1 - Closing My Eyes

'' Hey Luke, have you finished those book's already?'' the young librarian asks, nodding in reply, I returned the nine books on human evolution borrowed out the day before. '' I can't believe it, how do you read so many things and not get bored'' she asks

I closed my eyes and refused to answer as I walked past the counter and through the aisles while I passed the human biology section and into the fiction area. I sighed '' I'm already 89, besides the only thing I've ever done was read books, maybe the only accomplishment worth noting''.

Life was never easy for Luke because he was an orphan since two never knowing his parents and having no relatives to call family he went from foster care to home and then home to foster care one too many times.

The disappointing part was, he was always a bright child, never slouched off his chores and loved to help around with a smile plastered on his face, but unfortunately, life never went his way.

His first family died in a car crash as the car hit a power line pole leading it to wrap around a tree, he survived strapped in his booster seat. He could still remember the fear on their faces and see his parents impaled by the wood, their blood dripping on him from the tip streaking down his face. That accident gave him his current scars that had always run up his upper body ever since he could remember, he was four then.

The second family gave birth to a child and couldn't afford a second, so he went back to foster care, he was seven then.

The third family abused him for four years keeping him locked inside his room with darkness as his ally and books to call his friend, remembering how they used to rush into his room chaining him down, trying to break whatever they found against his bear back breaking a couple of ribs occasionally. Until the foster family was caught and arrested for child abuse including a few cases of manslaughter, he was eleven turning twelve than.

The fourth family owned a multi-millionaire dollar business, unfortunately they went bankrupt two years later, imagine having everything within your grasps only having it snatched away moments later, he was fourteen then.

While the fifth foster family were a caring neighbourhood couple which lived through the financial difficulties and the lovely afternoon Friday game nights until the day of his 17th birthday he got home to find out his foster mother was raped and killed. His father convicted for murdering his loving wife, remembering as he was dragged out by police, crying and screaming that he was innocent, shouting he loved his wife, telling Luke to stay strong.

One month later his foster father committed suicide to release the pain that he felt leaving Luke by himself once again, he was seventeen then.

Sent back to foster care he only had one and a half years to either find another foster family or wait until his 18 birthday until he had to provide for himself out in the open world. Unfortunately, who would want a 17-year-old teen?

Luke's 18th birthday was celebrated by himself with no cake nor presents or people to shout '' Happy Birthday '' but the rejection slips on the community foster board of the job's that he had applied for since a year before, a bag by the front door leading him past the calendar reading 06/06/06 and into a side street with the foul smell welcoming him to his new home.

He survived using the homeless food stands, provided to the community by the community always applying for whatever job that he was qualified to apply for which made his options limited. Going street to street in Washington D.C hoping for life to cut him some slack as he waits till 7.pm to hop into takeaway bins foraging for whatever food, hoping to get unopened food packages or even take away without the smelly grime, till 8.pm sharp as he had to quickly start rushing back to the homeless housing areas before 9 .pm trying to get a spot and a place to sleep, sometimes you would be able to get a mattress with sheets and maybe sometime else there would be a crazy guy spouting nonsense all night long.

Even than Luke would almost never get a spot so he would find a warm place wishing to get some shut-eye, remembering some of the words he has previously read from the many books seen till now. Hoping to help him relieve the pain of the scorching cold wind that would blow towards his body, regardless of which position he changed into or how hard he would scratch his skin it always felt as if there was a blade sliding against an open wound, the sleepless nights had never been the best, this lasted until he was 21.

Even though Luke was poor and homeless he was always occupying himself, Luke always read, every second of the day and every second of the night, he was either recounting the words via memory or reading in the local library that happened to be a branch of a goliath known as ''The Library Of Congress''.

Luckily entry was always free however he was never allowed to rent books, that gave him even more of a reason to remember everything he see's in these pages which go from English literature to university math book equations all the way down to history, this gave him an earnt gift of photographic memory.

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Luke went to the library and stayed in there so much that when they hung up a job sign he was the first to apply and immediately got the job because he was so familiar with the library, he knew more about it than the actual owner and workers combined.

Since they knew he lived on the street, they actually gave him an old basement outside the library, located behind the area where they used to store old cleaning equipment for a reduced payment of four dollars an hour and he was glad because he finally got a home, a job and one he couldn't be more familiar with, he can read, he can work and earn money at the same time, this was when he was twenty-one and he thought this was a blessing.

