It was a beautiful Saturday morning with the sun shining through the window of the bedroom. Its glorious golden rays landed on a man who looked blissful as though he was having the greatest sleep of his life. Unfortunately, a shrieking sound tore him from the blissful silence.
The man lazily inched his arm forward and swiped his phone to turn off his alarm.
“Ugh… I forgot to remove Saturday from my alarm schedule,” Archie grumbled.
After a couple of seconds of basking in the warmth of the sheets, Archie tore himself from his bed and headed towards the restroom to complete his morning routine.
Entering the restroom, he looked at himself in the mirror above his sink trying to see any improvements that could have occurred from going to the gym the day before. Short messy brown hair, an average-looking face dotted with a few freckles, and a moderately lean body with decent definition showing efforts of dedication from going to the gym.
Looking at his torso, Archie grimaced at the deep, gnarled scar, about five inches in length, starting just below his right rib cage.
“Daniel and I shouldn’t have listened to Doug,” Archie whispered to himself while splashing water on his face in an attempt to wipe away his somber mood.
After washing up, Archie left the restroom and headed towards the kitchen.
On his way, he smiled at the small sumo robots, airplane models, and handcrafted doodads scattered across the shelves.
"Hmm... Milk... Oats... I guess I’m making oatmeal," Archie muttered, rummaging through the kitchen in search of ingredients. “Not my favorite, but it is what it is.”
After eating breakfast, Archie went to his computer and checked to see what had changed since last night.
“Work email is …empty? That’s surprising. Huh, I guess I finally have some free time,” Archie said with a faint smile.
“Whelp, I’ll game for a bit before getting groceries,” Archie said before placing headphones atop his head.
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A couple of hours later, Archie turned off his computer while grumbling, “Another dogshit team, why do I keep playing this game? It always ends with me being pissed off…Oh right, it’s because I’m addicted.”
Archie got up from his chair and headed towards his room to grab his clothes and shoes before heading out his door. He greeted the apartment complex staff members he saw while walking out of the building.
Walking around his neighborhood was one of the few joys of his normal weekday routine due to the peaceful commute from his home to work. The small IT company he worked for is situated in the opposite direction from where other people commute to work, allowing him to walk to the subway and enter an almost empty cart, completely avoiding the busy streets above and busy subway carts.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
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Archie eventually made his way to the grocery store and exited with both arms covered in bags and a smile on his face. He had managed to snag an entire apple pie for 10 dollars, a steal, in his opinion.
Looking up at the trees and feeling the crisp wind hitting his face, Archie let out a smile, “Fall is coming soon”
Archie hailed a taxi and set off for his home.
After entering his apartment building, his phone started to ring. “I shouldn’t have any calls from work on a Saturday, so it’s probably Mom,” Archie guessed.
After looking at the caller ID it was indeed his mother, “She always seems to know whenever I enter my apartment. Probably another one of her Mom's instincts or something,” Archie murmured.
“Hey Mom, what’s up?” Archie answered his phone.
“What’s up? Who am I, some random person you just met?” accused Archie’s mother.
“Sorry, how are you Mom?” Archie replied with a sigh.
“Better. I am fine, thank you for asking.” Archie’s mother replied before softening her voice. “How are you feeling? Does...it still hurt?”
“I’m good. Is there something you need me to do or something?” Archie asked while placing his groceries atop the kitchen table, trying to move the conversation onto something else.
“Henry and Maria are getting married on the first Tuesday of next month at the Church nearby. Are you able to come?” Archie’s mother asked him, her tone turning joyful at the news of her son getting married.
“Oh! Yeah, sure I’ll be there, gonna let my boss know that I’ll be taking that week off then.” Archie informed his mother while placing his groceries in their respective locations. “Good thing I’ve saved my days off. Henry told me it was gonna be sometime this year, but never when. So, I just held onto my days off.”
“Great! Arrive in business casual clothes, white shirt and black pants.” Archie’s mother informed him.
“Would James say anything about Maria already being pregnant?” Archie asked with a smile and eyes filled with mirth.
Archie’s mother huffed, “Father James won’t have an issue about it. I have to go now, I just heard Henry on speakerphone mentioning to Maria, how he wants fish to be served at the wedding...I should have never let your father take you boys fishing.”
“I love you,” Archie’s mother said softly.
“Love you too Mom,” Archie replied with a soft smile.
Closing the phone, Archie grabbed a slice of apple pie from its container and walked towards his sofa.
Tossing himself over the sofa, Archie said, “Damn younger brothers. As soon as my nephew gets born, Mom is gonna pester me even more to find someone.”
“At the very least I can teach my nephew all the ways to piss off Henry,” Archie consoled himself with a piece of pie.
Looking at his phone, he saw the time; 12:29 pm. “Time to head to the gym,” Archie said, pulling himself out of the sofa and scarfing down the pie.
Just as he was about to enter his bedroom, he heard a loud noise resounding in his head.
DING!
The sudden noise exploding in his mind startled him, causing him to trip, but he quickly caught himself on the doorframe.
“Ugh!… What the hell?” Archie exclaimed, grabbing onto both the doorframe and his head in pain.
Congratulations!
Your universe has successfully met the minimum requirements to join the Multiverse and the commencement of the 72nd cycle. The Introduction and Tutorial phase will begin shortly.
Archie looked at the blue floating text box in confusion before falling to the ground and blacking out.