You never know what's going to happen in life anymore when you're already old, isn't that right? Yeah, I'm talking to you. YOU, the reader of my story. Well, let's just say that life has its ways to make your life interesting. I mean, right now I'm just sitting on our terrace, holding a cup of coffee, listening to my favorite artist Laufey on repeat. Why? It's because it brings back memories of the past. Her jazzy yet melodic songs were enough to bring me in tears—I mean, who wouldn't cry at Too Little, Too Late for fucks sake? Kidding aside, I'd recommend it to you because I want you to cry too. Alright, enough with breaking the fourth wall, my grandchildren are now dashing towards me, and I'm quite scared.
I've been living on a remote island for almost a few years now, in the middle of nowhere, surviving only on parts of the raft that brought me here, and a ball that has a face which I drew that keeps me company… Alright, I'm just joking. I actually live somewhere in the world, of course I'm not telling you because first of all—privacy, I'm a human after all. Like—who would say their address in a web-novel that could go popular? Even if it doesn't, still. And second—the author is too lazy to create a setting (Yeah I am). So live with it!
My house is surrounded with plants that look yellowish and dry, but somehow it doesn't, like it can still be alive without ever needing water—how? Magic! I'm just joking, I don't even fucking know. Anyways, I live in a wooden house, like a retirement home to be exact. I have no neighbors since I like to be alone, yet I live with my wife, Maria, and believe me—she's already good enough to be a neighbor. She's friendly, she's a good cook, and whenever she comes back home after work or just grocery shopping, she always has good gossip with her, that's one of the things I love about her.
It's always good to sit down on my porch, the natural wind that blows to your face, the birds that sing melodic chirping—and of course, I joined in with them, but Maria always shouts whenever I do so, haha. The nature's way of making the peaceful forest loud, with sounds of grass rustling as it meets the breeze. However, none of this was ever my favorite feeling and sounds. It was always the sounds of my grandchildren, laughing and playing in the grass. They actually just visited today to spend the rest of their summer vacation. My only daughter, Susie, always misses his old man, I mean, who wouldn't miss me? And also, whenever she visits, she always bakes her popular cookies, named "Cookies of Susieth", ring a bell? Of course not, I live in a fictional world and you don't! But, it really is popular here, she owns a fucking building just to bake and distribute her cookies. I feel proud as a father.
As I was having my inner narration, talking to an imaginary audience, I forgot that my three grandchildren are dashing towards me. After I snap back from reality, I'm more scared than ever before. Whenever they come to visit, they always bother me by making me create an alternative story about the cartoons or movies they see on their phones since TV's are kind of irrelevant in the future—in other words, creating fanfiction for them.
Haa… who opened fanfiction to them? I asked myself this before. But, whenever I tell them a story or I suppose fanfiction, they always enjoyed it, even though I don't fucking know how to create a story or even be creative at the slightest—this somehow boosts my pride a bit.
"Grandpa~" The youngest shouts at a distance,
Fuck! They're near! I hid myself behind my wooden chair, trying to avoid the chaos they'd ensue. I heard their footsteps yet it was quiet, the creaking of the floorboards created an echo that could signal me how far they are. This talent is called echolocation, and in my family, I'm the only one who has it! Their steps got nearer, and so was the sound that the floor creaked. Until, it turned suspiciously quiet. I try to hide myself properly because my chair has some holes that could make me visible to their eyes.
"Where's grandpa? I swear I just saw him here" The youngest asks,
"I don't know, maybe… he's right here!"
WHAT THE FUCK?! WHERE DID HE GET THAT STICK?!?! The oldest, carrying a large stick, impaled one of the wooden chairs. Of course I squealed like a baby when I saw him do that. I saw their heads twist horrifically in my direction, like what you see in horror films when a ghost or demon finds you when you make a slight noise. They walked towards my direction, their arms extended. Then—they moved the chair away and shouted,
"Found you grandpa!" They squealed, laughing at each other,
I clutch my chest, scared for dear life, "D-don't ever do that again, David. I'm telling you!" I say, still stuttering because of the shock,
"Do what grandpa?" David, the oldest, asks me,
"That!" I point towards the chair he impaled. He chuckles,
"Oh! We already found you before you even revealed yourself, we just wanted to scare—" Suddenly, his sister Jessica, the youngest, cuts him off,
"We just planned to scare you because we already saw you hiding in fear!" She squeals. Then, David pushes her,
"I was the one who's supposed to say it!"
