I was twenty-five when I finally ran out of places to go. My siblings had had enough—my parents, too, though they didn't say it as directly. No one wanted to deal with the freeloading college dropout.
"Get out," my brother said, standing in the doorway. His eyes were cold and had no sign of the concern he once had for me. I tried to argue, saying I wasn't ready, but he didn't listen. He didn't respond, just turned and shut the door. That was it. I was on the street, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to.
The streets of the city were beautiful and bright with neon lights flashing at every corner, casting the occasional shadow across the pavement.
As I was roaming the streets of this large city, I saw a group of students arguing in the middle of a busy intersection. It was two boys, and a girl. Maybe a lover's quarrel? The boys were locked in a heated argument, while the girl stood between them, desperately trying to separate them, but her smaller frame meant there was no chance of pulling them apart.
During the argument, sirens began to sound in the distance, growing louder as they approached, but the students were so consumed by their own bickering that they didn't even seem to notice. It didn't help that the truck's lights blended in with the city's neon lights.
The girl was on the verge of tears, frantically trying to pull them away from the intersection. I watched as the truck accelerated. Those kids were about five seconds away from getting run over. If no one pulled them off the street, the oncoming truck would undoubtedly kill them but no one else noticed them.
After living 25 years with nothing to show for it, the least I could do was seize this one opportunity to contribute something meaningful to society. The choice was clear but for some reason, I hesitated. Maybe there was still a sliver of hope left, the undying hope that my luck would turn around, but it was pointless to begin pondering.
I ran as fast as I could, summoning every ounce of strength to yank the two boys by their collars, forcefully throwing them to the ground behind me.
The two boys finally realized what was happening, though the sirens drowned out their cries. Now it was just the girl and I. I began to feel the floor underneath us vibrating as her terrified eyes widened and locked with mine. It was a brief, but desperate stare. The blinding headlights engulfed our vision before I took one last stride for the girl in hopes that somehow, she could survive. The adrenaline I felt in that moment wasn't normal. It was like my body was aware that I was on the verge of dying, so it released all the energy it possibly could. So, with this opportunity, I grabbed the girls flannel and pulled. I pulled with all my might and then, the flannel ripped.
In the end, we were both hit.
The impact flung me into the air before I hit the hard concrete floor. Though strangely, I felt no pain, just a strange sense of emptiness. My body didn't feel like mine anymore. Then I began to think.
In this world, the idea of forbearing education was widely rejected, so for the common man, this created a barrier between him and the dreams he wished to accomplish. The system was specifically created to ensure that there was no time or opportunity for someone to establish and progress an idea. The education system was designed to replicate the blueprint of one person across different people. It was for that reason that I decided to drop out of college but I soon realized that no matter the genius idea I had, I lacked the means to accomplish it. Therefore, I ended up as a freeloading college drop out.
If only I had one more opportunity, a chance to fix the mistakes I made. My mind began to fog as I thought my final thought, wondering whether the girl survived.