New York, Blue Star, May 28, 2010
Holding a rain-soaked dinner, Ray trailed down the road in the heavy rain.
Wearing a shabby outfit that had become messy in the heavy wind, he looked at the deserted surroundings.
It was late already and due to heavy rain, shop sellers had already closed the shops.
Couples and idlers usually seen on this road had already evacuated and the streets were empty.
Looking at the closed shops and then at the dinner that had already been spoiled after being soaked in the rain, Ray smiled bitterly.
The sound of heavy rain in the pin-drop silence evoked the memories that he had buried deep in his heart.
The happy childhood, death of parents due to a car accident, loneliness and depression in the orphanage, being isolated and bullied at school, all those nights working hard to study when his peers were already in sweet dreams, ambition to become elite and financially free at a young age.
Then shattering of the ambitious young heart due to the cruel reality.
When he graduated from a renowned university as a top student in 2006, he was already looking forward to enjoying a leisurely life.
Washing away all the bad luck that he had previously accumulated and welcoming a more colorful and enjoyable life.
But imagination was beautiful and reality was cruel, it turns out it is not that easy to wash away the bad luck that has been haunting him since his parent's death that night.
Office intrigues, cunning colleagues, and a cruel boss had smoothed out all the sharp edges that he had, now he was living a life that millions of others live in New York.
Worrying about bills and loans, he felt that his life was in an endless time loop of office, work, and home.
Sometimes he felt that it was really difficult to live.
These memories and pressures of life made him so depressed that it was difficult to breathe.
Standing under a roadside stall to shelter himself from the rain, Ray begins to fantasize that he has a golden finger like those protagonists in novels he had read when he was young.
He wouldn't have to worry about financial strains, marry bai fumei, and reach the peak of life.
Boom
A booming thunder sound brought him back to his senses. Looking at the rain that showed no sign of stopping, Ray looked at the watch on his wrist that was so worn that its straps were on the verge of falling.
It was 9 p.m., looking at the time Ray was in a hurry, it was not advisable to stay on the streets this late, especially in free America where robbers and murderers' firepower started from at least pistols.
Putting the file bag on his head, Ray started jogging home, it would have been convenient to take a taxi, but Ray's financial situation didn't allow him to spend money on these trivialities.
Running all the way, he happened to pass by an alley, this was a shortcut to his home, and it would save him at least 15 minutes walk, although this was a shorter way, Ray rarely took this road.
Well, the reason is that in the 3rd year of his job, he was getting late for work one day, so he took this road, everything was smooth at the start but he was robbed halfway through by a muscular black brother at gunpoint.
Since then Ray has had inexplicable panic every time he passes by here, so he rarely goes home through this way.
Today was already getting late, and he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't encounter anything similar all the way, so he took his chance.
Steeling himself he stepped into the alley, it was pitch black, and although it was a straight walk, Ray had a creepy feeling in this dark environment.
Exhaling a deep breath he groped his way to the other end, walking and walking he happened to see something shining brightly lying on the ground.
It was so bright that it illuminated 10 meters around it, at first Ray was scared by this inexplicable thing placed in the middle of the way. But don't know why he felt attracted to it, it was like this thing was calling him toward itself.
Walking near it Ray looked at it from a little distance, it was a strange pocket watch.
Why classify it as strange, It is because its casing although exquisite looked quite old, no, old is not the word Ray will use to describe it, ancient is more appropriate, and the strange thing is yet to come it didn't have mechanical dials like any other pocket watch, instead it had a digital interface with garbled characters looming on it.
Looking at this strange yet attractive pocket watch Ray was a little dazed.
Standing near it, his attraction to this watch multiplied tenfold, unable to bear it any longer, Ray bent down to pick it up.
Just as his hand touched this shining watch, he felt as if an electric current coursed through his whole body.
The watch that was placed on the ground shining brightly a moment ago was now strangely liquified and drilling into his body through his hand.
Ray was so scared that he struggled desperately to distance himself from this unclean thing, but he felt like his hand was rooted to this thing, it was impossible to separate it from this thing.
Suddenly a pain that goes deep into one's soul was felt throughout his body, it was so painful that in no time Ray was rolling on the ground writhing.
From the corners of his eyes, he seemed to see space and time around him were distorting, but Ray had no time to take care of it anymore.
He was desperately praying for the pain to go away, he was in so much agony that he wanted to commit suicide to get rid of it.
After a whole 5 minutes of the ordeal the pain slowly went away, although the total time the incident took was only 5 minutes, it felt to Ray that centuries had passed.
As soon as the pain went away Ray's whole body relaxed and then he fainted.