"Well you took too long!"
"And how was that too long?"
They kept blabbering about it, yet I remain frozen in fear, still clutching my chest, staring at the floor, thinking about what happened earlier, I really thought I was about to fucking die! Once I calmed down a bit, I slowly looked up and saw that both David and Jessica are now in an all out brawl. I jump in immediately, stopping their fight before it escalates into something much worse. Good thing they stopped, or else their fight could result in the "Great Hair War" happening again!
"What happened?" I ask both of them,
"She won't stop talking—" the oldest starts, yet was cut off by Jessica,
"He talks too—" before she could even finish, David cuts her off,
"You're doing it again—"
"No I'm not!" She squeals,
"Yes you are!" He shouts,
"No I'm not—" She repeated, yet I cut her off, separating them both,
"All right, let's stop this before this escalates into something worse again." I look at both of them. Holding both their arms, I forced them to clasp their hands together, "Now, both of you apologize." They hesitated, "Or else I'm not doing what you're going to request—" before I could finish, both of them apologized to each other,
"I'm sorry, Jessica." He says, staring at the floor,
"I'm sorry, David." She says, staring at the floor too.
Wow. That usually takes about an hour before they could even apologize to each other. What made them apologize so quickly? Are they just so eager to request something from me? I thought to myself, scratching my chin. After they apologized, they looked at me, eyes filled with excitement.
"Grandpa~~" they groan, begging,
"Okay—okay, I'll do it. Though I don't know what you're going to—" before I could even finish what I was saying, they shouted excitedly,
"We want your life's story!" They squealed, looking at each other with excitement as they await my judgement,
"Now that's quite a good pick—wait what now?" I pause, I didn't quite hear what they said,
"We said we want your life's story!" They repeated,
I froze, "Now, now kids. A person's life is very long—are you sure you want to hear this? Also, my life is very very boring." I stare nervously at the floor, "S-so, let's just move on from this topic and just do some fanfictio—I-I mean, alternative stories to—"
"No!" They shouted, shattering the sound barrier, "We want your life's story!" Repeating it every second.
I remained frozen while they kept on insisting I tell them my story. My story isn't the best to be honest—and if you ask me? It's boring on some kind of level. But the thing I'm avoiding the most is the fact that I get to tell the story between me and… me and… right, the thought suddenly brought a sharp pain to my chest. Suddenly, memories flooded back like a train.
**********
Memories of the Past
**********
On a hill… Years ago…
I step forward, near the edge of the high and green hill. I took a deep breath, then shouted loud yet cracked.
"I'M… I'M SORRY MOM, DAD!" The shout echoed far and wide, standing on a tall hill, as I tearfully continued my shout.
At a party… Senior years…
"Hey, wanna drink some of this stuff? It's non-alcoholic." Someone asks me, holding the juice my dad made.
I gently shook my head, "Sorry, but I've had enough of those drinks, I think I need a break." I chuckled.
"Oh sure!" He smiles, then walks off.
"That was a lie, I need more! Anyways, It's so loud in here, and Kelly is so fucking annoying as a host." I said, sitting at a red couch in the corner of the room. Alone.
At a wedding… Years ago…
I walk towards the groom. Patted his back, looked at him, and smiled. I carefully whispered to him.
"Excited?" I ask him, while he look at the arch of flowers in the entrance,
"Beyond." he responds. I step back towards my position, while tears of joy fall from his face as his love walks slowly towards the front.
At Kelly's house… Child years…
"Are you… sure about this?" My mom asks Kelly's mom,
"Just look at both of them, they look… okay? I guess." Kelly's mom hesitates for a moment,
"Julia. I'm serious." She says,
"Uhh, fine—yes, they'd do great!"
"Are you sure? If you are, then yes—I'd agree to it. As long as my sweet Alan enjoys it." My mom says, smiling as she looks at both me and Kelly playing in the mud.
