A bright light attacked my eyes. Was the sun always this bright?

“Hey, Earth to -----. Hello?”

A hand waved in front of me, Mary’s hand.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“What do you mean, what’s wrong? You said we’d go shopping today, or did you forget? Jeez, I don’t know what you’d do without me, -----.”

“I am sorry! I must of forgotten. By the way, what day is it?”

“What do you mean? It’s Saturday. We always go on Saturdays. Did you fry your brain with those online games?”

I laughed wryly.

“So you were huddled up in your room all day yesterday?” Mary asked and looked closer into my eyes. “Even your eyes look dead.”

“It’s not my fault! I had to collect all of those…”

She loomed even closer to me. “Are you sure you’re okay? We can cancel if you want.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine.”

“Right then, let’s go!”

I turned and looked at my house. It was exactly as I remembered it—a small white suburban house with a mowed lawn. The garden out front sported beautiful red roses. To finish off the look was a white picket fence.

“Right,” I said, turning back to Mary and following her down the sidewalk.

“You worry me, -----”

I smiled. “Sorry about that.”

We walked down the street, slowly making our way to the mall outlet a couple blocks away. The mall outlet was bustling with people in the midst of a sunny morning. Cars pulled in and out.

Mary caught my hand before the sidewalk. “Seriously? Did you miss the big hand telling you to stop?”

“Hey! I just knew you’d come in for the save!”

Mary sighed. “You know I won’t always be there to save you.”

“If the day when you’re not saving me comes, I’d have probably already gone mad.”

“Pfft, aren’t you already mad?” Mary asked. “All you do is hole up in your room playing those games.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Hey! I am here with you now!”

She giggled. “I can’t deny that.”

The green light finally allowed us to cross. We entered the large parking lot. There was a big clock telling the time: 9:00AM.

“Seriously, isn’t it a bit early?” I asked.

“You always say that! Anyway,” Mary said and looked around the building. “Where do you want to go first?”

I looked at the many attractions and made my decision. “What about the aquarium?”

“For some reason, I knew you’d say that.”

“Well, of course! Who doesn’t want to watch colorful fish swimming around?”

“That’s such an ----- answer. But I don’t mind.”

We made our way towards the registers of the aquarium. I could see the goldfish exhibit from the entrance, and I waited for Mary to buy our tickets. I felt bad that she was always doing things for me, but I didn’t have a job. She really was an amazing friend.

Mary smiled at me with two tickets in hand and handed me one. “Let’s go!”

I grinned and walked next to her. Several kids sat next to the first exhibit admiring the golden fish in their habitat. The glass always had a way of amplifying their gorgeous scales. It was like golden magic inside of a water container.

Mary and I took a seat on a bench further back. I looked at her and she smiled.

“Is something on my face?”

“No, you just seem more lively now.”

“Well, of course, this is a nice place to be in,” I said with a smile. “Besides, it’s even better when you’re with a best friend.”

Mary laughed. “Don’t get all sentimental with me.” She thought for a moment. “But, you do have a point. This place has a nice atmosphere.”

I nodded before we moved on to the sharks. The aquarium didn’t accommodate huge sharks, but still, even the smaller ones had their own charm. They were like tiny predators swimming around without a care—the top of the food chain in their small world.

We kept visiting exhibit after exhibit. We went from sharks to snakes to crabs and lobsters. Finally, we got to my favorite.

Vibrant jellyfish swam around in this one. Jellyfish were fascinating creatures. They were similar to me—aloof minded as Mary would say. They floated around without worrying about the world outside, and they lacked in the brains department. Luckily, there weren’t many people there, so we got to get close to the glass.

“Don’t you love jellyfish?” I asked.

Mary nodded. “They are a joy to watch. It’s also nice to see you get excited about them. Even though you see them so often, you always brighten up even more when I bring you here.”

“Well, of course, I do! It’s like looking into another alien world. It’s almost magical.”

“Magical?” She asked, pressing a finger to her chin. “I suppose you are right.”

We continued in silence for a bit until she said, “hey, you said they are living in another world, right?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Do you believe other worlds exist?”

My eyes widened. “Who wouldn’t believe in such a thing? There are so many other planets and stars and galaxies.”

Mary shook her head. “I don’t mean like that. I mean, do you think a magical world could exist?”

“A magical world?”

“Yeah, like those games you play! Just imagine it. If you were able to use magic what would you do?”

I thought about it, and I really had no idea. Characters in games always use magic. They’d cast their fireballs, ice spikes, and summon demons from other realms. What would I do if I could use magic? Would I be a summoner? Would I be a castor? I had no idea. Maybe I’d be a witch? They always collected spells and grimoires. It seemed cool to be a witch, but the only thing that would suck is being a hermit.

“Jeez, you don’t have to take the question so seriously. You really are scatterbrained, -----.”

“Haha, sorry about that,” I said. “I guess, if I could choose, I’d be a witch.”