“See you tomorrow.” I waved happily back at my coworkers as I left my office building. My smile slowly faded during the short walk over to my car. My life had become a blur over the last few years. Every day was the same, wake up early, eat breakfast, workout, and go to work for nine hours. It was a slog.
As a kid, I always imagined the freedom that came with being an adult would bring happiness. Having the money to buy what I wanted, the ability to go where I want, and do what I want. As time passed the reality of life set in. It takes money to live life the way you want. You have to start worrying about retirement, Roth IRA’s, mutual funds. It was all so boring, but if you wanted to live comfortably later in life they were a necessity.
I remember reading fantasy stories when I was younger. Fantastical stories where a child or even an adult would be whisked away to a new world filled with magic, adventure, and simplicity. Those dreams faded as life went on, but even now in my forties, a small portion of me wanted to believe it could still happen. That I could reinvent myself as a magician or a warrior.
I reached my car and fumbled to get my keys out of my pocket. With a click, the door to my car opened and I threw my briefcase into the passenger seat and slumped into the leather seat on the driver’s side. An hour-long drive through rush hour traffic waited for me.
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It was then my phone started ringing. I never switched over from the default ring the phone came with and the dulled sound filled my car. I knew who it would be. For a second, I considered just shutting off my phone, but I wouldn’t hear the end of it tomorrow if I did.
“Hey, Jim,” I answered, my voice now full of life. “Hey, Michael. I know you just left the office, but we’ve noticed a discrepancy in our spending for the previous month. Would you be able to come back in and fix this?” Jim was never demanding, but his requests were never that simple. You were expected to do what he asked no matter how he worded it.
“Sure, Jim. I never left the parking lot. I’ll be back in the office in a few minutes.” Again, I sounded upbeat although this was the last thing I wanted to do with the remainder of my day.
A sigh of relief came through the phone, “Thanks Michael, you’re a lifesaver.”
After exchanging a few more pleasantries I ended the call and forced myself to get back up and leave the car. This was what my life had become. I spent most of it at the office staring at spreadsheets.
When I walked back into the office, it was understandably empty. I had already stayed late that day. I turned a few lights back on for my section of the office and sat back down into my cubicle. My computer sputtered back on bathing me in it’s pale, white glow. I then noticed a red splotch on the monitor. I reached out to clean off the mark which only smeared it across the screen. I then noticed the red liquid was splattered across my desk. I looked down at my chest and an intricate silver blade, dyed red with blood was sticking out. “That shouldn’t be there.” I wheezed. Viscera from one of my organs was hanging off the tip. The most I could do was reach down and touch the blade as blood started to drip from the wound.
“I’m sorry,” A melodic voice whispered behind me. I only saw a flash of long, black hair before my life on earth came to an end.