"Now get out of there and wash up!" Kelly's mom exclaimed.
Years ago…
"No, but I guess, yes? Kind of?" I say, chuckling while holding my ice cream.
"Well, I mean it depends…?" He says, chuckling back.
He held my hand, then dashed forward. His hands slipped, then he looked back at me, smiling, waving his hand. I step forward, looking at the cracks in the bricks, still holding a smile… until…
"What was…" I look up. My mind turned blank.
"No…"
***********
Back to the Present
**********
I snap back to reality. I don't want my grandchildren to feel the pain I carried for a very long time. So, making a story about my life? My painful life? I looked down, hesitating, yet they kept on insisting, eager to know my past.
"I don't exactly…" I mutter,
They must have seen my distraught eyes because they started to huddle around, thinking about something. I looked up and saw them doing this so I tried to listen to their conversation, but of course—since I'm already so old, I can't. After they finished talking to each other, they turned to me, eyes filled with excitement.
"We want your life's story." The oldest starts,
"Uh-huh." Jessica nods,
"I-I don't…" I hesitate for a second,
"But!"
David paused for a dramatic scene. Since this is my story, the radio started to play a drumroll coincidentally because it's doing its daily spin the wheel. Yeah, no one wins those, it's basically rigged.
As the drumroll finally stopped, David said, "We want you to make it interesting, and!"
The drumroll came back for its second round. David paused for another dramatic scene. The radio is kind of old so it kind of creates this buzzing or electric sound every so often. Given that radios are practically rare in today's age, and very few radio stations are located here or even everywhere, it's a given that it's going to have a little static.
The drumroll stops, and David added, "Make it so that it's made of your own creativity!"
I froze. "Let's just create a fanfiction." I nod, disregarding what they said, "Yeah, let's just create those stories you always like, and then you'll enjoy it, and then—"
"No!" They shout,
"If you're not going to do it," David pauses for another dramatic moment, "we're leaving!"
My heart sank instantly. One month of their vacation—only dedicated to visiting me and Maria, only to be gone in an instant because of this request they made. I was stuck, it was a win-win situation for them, while I balanced between the lines of the resurfacing pain or the pain of letting my grandchildren leave now. I know it's just them playing, I know they're not old enough to decide like that, but something is keeping me from rejecting them, like they would actually leave after I said I don't want to do it… no, I don't want that. I don't want them to leave, I-I don't…
I thought hard about it, but unfortunately I can't think of a single thing… Suddenly, I remembered something I told about Susie, it was a story about a boy entering a bus and the bus changes into his life. Somehow, that story inspired the creation of "Cookies of Susieth" because in the story, the boy's mother likes cookies—so much so that she started a business and made it successful. And given that I told this to Susie at a very young age, she was inspired. However, that story alone took me a month to tell!
Maybe I should just recreate it again? The bus? I don't want them to leave so maybe… I thinked hard, yet I wonder if that's just reusing old work, which is out of the topic for making it creative. And also, a bus wouldn't exactly fit the role of life. Hmm… a vehicle—very connected to life, used almost in every book or movie to depict a journey, and can be a perfect example of…
"Fine…" I nod at them,
"Yes? Yes!!!!!" They excitedly shout,
"So… what's it gonna be?" Jessica asks,
"It's gonna be…" Suddenly, the radio started to play the drumroll again, but I smashed it so it could finally stop the coincidental dramatic sounds. "a boat!"
"Boring~~" Jessica rolls her eyes,
"Give us something more immersive and creative!" David exclaims,
"No? But I thought…" I grunted, "Alright, fine—how about a train?" I say,
They look at each other, assessing my statement, like I was in some kind of a thesis defense. Then, I see them nod and smile, "Fine. But don't forget about the interesting part!"
"Sure… wait, aren't I your grandpa? Why are you just ordering me around like you're my grandpa?" I ask,
"It's your job to tell us a story, not ours."
It's a good thing that they're my grandchildren, if they were anyone else, I would have used the two of my favorite words! Fuck you! I smile at their statement, then get back to thinking about the premise and plot of the story… then it hits me.
