As Jerico drove down the highway towards the warehouse, he was filled with a mix of anxiety and anticipation. He couldn't help but reflect on his conversation with Jeon earlier that day; it had been strange for him to call back someone he'd fired before. Despite this confusion, Jerico could not shake off an increasing feeling of hope as he continued onward.

When Jerico set off, the skies were blue and the sun shone brightly. However, as he continued his journey along the highway, a thick blanket of grey clouds rolled in over him. He could sense it was about to rain but still couldn't see any drops fall from above. As he scanned out across the seemingly never-ending desertscape before him, something caught his eye - two silhouettes seemed to be running alongside him despite being so far away...and they were keeping up with his speed of seventy miles an hour!

*Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

“Jerico let out a cry of surprise as he suddenly realized that, while preoccupied with his thoughts, he had been drifting into the oncoming lane. With only scant feet between him and an approaching semi-truck, Jerico managed to swerve back just in time. Trying to keep calm after this close call, he decided to soothe himself by playing some lofi music through Music Hub. Upon looking back at where two people had been in the distance before however, all Jerico could see was an endless stretch of Nevada desert.

After exiting the highway, Jerico thought it would be a good idea to start off with an olive branch and get coffee for himself and Jeon. He pulled up to his usual gas station, when he saw Trey - a homeless man whom Jerico had previously bought food for on several occasions while offering him some change. "Hey Trey!" shouted out Jerico amicably. "How are you doing buddy?!"

Trey looked at Jerico with a look of terror. Bewildered, Jerico stepped closer and asked, “What's wrong bro?” Still Trey remained silent; utterly haunted. With an understanding nod, Jerico replied,"I'm just gonna grab you some coffee and hot dog real quick—be right back." As he opened the door to leave, Jeff appeared–an older gentleman who always inquisitively inquired about how things were going for him. jericos enjoyed conversing with people in attempts for small connections between them all.

Jeff called out to Jerico in his usual upbeat manner, "Hey, how's it going?"

Jerico responded with a sigh and said,"Ah man, right now I'm having some difficulty at work so I'm on my way to try and get my job back."

"Oh wow! Well best of luck with that!" Jeff wished him good fortune. Jerico then turned the conversation towards Trey asking,"Do you know what's up with Trey? He looked like he saw a ghost when he spotted me earlier. Wasn't even able to say hello."

Jeff warned, "I told you not to give him money - when it comes to these kinds of people, you can only trust them with food. Last night cornel said he was acting unusually erratic; he kept shouting about some kind of selection..."

Jerico didn't agree with Jeff's views on the homeless. He believed that everyone needed help sometimes and that you had to at least give people the benefit of the doubt. What was this selection stuff about though...? “Nah, bro, something was weird. I just can't place it. Anyway, let me get two hot dogs and three coffees.”

As Jerico strode out of the store, he spotted Trey standing across the street and chuckling to himself—this was typical behavior for him. Normally, Trey would be talking to himself while waving at cars that drove by. After seeing how tensely Trey had reacted around him earlier, Jerico felt reluctant as he moved closer towards trey.

Trey, seeing Jerico coming over, gave him a big gap-toothed smile. Seeing this, Jerico felt better and went over with more confidence.

"Morning Trey! I got you the usual!" said Jerico. Trey gratefully accepted the offered food and drink. Feeling good, Jerico turned around to get in his car when he heard Trey say, "I'm gonna miss you."

"Huh? What was that, Trey?" said Jerico.

Trey voiced in a hushed tone, “You were the only one who was kind to me.” Jerico spun around and said reassuringly, “It's alright bud. I'll be back tomorrow." But Trey shrieked over him "No you won't! Because those that get lost always seem to get picked - they find you when you least expect it!" His voice rose with emotion as he continued; "You smiled at me—truly saw me for once—and then poof, gone like magic. You're marked forever now! A drifter- someone far from home and found by them..."

Jerico stumbled backwards in shock when Trey's bizarre outburst occurred. He watched on as his friend hit the ground with laughter, not understanding what was so amusing. After reaching safety at his car, Jerico studied Trey still shaking from mirth while he himself felt baffled and overwhelmed by today's events. "I must meet up with Jeon," he announced to no one in particular, determined to reclaim his job and reunite with his family as quickly as possible without any further turbulence. The world had certainly not been kind today.

Jerico wearily drove away from the gas station, only to be met with a cacophony of tumbling sounds on his car's roof. When he glanced back in confusion, what seemed like freshly spilled coffee was cascading down his window. "Damn it," he cursed aloud as the realization struck that he had forgotten his hot dog and cup of joe right there on top of the car when Trey went ballistic earlier. At least I'm near my warehouse now, Jerico thought to himself in relief.

