"What I see before my eyes? A chain of humanoid creatures lined up, waiting for their turn diligently, empty eyes devoid of any sign of intelligence, looking into distance and avoiding each other. Step after step I am getting closer to the reason behind this line. Another creature makes sure that everyone pays for the right of advancing forward.. only the ambient music in my head silences the unnatural sounds that accompany the process." - a tired young man indulges himself in his thought as his legs slowly shuffle along with the shortening line of people.
"O..ou..nt..ag?" - the toll collector asks a question, not looking up. The young man can't tell what it is saying, so he removes his headphones, stopping the loud music from messing with the sense of hearing.
"Sorry?" - his own voice seems like something distant and forgotten. He didn't speak for quite a long time, aloud that is. A slight sigh came from the direction of the sitting cashier, as if asking the same question to a person twice took a toll on her stamina.
"Do you want a bag?" - The woman in a dark blue vest with a name tag that spelled "Josie" looked up at for just a brief second, before turning her eyes to the usual level.
The young man mumbled something that sounded similar to no, so she just pressed a few buttons and declared the price.
"I really hate supermarkets, the annoying lines of people, some of which could be top stars of a freak show, the sound of the machines, really annoying "beepbeep.. clackclackclack.. skchchch.. have a nice day" over and over again. On the other hand, milk won't buy itself, neither will cereal" - in his thoughts he was a lot more talkative, one of the symptoms of not interacting with people outside of the screen of his computer, but on that subject- later.
Leaving Josie and some of his cash behind, he grabbed the pack of cereal in one hand and shoved the bottle of milk under his arm, pressing it to his body.
"Should have asked for a bag tho.." - oh yes, regretting his actions already, however he didn't turn around to ask for the bag, as the cashier already went with the routine and was busy with the next customer.
Slowly moving his legs, the young man went to the exit from the supermarket. A burst of chilly air hit him in the face as a wet towel. He shivered a bit, but in the end- just zipped his jacket a bit, to cover his neck. His light green eyes were squinted, as if that would help keep the warmth inside his body. The gray scenery of a busy street met him gladly, waiting to absorb his figure into the ever-moving anthill of a small city.
The tall young man with light-brown unkempt hair stepped on the walkway, long legs carried him past other people. His stride seemed slow, however due to his height - he moved quite a bit faster than other pedestrians. His free hand reached into the back pocket of his worn and crumpled jeans for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter - he craved nicotine. A little bit cracked lips took hold of a yellowish filter and pulled, at the same time his fingers used the lighter to start fire to the cigarette. A feint sound of crackling embers reached his ears as he inhaled the smoke, his lungs gladly accepted the poison.
Don't think he doesn't know that smoking is unhealthy- on the contrary, he started smoking exactly because of that. Plus he is not underage by any means, being nineteen years of age. A light stream of smoke escaped from the corner of his mouth as he was crossing the road, his thoughts were somewhere else - one of the reasons why he heard the truck that rapidly approached him a few seconds too late. Seems like he was not the only one who didn't pay attention. His body got hit, his legs shifted from under his body, as he rotated under the force of the impact.
"Fuck.." - the only short thought his mind was able to mumble in the amount of time from when he noticed the unavoidable collision and the moment his face met the windshield of the truck. Everything went dark, however not before blinding light flashed before his eyes and jolt of pain spread through his body. Being unconscious has its perks, however sooner or later you have to wake up.
...
His vision was blurry, he couldn't focus or understand where he was. The only thing he was sure of - he wasn't on the same street. Blinding light didn't help with regaining his eyesight, on top of that the headache was killing him, plus he felt as if he was about to throw up. Someone was walking around him talking, his hearing was as good as his eyesight. He didn't hear shit, however he smelled something sweet.
Yes, that's right - he was hit by a truck and sent somewhere else. The hospital.
The cars in the premises of the city don't move fast enough to kill a person, not on busy days.