"Alright, I got it." I say. They sat down, preparing to listen closely. "How should I begin my story?" I ask myself,
"How about Once upon a time?" David suggests,
"No… it's too typical for a creative and interesting story." I say, I scratch my chin, thinking hard, both Jessica and David started to doze off, while I continued to think. But, the middle child was still awake, listening and waiting for me to start. Until I got it, "I got it!"
They jolted awake, "W-what is it?" David asks,
"How about—"
************
The Time I Hoped it was You
By: Persona Creations
**********
"The train is about to depart, please follow in line accordingly." The train's PA system announced, humming behind a busy crowd.
"I'm gonna be fucking late!" I look at the time, and see 7:59 AM. I dash towards the train doors, trying to avoid the people leaving the train.
Did the old man already introduce himself? No? The fuck? Aren't we supposed to be the main character of the story? Anyways, my full name is Alan Richards, a 25 year old minimum-wage worker, I guess minimum-wage? At some big company, trying to make my way before the train doors closes.
"The train is about to depart, please follow in line accordingly." The train repeated its announcement.
"Shit shit shit shit shiiiit!!" I continued my way towards the entrance. Bumping through each person left and right.
It's not the first time I came late at work. Sure, it hurts my pride to be late given that I'm a prideful person. But the traffic all the way here is enough to make you scream out of anger. Whenever I come in late, my co-workers give me a side eye. It wasn't an embarrassing stare, but a stare of empathy. You see, Kairon Corp., one of the largest companies around the world, values its efficiency and diligence. So whenever a person comes in late, there will always be a sanction to them. We call it, "The Pay Cut of Doom and Despair". The company we work for values its efficiency so much, before we even start or even get to have an interview, they gave us this manual or guide, sort of like a rulebook… It is a rulebook, however, it has a whopping 200 pages worth of rules! 200 FUCKING PAGES! That's not even the worst part, because the worst part is that we need to FUCKING MEMORIZE IT!!!
The train's chuffing grew more persistent, as many more passengers entered the train. I was on the transit card readers, moving as fast as I could, letting my card get scanned, "Please tell me I still have money left!" I desperately panicked. Once it lets me in, I dash towards the closing door, avoiding people as I run. Before it closes, I got the chance to enter.
I sighed in relief, "Thank goodness I made it."
I grab onto the nearest pole. The train was crowded as always, it almost seems like there's a holiday happening right now. Although, that may be true since Halloween is coming soon. Some spooky decorations were already placed inside the train to prepare for the special Halloween this year. Spider webs on the ceiling that look super real, the people dressed like zombies, the rust on the iron bars, the smell that you'd only smell on a crime scene, adding the cold air that fills the inside of the train… Oh right, that's just a fucking normal public transport, but hey, atleast they got free decorations from it!
Whenever I go to work, I always bring my bag. It's a black backpack. Inside were my important things like my laptop, charger, files, perfume, snacks, etc.. I'm kind of lazy explaining the things inside my bag, but it's full of the things I'll need whenever I need it for work. I know some of you might ask, If you work at an office, shouldn't you already have a desktop? Why do you need to bring your laptop too? Well no shit Sherlock, the desktop I use at work is different from my personal stuff. According to section 3 of Kairon Corp. Rules and Regulations (1997), it states that "No one shall use the work gadgets unless it's used for work, neither shall be the pencil, pen, paper, and blah blah blah" so on and so forth. So yeah, just have this thing called common sense? It's our sixth sense after all. (It's a joke.)
The train was packed. The scent of something so mysterious and weird was coming from somewhere. On my right, there's a dude wearing a sweatshirt. He's sweating tremendously while also breathing heavily. His sweat was touching my sleeves, to the point that I can actually feel it getting wet. I try to move away from him, but the bumps and the wobbling of the train only makes him touch me even more. "I'm sorry, but would you mind?" I say. However, he was wearing his headphones, making me unheard. I reached out my hand, almost snatching his headset out of his ear, when suddenly, I saw heaven.
"D-d-dear Lord. Thank you very much!" I mumble, tears running down my cheek.