Luke cherished his new basement given to him, moving in he had work to be done. Cleaning out the cobwebs, he had a single book in his hand multitasking, arriving at work he finished his admin work flipping pages once again separating his consciousness, focusing on multiple duties at once.

It became his life not because that's what he wanted but he was so familiar with this routine that if it changed or he stopped doing this, he thought maybe it would just be harder to get through everything life throws at him if he stopped doing what he knows best, however don't be misled; its not the books he enjoyed reading, but the knowledge he read from the books that kept him moving motivated to move forward knowing, to expand what he already knows or learnt of and keep himself challenged and distracted from the outside world and kept him in his own, to give him answers to the questions that he has been asking.

He lived in a world he thought was ''luxury'' using the money he earns buying himself a mattress to lye on, a blanket to keep him warm and spare clothes to change out of when his other ones get dirty, dry food to eat when he was hungry and a clean room he fixed to call home, 2 years later Luke finished reading every single book in the entire library and was transferred to none other than the library of congress to work as an administrator when the job opened up so with an increased wage of $55 an hour and his own rundown apartment which he thought he could fix to look brand new he accepted the job he was offered by recommendation and lived a life of self-seclusion but on a bigger stage.

By 23 he was already the most knowledgeable man alive, a scholar on his own level, and yet he kept challenging himself the best way he knew possible, to extend on what he already knows and keep reading, from all primary university subjects, everything he could land his hands on until he unbeknownst to himself became famous by the age of 45 answering theories online which would award him a fields medal's 10 times over and noble prizes in chemistry, physics, literature and medicine causing the biggest technological boom is ever known in the 21st century and yet society has never discovered the masked genius living among them and neither has himself.

The most frequented asked question in the century was ''who is he''

He never knew how much of an impact he had with the world around him only focusing on the world he lived in, keeping to himself he lived a repeated routine, not knowing his life could be so much better if his mind returned back to his original world and he opened his eyes, but he still kept them close till now, he is now a 68 old man.

Finally taking a break he started reading about society, trying to familiarize himself into it, searching online only to see how much more he could've had in his life, until he stumbled upon the questions he'd answered and how much good that he's done for everyone else using his knowledge he opened up to the world revealing himself. Only to be criticized repeatedly for trying to steal others achievements and harassed by society by becoming a joke, turns out a renowned university professor took the credit and harassed any other person claiming to say his work wasn't ''his'' which gave him fame and fortune, and enough connections for Luke to lose his job and not be hired by anyone again.

Lost his apartment, his belongings he was back on the street.

Emotions overcame himself as he walked in the darkness, envy, depression and finally raging anger. Cursing life he shouted towards the heavens '' why? wHY? WHY? HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO ME? YOU MADE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL! DO YOU FIND WATCHING ME STRUGGLE FUNNY? IS MY LIFE HERE FOR YOU TO TOY WITH?'' he punched a steel beam so hard it broke his hand from his knuckles to his wrist, he cried; not because of the physical pain but the emotional pain he's suffered, finally having a chance to let everything out as he wobbled past people and took a train back to an all to familiar place and smelt the intrusive air that assaulted his nose fully welcoming him back home, ignoring the pain coming from his hand he strode ahead looking for the only way he knew best to ignore the pain and help him.

A haggard 79-year-old man walked into a street passing by people who heard him say '' I was nearly finished reading everything here so I might as well continue '' who then looked at him confusedly thinking ''what's a homeless old man need to read books for?'' that man at the time was Luke, he contracted a lung disease living out in the filthy street and with no money to get a lung replacement and no money to escape the streets, luke used local plants with low medicinal abilities to alleviate the pain and slow the disease; with no reason to keep on living his final wish was to pass his time in ease and hide away his thoughts as he faced the library of congress. The years passed and Luke is already 89.

In the fiction area he saw many books with dragons on the front and many more with a person in the air with what look like to be flames in his hand '' how cool would that be if my life was like that'' thinking to himself he grabbed a few planning to immerse himself in these books and escape from reality once more, he walked back to the counter, rented out the books and went his way, as the young librarian waved at him '' see you tomorrow and be careful out there its cold and dark so watch your step '' smiling Luke waved thinking '' can't believe I'm still a virgin'' walking through the door and onto the new pavement, he started reading '' imagine me flying through the air, beauties waiting in bed while I massacre a kingdom to relive my rage '' smiling I closed my eyes while an abrupt pain shot through my body and I fell dropping everything in my hands hoping that the suffering I've endured the past 89 years have ended.