked out on the deck and looked down at the city.
Yet again...
I should've died back then.
'Dad! Please!" A child was crying as his dad dragged him to the balcony. "I won't do it again!! Please don't do this." The child tried to resist but it was futile. The man was too strong for a six year old.
"You can't do anything right!? I WILL throw you off this time!" The man growled at him with pure hate in his eyes. A woman stood by silently watching. She showed no intentions of interfering.
The reason behind this act was not exactly known to the child yet his life was spared.
That night... I should've died.
I walked back in my room and laid on the bed and scrolled through the messages. This is too painful. I placed the phone on the side table and rolled around on bed to cheer myself up. Should I play games? Well... I do have school tomorrow. Whatever. I stood up and walked over to the computer and turned it on. Six hours passed and I finished helping yet another new player finish a difficult quest. This particular quest was infamous amongst the fans because of its difficulty despite being early in the game. I have helped so many players with this quest that now I can do the entire thing without even looking at the map.
Some of these new players would often text me and ask me about artifacts they should go for or what type of character they should play. I would happily help them because in this, there was no prejudice. They didn't know who I was and so they treated me like friends. But even then... it made me question quite often: What is my worth and how do I define it?
...
I was sitting in the class. I had come in early as always and soon others came too. All my friends shook my hands before sitting down. They were all kind so I kept my distance from them. I didn't want to ruin the mood so, for the time being, I acted as if everything was okay. Laughing and discussing anime we had watched. Nothing out of ordinary for friends. This was the script after-all. But this friendship was strictly confined to this class. Only this class, not even the entire school. Out of this class, I would be by myself on my own violation.
"Hey, there is a party with quite a lot of students. All of us are going, so, joining in?" Friend A asked.
"Yeah! There would be so many girls. I hope I get at least one girl's number." Friend B added in.
"No. It would be too loud and I would rather read a book." I answered.
"Do you even like women? Are you gay or something?" Friend C asked.
"Never heard him mention a single woman. He is fan of that boy group, right? What was the name again...? Whatever. But are you really not into women?" Friend B asked.
"Women? Never thought about it." I answered. Actually, I'm scared. What if the girl I date become something like my mom? Knowing how my mom and women in my family act, I would much rather just not. There was a girl I liked, obviously. But I was scared if she became just like them.
Best keep my distance.
"Any reasons?" Friend A asked.
"Nope. Just never thought about it. Getting high grades, playing video games and watching anime leaves me no time. Plus, I hate leaving my room. A girlfriend would be a bother."
...
I was sitting in a fast food joint by myself eating a burger when a light covered my surroundings. Unable to understand what was going on, I instinctively closed my eyes and then the very next moment, I was in a city square.
"Where... Am I?" I looked around scared wondering if I was summoned like those video games and anime. "Isn't this... the best?!" I smiled. Then I started laughing. I felt free.
It was almost like a curse had been lifted off me. I felt light. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
I started searching around and found that the entire place was empty. Something must've happened that lead to this. It feels unsafe being here so I should leave.
I rushed out of the city square going to what seemed like marketplace. The area was occupied by goblins. I rushed into a shop and left the building from a backdoor. This is a fantasy world. Whether I have magic or not is unknown. Better not push my luck. I entered another house and locked the door. I have to device a plan on how to escape the city without being noticed when someone attacked me. Being the only son of two important figures, I was taught self defense so this wasn't a big deal. I just rolled away as she pounced at me with a knife and elbowed her as hard as I could. She wasn't a fighter at all so just one attack was enough to knock her out. A survivor? I thought and looked at a small figure hiding in the corner.
I don't know these people. I don't care. I sighed and walked over to the little girl.
"What's your name?" I asked but she quickly ran to the girl who had attack me. The older girl stood up and pointed the knife at me. She was only trying to survive given the situation.
"I'll leave. I have no reason to fight you." I slowly took my steps back towards a window and leaped out.
It was getting dark and I can't spend anymore time hiding around. I have to leave the city. I took my phone out and sighed. Only if I had a map. To irritate myself, I opened the map's app and it worked?! But... what!? Maps only work because of satellites. I checked the map and there was a beach nearby. I should go there.
Once I'm out of here, I will be free to re-do my life!