Maybe my good deeds had finally come up to me! Oh great heavens above! Thank you so much! I look through the crowded room. There, in the distance, an empty seat! It has a table, with seats facing each other, capable of occupying at least 4-6 people, and the glimmering windows that make it stand out from the squished space I'm in! Thanks to the sudden clear view of the empty seat, and the average height of others, my view on heaven was much more appealing. After seeing heaven, I moved my way through the crowd. "Sorry, I need to find my friend." I said, repeating it over and over again to avoid suspicion from the others. Each person I bump into has a glare in exchange. I know their thoughts just by looking at how they glare at me as I move, The fuck is he doing? Or Where's this guy going?
As I'm nearing the table, a sudden gust of wind rushed through me, though given that I'm inside a crowded train. I disregarded that phenomenon and kept on moving forward. As I was about to reach the table, I heard a sudden yet loud chime in the distance. Then, I felt the sudden urge to stop myself from going there. You're not ready. I'm not ready. The voices I heard inside my head were telling me to stop, to retreat back, and to think harder about it. I don't know what's happening, I was in between the lines of continuing my decision, or preparing myself for what's about to come. I'm ready. I said to myself, after what feels like years of preparation, it's finally time… Wait, what am I even saying? Years of preparation? What?
I pull myself out of the cloud of thoughts, then continue to push my way through the crowd. "I… I see it!" I shouted quietly. The table was practically glowing a golden shimmer. Almost inviting me to take a seat. In my forever of using this type of public transport, a time like this is not a time to waste! I must continue and push my way through!
"Excuse me. Sorry. My bad." I say as I move through the crowd.
After what feels like years of trying to reach this, it's finally here… The Seat of Heaven! Just staring at its blue marbles, the white polyester table, the windows that picture the view of a beautiful plain. All of it was enough to bring me in so much joy. I touched the table, a warm gentle gust of wind blew through my face. I look around, no one seems to care about this seat, as if I was the only one who could see it. Ah fuck it! I sat down.
"All that drama for what? A normal fucking seat?"
I sat silently on my seat. Suddenly, I became curious why no one took the seat, which is obviously a win-win situation for them. The first thought that came to mind was that there could be a dead body beneath me. I took a deep breath and looked underneath the table, fortunately there was none. "Phew…" I sighed,
"Alan…"
A voice said in a distance. I heard it and immediately tried to see who it was, but as I lifted my head in a rush, I hit the table above me. "Fucking shit, what the fuck?" I grunted, the pain was bearable, but it's still painful to begin with. I held the back of my head, lifted my head beneath the table to see who called me, but there was no one, except the people squished together beside me and two buttons… wait what?
"What's this? Yes or No? What the fuck even is the choice?" I ask myself,
Then, I see a text written behind the buttons, although I can't see it at first, I rise from my seat and inspect what it reads. "Are you ready to begin? What kind of fucking question is that?" I brushed it off. As I was about to press the button, my surroundings were suddenly filled with winds that's as powerful as storm Katrina, and lights flickering on and off. Although it didn't affect me one bit, it was still very weird.
**********
Real World
**********
"What? A button? Why?" David asks,
"What else?" I respond,
"I mean, you could just immediately do it, I guess." He grumbled,
"What if I don't want to?" I say,
"What I'm saying is, starting your story like that? Yeah, it's kind of a turn off for the readers, isn't that right?" David says,
"Hey hey, I'm the only one allowed to talk to the readers and break the fourth wall."
I mean, David is not wrong, starting it like that is kind of…? I don't know, but as I've already told you, creating a story is not my forte. Rest assured, I reassured them that everything will be more visually and imaginatively more interesting, this is just the prologue after all. David gave me the stare of doubt, while Jessica was just enjoying her cookies. Oh wait, you were still reading, okay so…
**********
Back to the Train
**********
"What the actual fuck is happening?" I grumbled—
**********
Ugh… Back to the real world
**********
Wait! Before you could doubt my ability of creating my story, I'm telling them a completely different story than this, think of it like the uncensored version of the story, they are kids after all, I can't just say Fuck You at them for no reason, even if fuck is my favorite word. Also, this is my story, I can warp it to whatever things I want it to be. Part of the reason why I'm telling them a different story is because… because they aren't mature enough to understand the things I've experienced, especially the feeling of pain. Anyways, I think I'm annoying you now, let's go back to the story.
