"Hey Justin! Are you excited for the trip?"

I woke up from the screeching sounds of my upbeat best friend Carl and the turbulence of the flight , I suddenly remember why I was here.

The loud sounds of the engine mixed with the beautiful scenery filled with clouds and the setting sun made me reminisce the rough experiences in my life, " yeh yeh yeh I am excited..." I answered carl, shrugging off his excitement while he chugs down his 5th cola can.

"C'mon man, this is your first trip in a while!" He pats my back as I reach out to open the window cover a bit more. "Let's go all out and enjoy the beautiful woma— scenery! Beautiful scenery!" Carl quickly shifting his words as he remembered I just went thru a long term relationship.

"Alright alright lets enjoy this..." I smiled while replying to him, he was the only friend that I had back in high school and college, It felt like we just met yesterday. Carl was one of the noisiest person back in high school not changing a single bit in college, his enthusiastic and hyper energy made everyone laugh at him, like they were openly mocking him.

I accidentally became friends with him when he went to the discipline office for changing the wallpaper of all the schools computer into the dean's bald head, then suddenly he pointed at me like I was his accomplice when I crossed paths with him while he was being taken away to the office, the professor convinced by his fake stories, all of a sudden grabbed my hand and dragged me away too.

I had to explain my way out in the office to prevent getting a warning for expulsion, after exiting the office, he was there waiting for me in the corner, suddenly he started laughing so hard while approaching me that he started tearing up, as I got more annoyed at him, I mustered up my anger, "Hey man that wasn't cool, I was almost expelled for something I wasn't even involved in!" I said abruptly, slowly coming up close to him, forming a fist and about to strike his shoulder.

"Thanks man, you were the only person who actually went thru the trouble with me, hey I know a great burrito stand near campus! Let's grab some c'mon!" he said while he gently patted my shoulder. My fist gradually deformed, my face letting out a chuckle. "Yeh, sure, I am pretty hungry too after all that explanation."

"He's not a bad person after all, just an energetic person who likes to have fun" I thought while following him to the burrito stand.

After all of that we became best friends and didn't know that we had a lot in common. Me, an introverted person, befriended an outgoing and extrovert person, my school life became more fun the more we hung out together, but not all memories are worth to remember.

Returning back to reality as I dazed off while looking at the window, I saw a family of four in the next aisle, having fun and enjoying their time together. Bitter memories crawling back in my head, the next thing I remembered was the rough past I experienced while I was in school.

Growing up, I liked to play in our garden, picking up dirt and throwing it all over the place, my mother always explained to me what she planted in our garden even though I was in no age to understand anything.

Fun memories to reminisce, but all gone after I went to high school, all of a sudden they were always mad at me whenever I did not meet their expectations, the unicorns and rainbows of school turned into a grayscale world, it felt like water was rising up to my neck, I had to find a way to make my parents proud or I would get punished.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Countless failures came, I would get shouted at and the innocent smile of my parents back then turned into a frown of disappointment, until graduation came, I did not get any honors but I passed with all of my efforts counted. I was excited and proud of myself, waiting for them to come at the venue, but alas, they never did, no one accompanied me at putting the medal on me, no one accompanied me when I was walking up the stage, all I could see on the stage was hundreds of students happy with their parents.

After that incident, I cut ties with my parents, all alone in college, I did my best to find scholarships to pay for my tuition, I was lucky enough to find one when Carl contacted me that there was one spot left on his university, it was a degree for computer science, something is better than nothing, I thought while pursuing the degree with no goal or ambition in mind.

Through out the years in my college life, I was always hitting top 1, but the accomplishment did not exist for me, I felt nothing whenever my name was announced in the list of honors, I was a robot at some point just existing to study and pass college.

Now I am graduating top 1 in the university, working a job for a company with a 6 digit salary, everything was set out for me, but was there really meaning to all of this. Can I really return back to my parents after all the years I left them.

My mind all jumbled up, but I finally decided after many thoughts and opened up their contacts once again, maybe this time I can forgive them, my heart, ready for forgiveness and finally removing the chains of resentment in my mind.

"We are experiencing some rough air. Please ensure that your seatbelts are fastened tightly-" The flight attendant says as the plane suddenly becomes unstable.

In a sudden moment, the plane grew more unstable than before, we can only hear a deafening boom on the left side of the plane. Sweat poured down my chin and my heart beating the fastest it ever did, the next thing I saw was Carl screaming relentlessly while we were experiencing great pressure.

"JUSTIN! JUSTIN WAKE UP" Carl screamed while grabbing my shirt, "JUSTIN THIS IS NOT GOOD, ARE WE GONNA SURVIVE?" He panicked more while I tried to look at the window, my eyes tearing up on their owns as I saw the engines and wings engulfed in flames.

"JUSTIN, ARE WE.... are we.... is this it..." Carl says, grabbing his seat in despair, finally calming down and closing his eyes like he was accepting his fate already.

My memories gushing back to my mind, all the regrets piling up in my heart, the only thing I could say was-

"I DONT WANT TO DIE"

Suddenly a bright yellow light flashed in front of us, the roar of the failing engine disappears in an instant, replaced by an eerie silence, I was no longer on the plane. My body felt weightless, suspended in an endless void, the sensation of free-falling through nothingness. Panic surged, and I screamed, but the sound was swallowed by the emptiness around me.

Then, I was yanked forward by an invisible force, pain surging all thru out my body as I was crying in confusion. The light grew nearer until I was certain this was the end for me.

and then—darkness

I gasped, jolting upright, a sturdy and rough surface pressing against my skin. My body still aching, my eyes still foggy from the otherworldly experience. I opened my eyes, hearing voices from outside the room I was in. I grabbed the nearest thing next to me, realizing it was— A.... toilet?

"Where in the world AM I??!—" My very first thoughts while I am smelling the nastiest dump next to me. This wasn't a plane. This wasn't anywhere I recognized. My heart pounded as I struggled to my feet, realizing I had no idea where I was—or how I got here.

"C'mon open now!—" While I try my hardest to open the door to go out, I slipped and fall in front of a mirror and all of a sudden an interface popped out in front of me, looking at the mirror, the only thing I can see is my messy hair, untidy brown shirt and my dirty pants filled with mud and toilet paper, but weirdly the interface thing did not reflect into the mirror, as if I am the only one allowed to look into it.

|——————————————————————————|

NAME: Justin Joe HP: 100/100

CLASS: Botanist MP: 100/100

LEVEL: 1 STATUS: Dizzy

SKILLS:

Examine - LVL 1

Harvest - LVL 1

|——————————————————————————|