Another Sunday morning breeze hitting my face as I walk near the sea port trying to reach the bus stop. I sip on a warm mix of ginger tea and honey with dried apple seeds and cinnamon, this odd combination brings me joy every morning and unlike every other individual that I see starting their morning with a cup of coffee, a burnt cheap espresso with a foul and strong odor that i can smell from where i currently stand. Many drink it to wake up or relax but they have submitted themselves to coffee consumption just because everyone else does it, these people are nothing but predictable followers that do not want to be unique unlike I. I think for my own and do not like to follow blindly but it cant be helped sometimes, it is good to just follow and blend it to feel like you belong to the place you live in.

This gray city lacks any color, a cement forest with buildings scattered everywhere almost looking like they were built randomly, it is right next to the sea yet even that lost what made it look joyous and alive just like these walking corpses around me, looking gloomy and similar to each other, almost as if everyone is manufactured in a factory and sent to co-exist among us, but the experiment has gone too far and they replaced everyone. They say you cant judge a book by its cover but you can clearly do that with these people. As I was waiting for the bus and sipping on my wonderful mix, came the man that drags my days down to the gutters, his smug face and shit eating grin pisses me off, with his annoying walk and hunch posture. Why cant this twat fix his posture? And look at his receding hairlines. It just disgusts me... "Delightful morning Mr. Ramsay, sipping on the usual combo?" hearing that voice coming out of his hole made me think that any person that lost their mind, was because they heard his voice and so I replied "And wouldn't you be better if you just went by your day and not waste any of your precious time stating the obvious Ahmed?" 

 "That's Mr. Ahmed for you, do not skip the formalities" he said, staring at me with a grin that makes me want to bash his head, but I wont do that, I am a human, a civilized citizen unlike any other that would have burst with anger at the sight of this man.

"I will not refer to you as Mister simply because you did the same, do not forget that we have the same job, we are not any rank higher than the other"

"Indulge me Mr. Ramsay and use it at least once. it is just a way for us to refer to each other seeing how we are of a higher class compared to others, we are civilized humans after all"

"Spare me from your elaborate blabbering Ahmed, I do not have the energy to hear you talk and comparing us to others"

He chuckles "But we are different that the rest Mr. Ramsay. Unlike the rest, not only we think but we are human" 

 "Are you suggesting that others are less human than us?"

"Not you implying that I look down on others"

"You just want to be openly racist and hateful without having to take accountability"

"Look around you Mr. Ramsay and see everyone around us, see how same-ey and gloomy the people look, almost like they are cloned of the same people. It is like we are in a game and everyone is a puppet that is being moved around. Haven't you noticed how everyone is bearing the same coffee cup? Or how the same noise is coming out of every earphone we pass by?"

"People like to follow trends to feel like they belong and some things are trendy because they are good and others enjoy it" 

 "Or rather, because it is all a conspiracy"

"Oh no, do not start with the whole conspiracy theory thing"

"This ain't no theory, these are monsters, monsters that live among us, monsters that look just like you and me and are everywhere roaming the land freely and I'm sure they are made by someone and programmed to follow whatever their maker said just to normalize those ideas among us, like you said people follow trends just to feel like they belong"

"And you are following the herd of conspiracy theorist"

"You yourself like to stand out and differentiate yourself from the crowd so do not try to defend them, when your actions show that you are not very fond of these monsters" 

"Stop calling them monster you bigot, they are as human as you are"

"A human being thinks and acts upon thoughts. The moment you start thinking, that is when you start existing and your presence as a human makes sense, when you blindly follow the herd like cattle then you are no different than an animal".

  The bus finally arrived, a savior that will make my ears suffer far less as I do not have to wait here any longer, but as I get on it I am reminded that this parasite, is my co-worker. We take seats and he continues rambling... "I mean have you seen how we blindly copy thing or say things that are wrong or shouldn't be done simply because others before us did them?"

"And are you trying to call traditions wrong?"

"Not necessarily traditions, but rather things we integrated into our traditions and started calling them that, habits that came out of nowhere"

"What are you trying to say exactly?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Ever noticed how in our society, every morning we have a cup of coffee and for others its a huge mug of milk with coffee"

"That's just the average breakfast, nothing is wrong with that..." 

"It pisses me off that everyone does it, not knowing that it has disastrous consequences to the digestive system, and what's worse is when you try to tell them about that, they'll refuse to hear you out or call you crazy for trying to defy what their parents had taught them, and the parents end up saying the same, but it cant go that far back..." 