"Fuck mothering traffic light must have been broken... being hit by a big white truck - that would be a great start to the generic anime.. or manga... or a light novel." - His thoughts were haphazard, so he paid little attention to the doctor or whoever the hell the person pointing a flashlight into his open eyes was.
"A minor concussion.. blablablabla.. go get an x-ray" - he concluded the whole array of sentences into a short phrase. He was just bruised and bleeding a bit from his head, which was already bound by bandages. - "I'd rather the driver would accelerate.. at least I wouldn’t feel like shit"
Half an hour later he was sitting in a medical examination room and a woman in a white coat, with a stethoscope around her neck, was pointing at the x-ray of his chest, telling him that everything was okay, no broken ribs, or even cracks. The young man was looking at the black and white picture, not minding the explanations - he didn't care much.
"That's the second time I see an x-ray of my insides after being hit by a vehicle..." - He mumbled slightly, the doctor already knew that, as well as all other information from his personal file. No comments from the doc, she was professional - that is good news.
"What's with me and cars?"
...
Around five years ago, he was in a similar situation, though then it was just being careless with his friends from school. Running around, chasing each other - he didn't notice a car, and the driver didn't expect a kid to throw himself into his car. Boom crack crash.
He was lucky then too, no broken bones, just a slight fright and a few bruises, however his parents insisted on a full body check. Doctors troubled face seemed ridiculous to the teenage boy, the fact that only his parents were called into the office for a talk was even more ridiculous. He was fine, not like a few bruises could kill him right? When the door to the doc's office opened and his father looked at him with murky eyes and invited him in, he was actually nervous. Mom was crying, the doctor had an adamant expression, however he looked at him with.. pity?
"What the actual fuck?" - he didn't voice his worries, but it wasn't necessary, soon he was presented with the truth.. his parents insisted that he is informed and aware.
The doctor hung the black sheet in front of a light display, black and white image of bone matter on an x-ray shone into vision.
"Is that a potato" - the teen immediately caught sight of a somewhat diluted spot on the image, as if someone spilled milk on it or something.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
....
At fourteen he was diagnosed with lung cancer, that was around five years ago. Now he was sitting in front of a similar sight, but there was no sight of the murky spot in his lungs tho. A lot has happened in his life .
"Mr. Johan..."
"I know my name doc." "..and I hate it.."
" If you have nothing to say, I believe that there is no need for me to stay in the hospital for any longer.. " - He
interrupted, eager to get the hell out of this place. The concussion wasn't serious, and even though he looked like an abuse mop, everything was as fine as it could be.
"You are free to leave." - The woman slightly wrinkled her eyebrows, but didn't say anything else, she had no intention to hold someone in the hospital for longer than necessary.
"Great evening. Went to get some treats, ended up being fucked up, covered in milk and smelling of cereal in a hospital." - He reached into the back pocket of his pants, happily noticing that his pack of poison was in place, along with the lighter. One fluid motion and he was blowing smoke into the air, standing near an ashtray just a few meters outside the hospital parking lot.
"Well.. seems like I'll have to eat some insta-noodles today. Shall I walk home, or be less advent.." - No time was given for him to finish the thought. The light haired man was just reaching to the ashtray to throw away the cigarette, however it fell to the ground shortly before it could reach the tray. Next to it was a small pile of quickly disappearing ash. The young man was nowhere to be seen. Just like that, without a sound, without any warning of flashy effects, he seized to exist, turning into ash.
People passed by as if nothing happened, no-one seemed to mind the sudden disappearance of a young man, as if he wasn't there in the first place.
....
He felt something crawling on his skin, as if hundred of ants were crawling under his clothes, his head was still spinning, his legs were numb, and he felt cold.
"Why does it sting like that? Did I lose consciousness?" - His eyesight was greeted with a scenery of forest canopy, light was crawling from between the leaves and branches. His senses were back to normal and the stinging became rather painful, he brushed his leg, feeling tiny objects crawling and sticking to him.