After arriving at the Pack Co warehouse, Jerico was astonished to discover his hot dog had somehow made its way onto the roof of his car. Without hesitation, he seized it and started noshing away in an attempt to ease his nerves. It may have been scrumptious but that certainly wasn't a wise idea! Regardless, with no relief from this meal, Jerico trudged towards the building's entrance - gazing up into the sky as thunder rumbled ominously across darkening clouds above him.

“Hey jerico!”

Turning around, jerico saw his good friend Eddie running to catch up with him.

“Hey man, I tried calling you yesterday but couldn't reach you. Eddie queried in disbelief, "So what happened? Did Jeon really fire you for taking some boxes?" Asked Eddie referencing one of his favorite movies.Jerico replied defensively,"What?! Who told you that shit? It was just a couple of mistakes when issuing refunds and he totally overreacted."

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“What? Really?” Said Eddie, “Everyone messes up the count sometimes.I didn't think it was something you could get fired for.”

“Yeah, well here I am” said jerico with a little sarcasm. “He called me yesterday and asked me to meet him in his office to talk things over. I think he feels bad or maybe thinks I'm gonna come after him for wrongful termination"

“Man, that's rough bro, I really hope that everything turns out alright. I mean, if you actually got fired who the hell would make corny ass jokes with me.” Said Eddie while making their way into the warehouse.

“Haha, yeah, I really hope so too. I haven't told angel anything yet. If this works out, I'll be happy. If not, I'll go find another job, though I don't have very many skills. Plus with the whole pandemic, it's even harder trying to find work” jerico said.

“Well best of luck dude, let me know how that turns out. I'm pretty sure I'm on dock work today. Yesterday, Nancy asked me if I wanted cross-training for my forklift license. I'm really nervous about it.” Said Eddie.

"I'm sure you'll be fine Eddie, just take it easy my guy, I believe in you. I'm gonna head over to jeons office, I'll see you in a little bit.” Giving Eddie a fist bump, jerico, headed toward the back of the warehouse where H.R and management were located. Jericos stomach started to rumble in an unpleasant way, stopping to rub his gut, jerico said, “fucking gas station hot dogs.”

Not wanting to be late for his meeting with Jeon, jerico decided to try and hold it in. He knew this was a mistake, but that was the spice of life. Finally, making his way over to jeons office, jerico knocked on the door. After a few moments of waiting, jerico felt as if he was being watched. Not just from the security cameras, this was different. Like what a rabbit would feel the moment it had to run for its life. Like he was being watched by a predator.

“Hey jeri-” “AHHHH!” jerico nearly yelled, being shocked out of his paranoia. Turning around, he found Nancy staring at him like he was crazy. Nancy was fairly new to the warehouse, being hired as jeons personnel assistant. She was a polite, middle-aged Asian woman who happened to also be from hawai'i, just the next island over from jerico. She was still learning the ropes around the warehouse, this in turn, led to many unfair confrontations with jeon, who expected everyone to be perfect.

“"Jerico, are you all right?" Nancy inquired. "Oh, sorry Nancy! You startled me a bit; I was lost in my own thoughts." he replied. "I'm here today since Jeon wanted to have a meeting with me." At this point, Nancy's expression shifted into one of knowledge and apprehension as she responded: "He isn't in his office at the moment. Apparently there is an issue down on the docks where one of the forklift operators has been drinking while working - it could be that he's down there terminating someone from their position".

Jerico sighed and said, "It appears to be a customary behavior for him. But at least this time he has good reason." Nancy exclaimed while exhaustion was evident on her face, "Let's go down together. That way I can investigate who is being let off the boat first-hand — that should help me speed up my paperwork process." As they made their way to the dock, Jerico reflected back on how shaken he felt just moments ago.

The back warehouse, which was affectionately referred to as the “dock”, served as a receiving and shipping hub for all of our processed goods. It always had plenty of activity with forklifts in and out loading trailers while semi trucks came by to drop off or grab their cargo shipments - it truly felt like a lively beehive!

Nancy and Jerico could hear the commotion before they made it to Jeon. As soon as they reached their destination, a heated argument between him and Hector was already in progress. "FUCK YOU JEON! You think you can get rid of me?", bellowed Hector with an intoxicated slur from atop his towering stature above Jeon's form. His shoulders were tensed up ready for a strike at any moment.

To his credit, Jeon didn't waver. “Hector, it is totally unacceptable to operate heavy machinery while under the influence of any substance. You are expected to uphold a professional standard; you have failed in this regard and must be terminated immediately. Please return your key and go to the office for necessary paperwork."

In a tone that promised violence, Hector said. “You think you can get rid of me that easily? Like I'm one of these bitches that you walk all over every day? You think you're so much better than all of us. Always looking down your fucking nose at us ants? I'll show you who's a fucking bug! Cocking his shoulder back Hector prepared to throw a massive overhand at jeon.

