It felt so effortless this day as each foot and leg took turns pumping down on the pedals of the bicycle. Krystofer was racing down the road to his apartment. His mind was ablaze with one thing and one thing only. His birthday was coming up in a few days and he had been surprised to hear that a very special present was being delivered to him shortly. He didn’t know when it would arrive in the mail, but it was any day now, any moment. He felt his mid-length hair swirl just behind his head as the wind picked through it, brown locks almost laughing along with the excitement in his heart and mind. His heart raced from the bike ride just as much as the anticipation of opening something unexpected soon.

Soon enough the white bricked building came into view and it only spurred him on to greater speeds. Then in a moment it was over. He hopped off the bike and rolled it to the side of the front porch, leaning it against the siding as he raced up. Behind the initial screen door, the heavier wooden door was left slightly ajar. Typical between all the roommates that helped split the bill for the massive home. Krys was in college and had decided to divide up a big house with a number of college mates instead of shacking it up in a dorm on campus. This way he had made friends with a handful of peeps instead of that awkward “this is your half of the room” situation his slightly older siblings had complained about.

He heard someone down the hall in the kitchen and possibly two others outside on the side porch but before anyone could stall him he ran up the stairs as fast as he could. At the top of the stairs the bathroom door was closed and it was obvious by the sound of water that someone was taking a shower. Krys turned the only way he could, to the left and went pass three bedrooms, one larger than the rest, and another hall that led to the other side of the house before he turned left again and continued up to the third floor. Again there was a closed bathroom door, this time with a lean yet chiseled guy pounding on it. “Come on man!” He shouted with a Jamaican accent. Krys gave him a condoling look and continued around, down the hallway. This floor was identical to the one below with another set of stairs leading to a fourth floor. The difference was that after passing the two bedrooms and the hallway that lead to the other side of the house, Krys paused for a moment to push against the door that lead to the slightly larger bedroom, just before the next flight of stairs began. His bedroom.

He burst in and looked around, mostly at the open area at the foot of his bed. Everyone in the house had assigned responsibilities and the “mail in-charge” usually left his envelopes or packages at the end of his bed where he was currently looking now. Only thing was that, nothing was there. With a great heaving sigh he went down, sitting at the edge of the bed. He groaned with disappointment. Not here, again. He thought. Despite having to wait a bit more, Krys was pretty good at looking at the optimistic side of things and all he had to do was remind himself that his birthday was a few days off sooner or later he would have his present. He stood up and started to pull his bag over his shoulder when the door next to his closet door, the one that lead to his own private bathroom suddenly burst open and a very stunned and surprised guy was standing there. His eyes widened and he yelled. So did Krys. In fact, so started was he that his bag was thrown straight up into the air and he leaped back up onto his bed, doing some sort of frightened geek martial arts stance. “AHHHHHHH!” They exclaimed with synchronization.

To make matters worse, the intruder, like Krys, also threw his hands up, causing his towel, the only article of “clothing” to drop straight to the cream carpeted floor. Oh god! No! Krys thought as he shut his eyes. “Gah! Stop! Wha-what are you doing?” He sputtered. He was breathing hard, trying to draw in breath after his sudden trauma. There was silence except for breathing from both men for a bit before finally he heard a response. The other guy had a bit of a deep voice, though one wouldn’t expect it with the guy’s lean and to Krystofer, short physique. “I-I’m so sorry dude. You aren’t usually home this early and I don’t usually have class at this time so I thought it wouldn’t hurt if I just hopped in and used your shower really quick.” He said, composing himself as he quickly bent down to retrieve and re-secure his towel around his waist. Before Krys, who was now re-opening his eyes to check if the coast was clear, could say anything, the other man, with his brownish-red hair and forest green eyes was striding out of his bedroom with all haste.

Krys sighed. He didn’t know that other guy well, but he knew who he was. Logan Acklin was somewhat of a hot shot athlete on the swim team, or something. He was around 5’9” compared to Krys who was 6’0”. However, Logan was fit and attractive, and Krys only ever saw himself as… average and inadequate. At times in his childhood he had been overweight and then in high school he had been so skinny people thought he wasn’t eating. Now, he was, in his own words. “Blah.” He let out a sigh again. Then he had to retrieve his bag from the floor and move to his writing desk. Pulling out books and a binder with paper. He might as well get started on his course assignment now.

❧

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

An hour later there was a knock at the door and as Krys turned to face it and call out it was already opening. “Hey Krys, just dropping off mail.” Someone said. It was the house’s designated mail in-charge, and probably one of the nicest housemates in the entire place. “Oh, hey Dylan, no problem.” Was his reply. He stood up as his door was opened further and Dylan, a giant of a man, walked in with a medium-sized box in his hands. “Whoa.” Exclaimed Krystofer. “Are you sure that’s for me?” He asked.

