It’s Early in the morning, too early for the sun to be up, but late enough for people to start their day. A bedroom lingering in still darkness, clothes strewn across the floor, a man, 20, seen still in bed. 

An alarm buzzes, the digital clock reading 5:30AM. An arm reaches from the covers to silence the alarm, missing multiple times, then finally silencing it. A head peeks through the covers, seeing the time on the clock, then exhaling in despair. 

Damn clock’s broken again.

He pulls the covers back over his face, then starts to doze off, sleeping once more until the time is right. A few hours pass, with the sun finally rising and gleaming through the blinds of his room. A ray of light then aligns with his face, and he shields his eyes by rolling over to escape the sunlight. He rolls to his left, not stopping at the edge of the bed and falling flat on the floor with a THUNK

The man shoots awake, trying to play off the fall but clearly in some pain. He rubs his eyes then looks over at his clock, a look of concern washing over his face.

Shit. I’m gonna be late.

He scrambles to find his work uniform, a red collared shirt and black shorts, with each having a crest and logo for a company called “Lawnshare”. The man heads into the bathroom and brushes his teeth, and style the mess of hair that’s on top of his head.

I don’t hate working, I really don’t. The Job’s not too bad, and the pay is enough for me.  

The man spits out the toothpaste in his mouth, and rinses his mouth, looking in the mirror to see his own reflection.

I just thought I’d have more time off. There’s always something more to do, none of them ever being the last. I’d thought I could have relaxed every once in a while, y’know? Like a beach day, or a night out. 

The man puts a nametag on, reading Chibafu Isu. He’s about to leave his apartment, when he hears his phone ringing and goes to pick up what he’d almost forgotten.

But the lawns always call. I am the one who shall answer the call. They beckon to be mowed, and I, Chibafu Isu, am the only one who can satiate this need.

He makes it outside, getting in his car and driving to his workplace, indicated by a massive sign outside of the building. Chibafu walks inside, grabbing a new set of keys that are hanging from a board, and checks in with the secretary.

“Which lawn must I mo-*Cough* where’s my first job today?” Chibafu asks after correcting his manner of talking

“It’s That house again” the secretary replies, in a warning tone.

Chibafu is stunned for a moment, before finishing the talk with a sarcastic“Great. Can’t wait.” 

Chibafu heads for the door, entering a company car, then driving into a higher-class neighbourhood.

This is my punishment for being late. Hopefully her kids aren’t here this time

He starts to have flashbacks of the last time he went to this lady’s residence, the kids throwing smaller pebbles at his while he was moving the lawn. He rubs his head in remembrance of this pain, preparing for the worst as he pulls into the driveway.

As he exits the car, the woman is standing at her front porch, already in a sour mood

“You’re 7 minutes late! I hope that difference comes out of your paycheck!” the woman yells at Chibafu.

Chibafu bows in apology, then opens the back of the car to get the mower out of it, then moves it onto the lawn.

As he grabs the safety equipment from the car, he spots the woman’s 2 little boys inside the house, and sighs in disappointment at this revelation.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Just don’t throw rocks at me again. They hurt me, for one, but they also damage the equipment!

Chibafu recalls his boss’s words

“These things cost a fortune to buy and maintain, so don’t damage them, no matter what!” in a stern tone, still shaking Chibafu to his core 

Chibfau puts on the noise-cancelling headphones and protective glasses, starting up the lawnmower and getting to work. The loud mowing noises are heard inside by the 2 boys, who then dart outside to see what’s going on. They smile in sadistic pleasure as they reach in their garden and prepare to fire off their ammunition.

The pebbles begin flying in, hitting the equipment and Chibafu, not really hurting since they’re pebbles, but the damage wasn’t physical for the rocks. It was the act of hating someone so much before you even know them to harass them. That’s what hurt the most.

Chibafu notices he’s about to run over some of the rocks, so he sets the mower in park and goes to pick them up. The kids notice this, the older looking one grabbing a huge rock, the younger one looking a bit concerned but not enough to stop him from what he’s about to do. The older boy throws this rock, but thankfully it misses Chibafu. The older one has a look of frustration, while the younger one is more relieved than anything. 

The rock hadn’t finished its journey yet. No, it  was about to start another one, a great journey in fact.

