Life was as mundane as always…
There I was, listening to my brother rambling about some very important client meeting or whatever. I hung up the phone midway through his tale and continued to indulge my love for the realm of fantasy.
The book I was reading: Avatars of Sin, was one of the only things I ever enjoyed in life. Oh, and I loved the protagonists, Evaris and Seraphim. I wanted to be like them one day.
Then, I got a sudden idea.
"I'm going to be a novelist," I mumbled to myself, though that mumble became a declaration to the world.
"I'm one-hundred percent going to be a novelist!"
I quickly realized my declaration had drawn a few bewildered glances from the other café-goers. Feeling my face burn with embarrassment, I attempted to become one with the café wall
Everyone must have thought I was some weirdo now. Well, it's not like I cared what people thought about me.
Suddenly, the entire café got so loud I thought I was at a rock concert.
But no, it was just Shizuka and Minako's arrival. The two people I loved more than anyone in this boring world.
Shizuka, the ever-clumsy, somehow managed to trip on nothing and embarrass herself in front of everyone. At least I wasn't the only one.
Following behind her was Minako, her midnight-coloured hair seeming to absorb the light around her, commanding attention without needing to say a word.
Minako seemed to be walking fast towards me though, like she'd rather be anywhere else. I couldn't help but chuckle at their antics.
Minako eventually reached me while leaving Shizuka to die of embarrassment on the floor.
"Hey, Komachi, sorry we're late," Minako apologized profusely, while Shizuka was busy collecting herself from the floor.
"No worries," I said, shaking my head with a grin.
Shizuka eventually caught up to us and managed to almost knock over my Sencha Coffee and miss her chair while sitting down.
"Classic Shizuka." I thought, suppressing a laugh.
"Ahh! Sorry, Koko-chan!" Shizuka bows her head, banging it on the table, "Oww!"
I tried not to laugh, "Oh, don't worry, Shizuka."
Minako chuckled as she grabbed a seat and stared intensely at the potted plant next to Shizuka while Shizuka ordered an Ice-cream.
I was just focused on my book while those two talked about love lives and stuff I wasn't interested in.
"Hey Hey! How 'bout you, Koko-chan!"
"Eh?" I blinked, taken aback by the sudden question.
"Shizuka here is asking how you'd feel if you were proposed to." Minako informed me.
"Well..." I peeked back into my book, answering in the most deadpan voice I could muster.
"I'd straight up say no."
"You're no fun, Koko!" Shizuka pouted, while Minako just smiled.
Shizuka's ice cream arrived; It was vanilla—ew. Somehow Shizuka devoured it faster than a magician with a rabbit.
After that scene, we headed off to a local arcade. A reckless driver entered my vision, and I felt a sense of danger from it, but I quickly dismissed it and continued with our journey.
The busy streets looked very clean, surprisingly.
As we navigated the pristine streets, Shizuka and Minako started talking about boys once again. It's like that's the only thing they knew about.
And as if fate was listening, three boys decided to walk their sorry asses here. I was almost done with the chapter. They got some nerve disrupting me.
Their intentions were as obvious as a neon sign at night, so when they asked us out. All three of them were smirking.
Before Shizuka and Minako could say anything stupid. I hit them with a simple, cold and harsh 'No'.
They were persistent I'll give them that. So I bashed their heads with my book. I didn't think it would be useful for anything other than reading.
As the boys retreated, nursing their bruised egos, I turned to see Shizuka and Minako's shocked faces.
They were disappointed—a fact they didn't bother hiding—even though I just saved them from a bad situation.
But despite being so kind, they were kind of stupid, so that made sense.
We continued our journey through the almost infinite city—or that's what it felt like—and I started to finish that chapter I was talking about.
Each word pulled my mind closer to the book until it was the only thing my mind was focused on. It felt as if the words were sentient, and trying to bring me into its world.
As I delved deeper into the pages of my book, the noise of the city started to fade away, replaced by the thrilling narrative of Evaris and his Void Dragon.
However, a sense of unease began to creep in—a low hum at the edge of my hearing that gradually grew louder.
It pulled me out of my book, but before I could pinpoint its source, I heard Shizuka scream.
"Koko-chan, watch out!"
onfused, I lifted my gaze from the pages just in time to see Shizuka's horrified expression.
At the same moment, I felt a strong, harsh wind, followed by the deafening sound of a car horn.
I spun around, and my heart froze. An out-of-control car was speeding towards me. Its headlights, blinding in their intensity, reflected in my widened eyes.
Panic surged through me, making my heart pound in my chest.
Disoriented, I realized I had inadvertently stepped off the sidewalk and onto the road while reading my book. I was directly in the car's path, and it was closing in fast.
With only a fraction of a second left, I tried to mouth my last goodbyes to Shizuka and Minako. I tried to move, but my legs felt rooted to the spot. The car continued its erratic path, closing the gap between us rapidly.
The last thing I remember was the horrified look in Shizuka's eyes before everything went black. The world slipped away and, for a moment, I was engulfed in darkness and silence.
Then I opened my eyes. I was in a black void, drifting.
It was as though I'd become a particle of dust, floating aimlessly in an endless expanse of darkness. There was no sound, no sensation, but I still felt the echoes of my final moments—exhaustion seeped into me.
I managed to look around. Below me, a dense scattering of glowing white dots shone like the most breathtaking starscape.
Above, a distorted universe, probably reality. I felt tired. There was nothing I could do, no course of action other than to drift into the unknown.
Was this my punishment for a life spent inside the pages of books, for ignoring the real world in favour of fantasy?
Or maybe this was my destiny—destined to drift endlessly through this cosmic void. I didn't have the answers.
I had only the silence, whatever was below, and whatever was above. I closed my eyes and drifted, into the unknown, into what was a mystery to me.
Wasn't I supposed to be dead?