I was expecting a present, but not all this. Dylan let out a short breathy laugh as he brought the box to the foot of the bed and put it down. “Yeah, it has your name on it right here.” Dylan pointed at the address label and sure enough it read, Krystofer Garcia. With that, Dylan turned around and left the room. Krys just stood there, suddenly unsure. What a strange feeling. Well, no time like the present. His heart started to race again, he was getting his excitement from earlier back now that the moment had arrived.

Just like ripping off a band-aid, sort of… he just quickly got the tape torn enough to pull the box open. The inside had a birthday card, a book and a small velvet bag. His eyes widened and he smiled seeing the envelope. He pulled that out first, the paper was a light green and written in a lovely flowery font was his first name. His mom had told him a surprise present was on its way, but she failed to mention that it was from his grandma! He ripped it open and read the card. It was a typical hallmark thing, though the message was very heartfelt and it was always nice to see his grandma add her little message at the end. “Love you my ugly baby. Always be good. ~ Abuela.” He chuckled at that. She had been calling him ugly as an endearing joke since he was a toddler. A small tear had appeared at the corner of his eye but it was too small to fall, thankfully. These sentimental cards always got to him when they were from his parents or grandparents.

With that over, he pulled out the velvet bag, pulled the string open and slid out its contents. They sort of looked like playing cards, or maybe even trading cards, except one side of them were all blank. The backs were matching with an artful design of what appeared to be a cozy unlit fireplace. He frowned. These cards were odd, unlike any other present he had ever received from his family, including his grandma, especially her. With a shrug he put them back in the bag and then with that to the side he turned back over to the box and pulled out the book. And what a book it was. It was long and awkward like a scrapbook or child’s fairytale book. Except, as he turned the pages, they were just pictures. In fact, they sort of appeared to be multiple picture books separated by golden pages. Each “story” depicted different regions, cities, lands… worlds. All with vividly bright and skillful artwork. The few pages he flipped through were able to take his breath away. He had never seen anything like this, in fact, he had suddenly felt… like a pit in his stomach. He had never heard of this book, or these cards ever. Stumped he sat back, leaving the book in his lap as he looked up to the ceiling. He was thinking back at past family gatherings and trying to kickstart any lingering memories he might have overlooked. “Nope…” he mumbled, “never heard about these before. Wela, why did you send this?”

His phone started ringing causing him to jump a bit. He put the book back in the box and stood up, turning back to his desk to look at his phone. No one was calling him, it was just an alarm he had preset. *Oh. Almost dinner time. Wow, time snuck by me.* He sighed before turning and making his way to his bathroom. There he closed and locked the door and then stripped, tossing his clothes in the hamper before getting into the shower. His stomach growled and he chuckled. Dinner was going to be great. As the warm water cascaded over his body, he couldn't help but let his mind wander back to the book he had discovered earlier. Each image had been so realistic, yet clearly drawn or painted… Some of those places were so fantastic he could almost imagine being there, no… he couldn’t help *but* imagine and hope that he could be there.

After the shower, Krys stepped into his bedroom and went to his dresser to change into something comfortable. Then he was heading downstairs to the kitchen. It was a pretty large one with an even larger space attached to the side of it. This was where a long dining table was with about 7 other people already digging in. The smell was heaven, so he picked up the pace, grabbing some mashed potatoes, asparagus and a dark gravy with a few savory pieces of beef mixed in. After a bite or two he made sure to make eye-contact with the cook and offer a smile and nod of appreciation. This week the designated cook was a girl named Melanie Holtz, she had hazel eyes and light brown hair against olive skin.

Suddenly the chair to his right was pulled out so someone could sit down. Peering out of the corner of his eye he noticed it was Logan again. He was dressed in a blue t-shirt and dark grey sweatpants. “Hey, sorry again about earlier.” He said with a grin. He bumped shoulder to shoulder before digging into his own plate of food. It looked like Logan went for corn and green beans instead of asparagus but otherwise the main part of the meal was the same. Krys could only nod with a small smile. Well he seems over it already…

By the time he was done eating, most of the table was empty again. He decided he didn’t want to force any talk so he finished up and left the table, bringing his dish to the sink to rinse his plate before putting everything in the awaiting dishwasher. Then he headed back up to his room. Once there, he went back to his class assignment before heading to bed a bit early. Luckily he didn’t have class the next day.