Our long overdue get-together was cut short by Matt's wife, Linda, demanding that he get home as soon as possible since he's supposed to help Larry, his son, with his school project. It seems Matt still hasn't gotten in the habit of informing Linda of his evening plans.

Mike and I were now stuck in an awkward silence, trying to come up with what to do next since we'd already closed our tabs at the bar. Seeing that it was a little too early to just call it a night, I fished out my pack of cigarettes and offered him one.

"Down for a smoke?"

"Sure. Got a light?"

"Course"

*chic-chic*

"Hwoooooooooop (inhale)" x 2

"Whooooooooooo" x 2

Watching the smoky clouds drift away in silence, I recalled my earlier doubts about my future at my current job. Opting to keep my options open, I asked Mike,

"Hey Mike, that analyst position you talked about, that still open?"

His eyes widened for a split second before he flashed a small grin and replied.

"Yeah it's still very much open. In fact, my boss was not really happy with the initial applicants"

"Is that so. Do you mind passing along my resume then?"

Mike stared at me for a second before he looked away and muttered.

"I already did. Couldn't just watch my friend slave away at a job where he's not able to relax, now can I?"

I took a moment to process that before feeling a wide smile creep on my face.

"Thanks, man"

"Don't mention it"

Realising that I've not been smiling or expressing any kind of positive emotions for the past couple of months, I couldn't help but think,

'I need to seriously consider switching jobs, Mike's not the kind of person to stick his nose into others' lives, especially when I specifically told him not to'

Stepping on the now spent cigarettes, Mike and I decided to part ways as the toll of the past few days seemed to finally catch up to me.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

// Later

Exiting the tube station, I commenced on the short journey to my apartment on foot. While walking along mindlessly, I spotted a silhouette that looked like a kid, chasing a ball onto the road.

"Be caref-"

Before I could caution him, bright headlights appeared, paired by the sound of a fast approaching car. The kid seemed to freeze out of fright akin to deer in front of headlights.

'Damn it. Look where you're going at least!'

To my horror, the car was not decelerating, as I discovered that the driver was distracted by his phone.

'God F****g damn it'

Before my brain could compute my next course of action, I found myself diving onto the road to push the kid away from the car, trying to use the momentum to roll myself out of harm's way. Instinctively bracing for collision, I felt the strongest impact I've ever experienced in my life, before getting flung off of the road.

During the momentary feeling of weightlessness that seemed to stretch out indefinitely, I felt an intense surge of regret, not towards my action of saving the kid, but towards my own lack of decisiveness to pursue the things that really mattered to me, things that made me happy.

'If only I had talent'

'No, I did have talent. I just didn't have enough of it. How else could I have played professionally, even if it was for a team in the 4th division. There were countless others who could not cross the amateur or the semi-pro threshold.'

I was torn between being thankful for what I was given and lamenting that I wasn't given more. Watching the pavement slowly draw near, I just had one last wish,

'I don't really know if God exists, but if there's such a thing as next life, I wish I was born with enough talent'

The last sensation I felt was the back of my head hitting the pavement before my consciousness faded away.

.

.

.

[CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU ARE THE 100000000000th {HUMAN} TO PERISH. FOR THE UNPRECEDENTED ACHIEVEMENT OF BEING THE FIRST OF A SENTIENT LIFE FORM TO REACH THIS MILESTONE, THE UNIVERSAL COUNCIL HAS DECIDED TO AWARD YOU. THE WISH SYSTEM IS BEING BOUND TO {NIKHIL PATEL}]

[BINDING SUCCESSFUL..... SCANNING PLANET...... PRIMITIVE PLANET...... NO PRIOR CONTACT WITH COUNCIL..... ATTEMPTING TO UNDO BINDING...... ATTEMPT ABANDONED...... ATTEMPTING TO DOWNGRADE SYSTEM...... SUCCESSFULLY DOWNGRADED FROM {SSS} TO {F}]

[ERROR! ATTENTION REQUIRED!]

[{F} RATED SYSTEMS REQUIRE FIELD SPECIALITY....... HOST UNABLE TO SELECT SPECIALIZATION...... INITIALIZING AUTO SELECTION SEQUENCE...... SCANNING HOST MEMORIES....... STRONG WILL DETECTED...... SELECTED {FOOTBALL} AS SPECIALITY]

[ERROR! ATTENTION REQUIRED]

[{F} RATED SYSTEMS REQUIRE GOALS AND FORFEITURE...... SCANNING PLANET FOR {FOOTBALL}..... FOUND SUITABLE METRIC {BALLON D'OR}....... SETTING {BALLON D'OR} AS GOAL..... SETTING CURRENT AGE {33} AS DEADLINE..... SETTING TERMINATION OF SOUL AS CONSEQUENCE OF FAILING........ STORING HOST MEMORIES IN SOUL SPACE...... ALL SETUP PROCESSES COMPLETED..... INITIATING SOUL WARP.... SETTING TIME COORDINATES TO HOST AGE {10}...... SOUL WARP READY]

[THE UNIVERSAL COUNCIL WISHES {NIKHIL PATEL} BEST OF LUCK]

//// Narrator

On a peaceful night near the outskirts of London, a child's loud sobbing disturbed the quaint neighborhood. A panicked driver looked to the pavement as a brown skinned man's mangled body bled out. Realising what he had done, the man sped away in his car, leaving a wailing child screaming for help at the top of his lungs. His wailing was interrupted by a bright flash of light originating from the man's body, causing the child lose consciousness, restoring peace and quiet to the night.

//Author's Notes:

Tube - UK's version of underground metro rail.

Ballon D'or - Prestigious award given to the best player of the year.