"Is ants!" - the green eyed youth jumped up in surprise, trying to shake off the insects that were biting into his white skin, leaving red marks and a lingering stinging sensation. He ran away from the anthill near which he has awoken. His hands frantically tried to slap the ants away from his legs, torso and even hair. The latter part was harder to do, as his hair was messy, curling up in different directions - simply bed hair. Even though it was on the shorter side, it proved to be hard to get angry ants out of.
Breathing heavily he was able to regain his composure finally, but not before stepping on a twig, hurting his bare foot.
"Fuuu..." - angrily the young man kicked the branch, sending in into the nearby bush. He was certainly in a forest. How he got here, he had no idea at all. First thing he noticed- his headband was gone, his clothes were gone.. now he was wearing only a pair of crude pants.. which could be described only as an old potato sack.. they were itchy as all hell..
"Other than the pants.. no shoes.. no jacket... and on top of that I am running commando.. nice.." - His eyes twitched slightly, the situation was ridiculous. - " I don't want to jump into conclusions.. but there are a number of possibilities which could be taking place... neither of which sound realistic at all.."
His hands pressed on his ribcage - it didn't hurt, so the bruises the size of an apple were gone.
"Minus one possibility. " - he tasted his own saliva in his mouth. The tongue felt normal, so no dehydration.
"Wasn't drugged either. So that's out of the question.. minus another explanation." - The young man looked at himself one more time. No dirt on the strange clothes, or rather on the potato sack, as if it was new. No dirt or any cuts on his legs or arms.
"OK.. what the fuck is that" - he finally took notice of the black mark on the backside of his hand. The light haired young man licked his left thumb, then tried brushing the black mark off. It didn’t even change color. Intricate pattern looked like some random tribal lines, or a sigil, or some sort of letters.
"A tattoo... which looks like something Mustang would have on his glove.. this shit is getting more impossible by the minute." - Just in case he snapped his fingers a few times, clapped them together and placed on the tree. Surely, nothing happened, but he expected as much - it helped him calm down a bit tho.
He sat on the damp moss under some tall tree to regain his composure, he checked for ants beforehand tho. Long fingers massaged the temples of his head. - "Have to do something... other than being ridiculous that is. Calm down first... what is the most ridiculous scenario?"
The forest was silent enough for him to hear his own rough breathing, he was nervous. More than that - he was scared shitless. In the woods, wearing a sack and not knowing where to go, panic was a normal reaction, however he was trying to regain some semblance of composure, thinking about ridiculous things and turning on his imagination on was a way to do exactly that.
"OK.. I am dressed as some hobo, dropped in a random location with a Dark Seal on my hand... goddammit at least
give me some weapon.. even the deprived have a fucking club.. OK.. what would I do normally? ...choose a name and tweak appearance.. the second part is not happening obviously, so I am stuck with my ugly mug.. the name.. not like there is a HUD where I will see it.. but hey..have to have a legend if I bump into someone. Not like I will go babbling my real name to anyone? Is there even anyone?" He lost track of his own thoughts, thinking about things like - what should he call himself, what is the point of the tattoo thingy, as well as why are the pine trees covered with leaves rather than needled. "Shit doesn't make any sense.."
Nothing lasts forever, even the silence in the forest. A shriek somewhere far away notified him that Idling about is not something that will be the best course of action. There wasn't one shriek either, a second followed, as well ass a echoing sound of running getting closer to his location.
"Hide.." - being scared, his reaction is normal - run away, but where to? He doesn't even know what is behind those trees or those bushes. So he chose to dive into some thick bushed and take cover in their shadow, seeing a bit outside. Smell of moss was actually a bit calming, the shrieks however grew louder, so did his heartbeat. He could hear the drums in his ears, and feel the cold sweat starting to run along his shoulder-blades.
"It's getting closer" - His panicked eyes grew wider, as the sounds were approaching closer.. from behind the trees he saw movement, something was running through the forest.
"Shitshitshitshit" - He panicked and prayed that it would be something like a bunny, and that the bunny wouldn’t bite his throat off, and that it would run somewhere else. However bunnies don't shriek do they?
"Fuck.."