"Hey, when will the next chapter be released?" I stare at the comments in the newest chapter of my webnovel, "A Swordmaster's Path."
I started writing this webnovel when I was in middle school as a hobby to pass the time. When I first started to write, it started off slow and only gained a minuscule amount of viewers throughout the first few years. But I kept writing in my free time. Eventually, in 9th grade, I spent hours and hours writing this webnovel and found a passion for writing webnovels. I found writing quite fun, and one day it became popular.
"Tomorrow night. Stay tuned!" I reply back to the viewer's comment.
I'm now 23 years old and now work at office. I don't get a quarter of the time to write as I did in my school years. I was planning on ending the webnovel this year as it started to get in the way of my work. I'm starting to feel drowsy and plan on heading to bed early. I have a presentation tomorrow, and I need the extra hours of sleep.
I close my laptop and hop in bed. 'It has been a long 11 years since I started'. I close my eyes and drift off into my own world.
*RING RING*
My phone vibrates next to me, making me wake up. My eyes slowly start to creek open. I reach for my phone. I turn it on and wince as the screen flashes. I see a notification at the top of my phone. It's a call from my sister.
'Why is she calling this early in the morning?'
I cast my thoughts aside for right now, and I answered the call.
"Hey, what do you want, Peony?"
"Hey, Axel. Can you possibly lend me some money?"
My face draws a blank.
"No." I hang up the phone.
Peony is my little sister, who is a junior in high school. We had a close relationship when we were younger, but as she got older and more mature, our relationship faded. It only got worse when our parents passed away in a car crash two years ago. This changed the way we live. I had to work my ass off to provide for me and my sister. I rented an apartment for the both of us to live in, but she was always at someone else's house. We only ever talk when she desperately needs money.
My phone starts to vibrate in my hand again. 'God, it's way too early for this.' I answer the phone again.
"Axel, please; just a small amount will be fine."
'Not this again'
"I've already paid you for the week; what else do you need? You're about to be a senior. How about you find a part-time job and make your own money?"
"Axel, you know damn well I can't do that. I don't have a car."
"Well, how about a bike?"
"That's embarrassing to ride to work. No thanks."
"God, you're so complicated. What do you need the extra money for? You do drugs?"
"Gods no Axel; I need it for my new boyfriend. I want to go on a date with him today."
"Peony, you've had at least 6 boyfriends in the past 2 months, and none of those relationships lasted more than 3 weeks. How about you take a break?"
"Axel, that can't happen. I think this one is THE one."
'My sister has said the same thing to every boyfriend she has had before, and she always asks for money every time she gets a new one.'
"Fine. It's just a little bit."
I send her enough money for a date with a new friend of hers.
"Thanks so much, Axel!"
"Hey, when are you getting ho-"
Peony hangs up the phone. She's such a nuisance, but I can't stop providing for her. It has been around a week since she hasn't gone home. I'm starting to get worried, but she has done it countless times before. I've gotten used to it.
My phone gets a notification that my alarm is set to wake up. I slowly get out of bed groggily, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, shower, and then get ready for work.
Today is a big day for me since I have to give a presentation to the higher-ups in the office. I review my script and practice by speaking to myself as I leave my apartment complex.
I enter my beat-up car parked outside the complex and head to work. I drive peacefully to work, but I hear a loud, ear-piercing screech coming from the left of me.
*BOOM*
A flash blinded my eyes for half a second, and as I regained my vision, I saw that two cars got into a horrible accident right next to me. Every person in the nearby vicinity is frantic and doesn't know what to do.
I start to hyperventilate, adrenaline rushes through me, and my heartbeats are like a drummer's solo. I didn't want to bring back these memories. I have trouble breathing, but I can barely manage. I wanted to cast away the thoughts of my parents' crash, but it always came back one day or another.
The police arrived soon and set up a blockade around the crash site. I start to calm down. But I keep thoughts in the back of my mind.
I was in that car when my parents died. I blamed myself for everything. Back then, my parents were talking to me and looked back for a split second when a car rammed into the front of the car, sending them flying out the window. I was dazed, but I didn't have any serious injuries because I was in the back. I remember exiting the car and seeing something I should have never seen.
My parent's lifeless body.
Blood trickled from the head to the feet, covering them in a hue of red. I threw up relentlessly on the spot.
I stood there, standing above my parent's body. Their pools of blood trickled down and reached my battered shoes, which colored them red. They were really dead. I couldn't even say goodbye. My brain couldn't comprehend this. I couldn't move any longer.
The ambulance came shortly after and took the bodies, and I stood there. Tears started to flow out of my eyes onto the street. The last sight of my parents, I saw, was their soulless eyes. But the look on their faces made it seem that they were smiling. I never understood this, even to this day. Then, I fell to the floor.
Then, I remember waking up in the hospital. A doctor checked up on me and filled me in on the details.
"Your parents didn't make it. I'm so sorry for your loss."
It takes me a few seconds to understand what the doctor said. But when I did, I started to scream.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE THEM!"
I recklessly attacked the doctor, but other doctors rushed in and pinned me down.
Tears cover my face. My cheeks were red. I tried to fight back, but alas, it was futile.
"IT'S ALL MY FAULT. MY FAULT"
"I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN IN THAT CAR,"
Before I can say anything else, they inject something inside of me, and I fall asleep.
I don't remember from then, but I remember Peony crying to me at my parents' funeral.
Since then, I blamed myself for their deaths.