The massive rock flies through the air, hitting the lawnmower and shifting the gear so hard it changes from parked to neutral, beginning to roll slightly forward.

Chibafu is blissfully unaware about the current situation, but he’s just happy to not have rocks thrown at him anymore. He raises his head to see what the kids are doing now, but they’re looking on in horror at him, Chibafu confused at this. He turns his head to the lawnmower, it is now less than a centimeter away from him, then…poof.

All the noise stops. All colors fade, nothing is visible, at least, not for Chibafu. An empty void fills the space around him.

Did I die? Wait…

A blue spirit, resembling Chibafu, not looking sad but more straight-faced

…is this all it took to get a vacation day?

 The spirit begins to smile and celebrate, soaking up as much of this as possible. He kicks back, sitting on an imaginary chair and dozes off, just happy he doesn’t have to work.

A few moments pass, with a hole opening up in the void he was in, the light hitting his face similarly to how it did in the morning. Distant trumpets are heard, with an angel descending to meet Chibafu’s surroundings now being white, cloudy, ethereal-looking. Chibafu’s spirit regains the human form it once had, with white clothes on, now being face to face with an angel. 

This angel looks pretty…old.

The old angel stands in solidarity for a moment, then bursts out in laughter, with Chibafu’s complete confusion.

The angel begins rolling on the ground, laughing to the point of tears, Chibafu watching on in confusion

“What are you…?” Chibafu asks, confused at this reaction

“The angel completely stops in his tracks, slowing looking to Chibafu once more, then laughing even harder and rolling even more.

Chibafu looks completely disinterested in this, so he turns to a lone door in the clouds with a neon “EXIT” sign above it.

As he takes a step toward it, the angel finally calms down, getting up and finally speaking to Chibafu.

“Apologies, young man”

“For what?” Chibafu retorts

“Well…you see…” 

The angel begins to crack up again slightly at the memory

“The way you died was…just so…stupid” the angel says to Chibafu, trying his hardest to hold back laughter, but a smile and a few chuckles break through.

“THIS SHOULD BE A TIME OF MOURNING NOT SOME COMEDY SPECIAL” Chibafu angrily states.

The angel clears his throat, then begins the whole “you’ve been selected” speech

“As reprementions for our reactions, we have decided to allow you to reincarnate into another world. A world where anything is possible. A world where magic and monsters exist, where fantasy is reality. What do you say?”

Chibafu is ecstatic at this proposal, his eyes gleaming with excitement

“ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS!!!?!?!?” Chibafu asks the angel.

The angel smiles, then nods in agreement.

Chibafu begins a rant about his past life, and what is hopes for the next one are

“In this next life I want to relax the best I possibly can, chill to the maximum amount, no work required! I also want to….” Chibfau continues the rant, the words coming out of focus as the angel comes into focus.

The angel yawns, sticking his pinkie into his ear and cleaning it, then looking at his earwax on his finger, blowing it away into the clouds. He then pulls out a flip phone with angel wings on it, beginning to text someone, this while time Chibafu thinking the angel was listening.

The angel lets out a chuckle, Chibafu stopping his rant momentarily

“Are you even listening?” 

“Of course I am!” the angel replies nicely, tucking his phone into his pocket.

Chibafu continues his rant

“Like I was saying, I don’t want anything to do with that stupid company lawnshare, or any of their people for that matter!” 

The angel is back on his phone, then waving his hand, replying back in a disinterested tone 

“Lawnchair, huh? I’ve heard weird reincarnation requests”

A bright white light envelopes Chibafu, him looking up and preparing for his next life. But then, the words of the angel suddenly reach him.

“Wait…YOU MADE ME A WHAT??!?!” 

The angel is still on his phone, waving goodbye to Chibafu but not actually looking at him, just looking at his phone.

“Now enjoy your trip to the land of..whatever he can’t hear me anymore” the angel says to Chibafu, in a distracted tone, not really caring anymore.

“YOU WEREN’T PAYING ATTENTION YOU LIAR!” Chibafu screams back, and just as he finishes that sentence, his body is fully transported to the other world.

A forest, filled with life, bird chirping, the wind swaying the leaves and grass, a beautiful sight to see to anyone who’s been outside. And to bring it all together…a lawn chair rests in the thicket of this forest, blending in to the surroundings, attempting to fit in as though it was as natural as the rest of the life around it.

All things considered, this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.