“Hey!” Came a voice the jerico immediately recognized as Eddie. “Hector, you need to chill out man. You're drunk. It's really obvious, plus you're about to hit an old man that's at LEAST a hundred pounds lighter than you. Get a grip man, don't make this worse than it already is.” Said Eddie, trying to reason with the drunk.

Hector was about to spit a toxic reply when security turned the corner. With a look of pure contempt, Hector stalked off toward the dock desk where the keys for the lifts were located. Seeing all of that unfold, jerico turned to Nancy “look at the balls on those two”. Said jerico turning to nancy. “We should probably get over there…” Said Nancy with a sigh.

Jeon and Eddie stepped out to the parking lot. Eddie seemed to be checking on Jeon to see if he was OK. To which Jeon patted Eddie on the shoulder in an appreciating gesture. Nancy and jerico were almost out to the parking lot when jerico felt himself being watched again. This time the feeling was so strong he felt like he was already at death's door. The air around jerico felt thick and heavy.

“Suddenly, someone shouted a warning: "HEY WATCH OUT!" When Jeon and Eddie turned to see what the commotion was about, they were met with shock. Hector was hurtling straight towards them on a forklift with both blades pointed threateningly at their mid-sections. Too stunned to react, neither of them could move out of its way in time.

Time seemed to have frozen. Jerico's attempts at movement were as difficult and sluggish as if he had been swimming in honey. He glanced rightward and noticed that Nancy remained motionless, her eyes glazed over--unmoving like a statue. Despite the strain it caused his body, Jerico made strides forward with all of his might; from below him came an ethereal gray light, which illuminated outwards from himself. Then suddenly, a gentle gust of breeze caressed against Jerico's skin - oddly enough, this tranquility brought solace to his soul amidst the stillness of their surroundings. The wind grew stronger until its whispered chants mumbled something familiarly strange into Jericos ears—something he was convinced he'd heard before...

“Don't you want to be more than this, drifter? All you have to do is reach for it.”

Jerico's inner self vibrated with a newfound understanding; he had found his missing puzzle piece. His vision suddenly shifted, as if someone had clicked on the light switch in his mind - Jerico realized he was glowing! He recalled what the wind whispered to him and reached out mentally, mesmerized by this unfamiliar sensation of warmth permeating every inch of his body like a second skin. Upon acceptance of this energy within himself, it slowly seeped back into its rightful place inside Jerico.

The leadenness that had been suffocating Jerico abruptly vanished like broken glass. Instantly his body was energized with an intensity unbeknownst to him before. It felt like a never-ending surge of adrenaline, replenishing itself at each beat of the heart. His temperature spiked, and from afar one could witness radiating heat waves emanating from Jerico's form.

Jet-fueled, Jerico looked up to find the forklift still advancing towards Jeon and Eddie. All of a sudden he seemed to be moving faster than ever before! With an almighty kick from the ground that created cracks in its wake, Jerico was running at an unprecedented speed. In what felt like two seconds flat, he had gone from standing still to sprinting full pelt.

Jerico was never a particularly athletic figure; he had the typical dad bod and that's about it. His arms were decent in size, while his shoulders well-developed. With each step, Jerico seemed to travel further than normal - until finally chunks of pavement started flying up with every kick!

The forklift was close now, hectors face was twisted into an almost otherworldly mask of pure hatred. At the last moment, jerico was able to push Jeon and Eddie out of the way. In the next moment, jerico felt what no one should ever feel in this situation. Nothing. The world snapped back to normal speed. Finding that his perspective changed like he was being lifted into the air, jerico looked down to find one blade of the forklift coming out the front of his shirt. Jerico couldn't feel anything from the top of his abdomen down.

Jerico was in a state of disbelief. He should have been overwhelmed with fear and anxiety, yet all that he could feel was sorrow and repentance. His wife, Angel, and his daughter Ellina were on the forefront of his mind as visions of them danced through his head. Why did I ever think I had to be a hero? Jerico wondered to himself. All he wanted now was to witness Ellina grow into an adult; for him to experience being a grandfather; but most importantly - for him die while holding hands with Angel while their little girl watched by our side...

Why is it only after the fact, in hindsight, that we can see what was most important the whole time. Jericos vision was starting to go dark. He could vaguely hear someone screaming for help in the distance. It was no use. Jerico knew this. Looking down, jerico saw that he had shit himself and most of it had fell on Jeon. “That's actually kind of funny" thought jerico.

The grains of time trickled away from Jerico, whose mind and body were slowly slipping. "It's not so bad," he thought dreamily as his head fell back and the gray sky faded into view - a single raindrop hitting him on the cheek. The soft sound of rainfall was heard in his last words: "I knew it would rain today." He smiled sadly before departing this world with a heavy heart.

That night, an almighty storm wept for its wrongdoings; nature was grieving along with Jerico's family who felt impossibly lost without their beloved husband and father. The stars shined dimly under the veil of tears that had descended upon them all.