“–ex.”
“Lex.”
“Lex!”
“HM…!?”
“Stop playing, we’re here.”
‘Playing?’
As I looked around, I noticed the familiar surroundings. Unlike the crowded and suffocating city center, the sound of leaves swaying as wind flew by and the chirps of the small birds really put my mind at ease.
“Oh right. Thanks, Gian.”
“Yeah, see you on Monday.”
I got out of the car, then walked, while thinking about how fast Gian’s car was. I continued walking for 20 minutes until I reached our family’s house and along the way, I saw the usual paddy fields full of rice, cars that occasionally went past me, birds flying from tree to tree and others.
After going in, I changed my clothes and went to the living room to watch some TV.
Maxine was already there with the remote in hand so I tried sitting on the sofa.
But before that, she interrupted me.
“Shouldn’t you cook something? It’s already late but there is still no food.”
“Are you hungry?”
“I am.”
“Then why didn’t you cook something?”
I stood up and went to the kitchen to cook something that could fill my sister’s belly.
The almost empty refrigerator is now completely empty as I used every ingredient in there to make something, but before I finished cooking, our parents came back.
I hurried to help them bring the bags containing clothes, food, and accessories to our house.
It was obvious, they spent a lot of money.
“You bought a lot of things. Where did you get the money?”
I asked while arranging the things they bought in the living room.
“…”
But no one answered. They just went back to their room and closed the door.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Oh well, they’re getting old.
I spent a few more minutes looking around and went back to my room to try playing Phight On again.
“LEEEEEEEEEEX!!!”
But before that, I heard the scream of my father. Shivers run down my spine as I hurriedly went to where the scream came from.
‘Fuck, what did I do!?’
After running a little bit, I arrived in the kitchen already knowing what fucked me up.
There it was, the charred shit that I cooked. I can’t even remember what it was.
Beside it was my father, who’s obviously furious, he didn’t say anything yet but I can tell, I’m fucked.
The silence was terrifying, even our neighbors who were always noisy outside were not making any racket. No sound, none until there was a giggle, then… it started.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?”
“I–”
“OH!? YOU’RE TALKING BACK? NOT ONLY DID YOU WASTE FOOD, NOW YOU’RE TALKING BACK!? HUH!?”
“I’m only trying to cook for you…”
“COOK FOR US? DIDN’T YOU SEE THAT!?”
Tracing where my father was pointing with my eyes, I saw a casserole that was not there before. The giggling from before suddenly came back to my mind.
‘I see.’
I flashed an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry.”
“GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM! AND STOP PLAYING THAT GODDAMN GAME! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ONLY THING YOU DO IS PLAY GAMES!”
Slowly, I walked to my room thinking about the mistake I made. It was my fault, I know, but that laugh… the laugh that sounds like she’s proud of what she did…
‘Haahh, I should’ve punched her before when my life won’t be affected much.’
“‘If only I can turn back time’, huh?”
I closed the door to my room as gently as I could then laid on my bed.
I fell asleep unknowingly. After I woke up, I looked at the clock. There was no clock. I took my phone and looked at the time: 4:06 am.
I got out of the bed and walked to the kitchen while clutching my stomach and my phone. On the way, I saw a figure trying to leave quietly. I opened the flashlight in my phone and noticed that it was my father all dressed up with a small sling bag on his back.
Although afraid, I greeted him.
“Um… good morning, father. If it’s fine, may I ask where you’re going?”
“Oh? Lex, you’re up early. I… I’m just going to take a walk. Go have breakfast, you weren’t able to have dinner last night, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then go.”
Father opened the door and hurriedly left after saying that.
He probably went out to gamble everything we have again.
“Sigh.”
I walked towards the kitchen and took out a mug, navigating through the dark early morning with my phone. I placed it on the table and put instant coffee in it, then I poured water in and stirred the mixture with a spoon.
After preparing the drink, I went to the food storage to get some bread. I took the one with cheese inside and went back to the kitchen to take the cup of coffee and drink it outside.
It was a simple meal… for the right time.
The cold morning air blew at me, the twinkling stars in the night sky shone softly and the blue hue on the horizon caused by the rising sun expanded slowly.
It was Sunday.
Tomorrow will be another painful day, so it’s better to enjoy the weekend to the fullest. Luckily, my sister volunteered to go to ‘church’ with mother so now I’m all alone.
ALL.
ALONE.
HAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAH.
‘Two times! Two fucking times in seven days. What the fuck are you doing!? Stand up, soldier. This is our only chance. This is a once in a week opportunity and you’re giving up after only experiencing it twice?’
No matter what I do, the motherfucker didn’t stand up.
“Haah.”
I sighed and covered the weak soldier.
With nothing to do, I just took out my phone and started Phight On.
The game loaded and I hurriedly tapped ‘Ranked Match’. After a few seconds, the character selection screen showed up.
I looked around a bit without knowing any of the characters abilities. I only have a few characters unlocked so I just picked a tough-looking character, a topless man with huge muscles.
With that, a countdown started, allowing the players to change a few settings.
29…
24…
As the countdown continued, I started to feel something strange. Dark fog-like thing slowly covered my vision.
“Huh?”
18…
Surprised, I frantically rubbed my eyes, and luckily, it stopped and disappeared.
11…
Or maybe it wasn’t real to begin with?
‘Right, I haven’t eaten anything except that bread earlier.’
I kept on thinking about what happened until the match finally started.