What is this Rat yapping about, why is he so annoyed by such minor things... "And do not get me started with Mayonnaise on pizza and fries? Who in their right mind would put a condiment made for cold things like salad, on something warm like pizza or fries".  The bus did not reach my destination yet, but i stepped out at the nearest stop as long as I have to be away from this noisy mosquito flying near my ear, and yet he still followed me "I guess we are walking to work today, good for our strongest muscle". He said that as I was trying to walk fast so he wont catch up to me, I tried to cut away and go through this tight alley between buildings and a boy stopped me, a teenager who is probably at the age of 15, begging me to borrow my phone for a call, saying his grandmother locked the door and didn't give him spare keys. Nothing is wrong with helping a kid in a dire situation, good citizenship you know. While i was taking out my phone from my pocket, his hand reached to his own pocket to take something out but Ahmed barged in grabbing the boy by his collar and pushing his back to the wall "What is wrong with you" I shouted at him, he was struggling to pin the boy to the wall and then said "Never give a brown skinned guy any favors" infuriated by this man and his racism it took me a good second to notice that he is also grabbing the boy by his wrist and to my surprise, its a Swiss knife. Ahmed swept the boy's leg and stomped his arm and he let go of the knife, the boy ended up running away. Ahmed picked up that knife and said to me while panting "we have to move fast, these brown guys always bring back up when they cannot deal with you alone". 

We moved away really fast trying to reach our office building, and I had to ask him "That kid was probably trying to defend himself because you pushed him" but his reply was as expected "He is one of the monsters, with that brown skin of his..." but I had to stop him and point something out " That is straight up racism"

"The skin alone is not a factor, it is not how much melanin he has, but have you not noticed? The boy was wearing a bootleg tracksuit that looks obviously cheap and made in China, and he was wearing TUNED IN sneakers, only muggers and drug dealers wear those sneakers, that boy was trying to steal your phone and he had a knife ready to attack you with just in case you resist" And for once he made sense, I always thought about how people limit themselves and follow others to the point where they dress up in a certain way to fit in with a certain group... but I still refuse to be on the same boat as this lame excuse of a human. 

   We finally made it to the company and fortunately with no harm, but this morning was rather different than usual and it is making me feel bad and as we were climbing up the stairs, Ahmed handed me over the Swiss knife that he picked up from the boy earlier and told me "we are off to fight one of the makers of those monsters" I laughed at this, I thought he was making a joke, I replied "is the company executive our target?". He nodded his head to answer my question, then opened his bag showing me what he brought, a rope and a glass bottle filled with a liquid and some tissue shoved halfway through its mouth... a Molotov? "Ahmed, I hope you are trying to pull a prank"

   He turned to me and said "Pranks are supposed to be funny, I am trying to rid the earth from these monsters... the manager is one of those monster makers, he hammers ideas into people minds and forces them to think exactly as he desires and thus must be dealt with" my heart started beating faster, are my eyes going to behold a psycho in action? This man has gone nuts and must be stopped, but this irresistible urge within me that wants to fill its curiosity is preventing me from just attacking him, I want to call the cops but the same force is stopping me from doing that, or it could be that I am afraid he'll attack me first if I try to stop him. 

   He goes into the managers office and I follow him. The executive greets us and I am reminded by the fact that I'm not very fond of this man, this walking blob and his huge belly. The controlling snob that we consider our boss. He's in this position just because he was here before and longer than most us and I wish someone would just punch him in the face someday. My wish has been granted, Ahmed punched him so hard he knocked him down to the floor and he proceeded to kick him , I yelled at him to stop but he wouldn't listen. Ahmed pulled out the Molotov and told at me to step aside, this man has gone nuts, he threw the bottle and it hit the office door, engulfing it in flames. He tied our boss and asked me to help him carry the man because we'll need to pressure him and break him down mentally "If we strike down their leader, they will not follow him anymore and thus we rid the place of the biggest monster of all".

    The adrenaline rush in me and the flames behind me are making my body is sweat like crazy, my heart beats are like war drums. Then I realized that I have to do something before things escalate any further. I grabbed Ahmed by his collar and yelled at him to stop and go back to his senses, but he raised his voice in retaliation "Mr. Ramsay follow me for once. I know that you're the only one that is aware about these monsters but you are denying that and I need you because you can think, you are a human not a monster, just like me, we are alike" 

    I cannot let any of his ideas get through my head, I pushed him away from our manager and I punched him in the guts "Ramsay stop this, we have to fight for the same purpose". I kept hitting him trying to stop him but he wont go down... we are nothing alike, this man is the monster. I charged at him and we broke through the burning door and fell to the ground I quickly got on top of him and pulled out the knife he gave me, the real monster had to be taken down, a strike to the throat is lethal enough to stop him. It felt odd... for I normally do not engage in any violence. All I heard were screams of the other co-workers. The madness caused by this man fueled my rage and now I felt no elation nor shock for the fact that I have killed a man. My hands are not bloody even, and my eyes couldn't move away from the corpse in front of me, not the one of Ahmed of one that is mine. Ahmed was here to warn me, to help me out but he was not here physically, but I went straight to hell. Firemen and Officers rushed in to turn off the fire before it spreads any further, and it seems that no one had noticed me standing, but only the corpse I was staring at... on this day it was recorded that Ramsay has entered the company building this morning, attacked the executive and started a fire, and slit his own throat.

All I feel now is a calm certainty that all Ahmed tried to warm me about and fight for is lost in the flames, such a shame and now here be monsters roaming the land so free, and they look just like you and me.