**********
…Fuck you Alan
**********
"Yeah, I agree with the transitional text, fuck you old me… Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, there's a fucking storm happening in the train… what the actual fuck?!"
As I was questioning the very fabric of my reality, I heard a female voice in the distance, it was kind of stuttering, like the buzzing sound you hear in a P.A. system. I don't know where it came from, but I know it came from the P.A. system… yeah, I'm just kidding, I heard it from the P.A. system, confusing, well that's what I'm feeling right now, glad to have you now on my side, now where was I? Oh yeah right, the winds and the buttons.
"Just fucking choose, Alan. You're wasting my precious time."
"Sure." I shrugged. I pressed the button glistening with red, as it glows a perfect shine. Yeah, I pressed the No button.
I blinked, then everything turned back to normal. No more weird winds, no more weird lights showing up from nowhere, and no more flickering light. However, the button was still in front of me. Like it's ominously waiting for me to press the button again. Like hell I'm going to press it agai— Suddenly, the train turned a corner, sending me forward… I don't know how that fucking happened, but once I opened my eyes, I was coincidentally pressing on the green button, AKA the Yes button.
"Fucking hell. Nothing is going to happen, I'm sure of it…" I straightened myself up, fixed my tie, adjusted my sleeve, and sat silently again. "See? Nothing happene—"
Before I could finish my sentence, a sharp needle-like pain hit the back of my neck and skull. I grunted over the pain, it was as if someone from the crowd stabbed me with a thousand needles in the back of my head. My head goes numb, my vision blurred. I blink more slowly, until I fall at the table. Yet before I fell asleep, I saw in a matter of nano-seconds that everyone in the entire train disappeared out of thin air, however, some remained, sitting at the same seat as mine. What the fuck… is there even a choice to begin with if I was just gonna press the green button? Fucking hel…
After I fell asleep, I dreamt of something. A sign or a warning, a prophecy somehow to be fulfilled. It was a flower, withering and decaying slowly, until it hoped for water. Another flower revealed itself, sharing the water it has. Until the flower too has suffered the loss of water. Without the abundance of water, the flower decayed once more. Not until rain pours, and the flower finds a source of strength again. What a fucking weird dream.
I woke up from my long nap. It wasn't comfortable at first, but after a while it became calming, like the feeling of rebirth. I opened my eyes, it was still very blurry. I don't know why or how, but everything is just a blurry white light. "Ugh! What the fuck?" I grunted. It was uncomfortable, not seeing anything. However, I blinked once, and everything turned different. My blurry eyes cleared, yet what met me when I looked around shocked me.
I squinted my eyes, "K-Kelly?" I say, staring at the sleeping person in front of me. I could tell it was Kelly just from his hair. I smacked his head until he woke up. He grunted, patting the top of his head from the pain.
"What?" he asks, "Wait… What the fuck are you doing here?" He squints his eyes to confirm.
"I should be the one asking you that question. How are you here?" I ask him,
"Fuck you, I'm the one who needs explanation here. How are you here? You're not supposed to be here." He asks back,
"I should be the one to tell you that, you're not supposed to be here."
Both of us stare at each other in disbelief. Our mouths wide open, pointing at each other while having the thoughts of Why is he here? How is he here? Kelly brushes his hair, tucking it behind his ears, puts his arms down, leaned back, and looked around. While I remain silent from the shock.
"You could stop pointing at me, you know?" He says, staring at me,
"How are you here?"
"Didn't you ask that already? I don't know."
"Why do you take this so unseriously?"
"Why do you ask? I don't know, maybe you just came to visit someone here… Nah, that's impossible, you got over her already. Or, I'm just dreaming. Am I still sleeping?"
The thing I don't understand the most wasn't the missing passengers, but rather how he is sitting right in front of me. Why is this important? You may ask. That's because…
"You live in the opposite city as mine. How the fuck are you here???"