“Achieving your dreams can make your life more complicated than you expect”

Like any other day, Dale Hall woke up early and went through his usual routine. He brushed his teeth, prepared both his breakfast and lunch, organized his backpack, and went to school.

Always the same.

The increasing feeling of weariness was only offset by the feeling of helplessness, dictating that there was nothing he could do to change his current situation. Boredom and sadness don’t justify irrationality. Since his parents passed away, Dale was taken in by his uncle who, although wasn’t able to be present in his life, provided everything he needed to live his life, meaning Dale's actions wouldn’t only reflect on him, but on his ward as well. Shackled by responsibility, Dale did his best to make himself worthy of the help he received, and that, in turn, transformed him into a cog going through the motions of the machine called life, and to him, it seemed life didn’t care.

Enrolling in school in the middle of the year didn’t help. The friend groups were already formed and he didn’t seem to fit in, nobody lived near so there was no one to walk with to or from school, the teachers behaved more like robots than people and were oblivious to the boy’s situation. All of that would’ve been fine if he hadn’t been tagged as “The weird one” in his class. Trouble breeds trouble, and as soon as the nickname surged, so did the isolation. Having nobody to talk to, Dale spent his days thinking about what life could’ve been if he was still in his hometown, living with his parents, growing up along with his old friends. The little hope those thoughts gave him was always crushed by the memory of the funeral, the rain that seemed to never end, the unreadable faces of the distant family members, the empty caskets being lowered into the ground, and the lack of closure they brought along.

Amongst all the loneliness, Dale remained strong, determined to get through to the other side of the sea of misfortune and unleash himself from his prison. And in 6 months, nothing changed. As time passed, all things surrounding him turned into background noise, and then the only wish inside him was change. Any change. Something to turn the world upside down, enough to make someone question their grasp on reality, enough to twist someone’s morals and beliefs, enough to overturn this boring world and give it meaning. Something to free him from this gray world. At least, that’s what he wished, until the letter arrived.

***

It was a Monday, a day like any other in Black Lake City. People going to work, running at the park, traffic jams, street vendors selling their wares, and everything else a big city usually has. A car stopped in front of Black Lake Hotel, a five-star hotel famous for its imposing appearance, reminiscent of old Roman temples. The man inside the car made his way into the building carrying what seemed to be a black acrylic box and went through the reception desk straight towards the elevator on his way to the eighth floor. Stopping at a particularly plain door, he felt chills, and right before he knocked, someone opened the door.

— You’re 5 minutes late. I don’t have that much time to spare, you know? — Said the little girl who appeared behind the door.

She snatched the box from the man’s hands and opened it. Inside there was a small cake and resting atop it, a plain red envelope.

— Is that all? — She asked.

— Y-yes! — Stuttered the man.

The man was a former soldier who’s made several tours worldwide, being discharged with high honors, he’s been working as a mercenary ever since. Needless to say, there was no shortage of dangerous situations he’d been in, and the fact that he survived through those says a lot. But for some reason, looking at the little girl set off all those alarms he honed throughout the years, his body was shouting for him to run but his mind told him that if he turned his back he’d die. Thus, the only thing he could do was stay frozen and wait for what fate had in store. He couldn’t explain, but he could feel that something was off about her as if he was looking at two things inhabiting the same space, the girl and something else and that something else was driving him insane.

The little girl looked at the man, smiled, and said

— You may go — as she closed the door.

A rush of relief fell upon the man, and as soon as he was able to move, he left the place and started thinking that it was about time he thought about retiring.

The little girl sat on the couch after putting the box on the table. Looking at the red envelope.

— What are they up to this time — She thought.

Opening the envelope, her eyes swam through the contents of the letter. The more she read, the bigger her smile got, to the point that if a bystander saw her face, they’d be just as shocked as the delivery mercenary, if not worse.

— Finally! It took them long enough — She exclaimed excitedly.

Leaving the letter on the table, the little girl carried the cake to the kitchen happily humming a song. At the end of the letter, three names were listed.

The first name on the list was Dale Hall.