Click. Click. Click.
Kael knew this sound all too well, the cold, boring clack of his keyboard, he was tired of working your average office job in New York City.
He wanted to go somewhere - somewhere you could make anything, and do anything.
"Yo, Kael. How's it going with the boss's papers?" - muttered a familiar voice
"Ugh, I just wish I could finish these already--it's taking a hell of a long time."
"Yeah, I feel you Kael, ever since I had to do those papers for the boss for over 24 hours, I haven't really felt the same at this job."
The office was dim, the cold, harsh fluorescent lights added to the oppressive weight of Kael's soul crushing life.
"Alright" mumbled Kael, in a seemingly flat and burnt out voice - "I'm gonna head home now, see ya Luke"
"Same here. Have a good night, Kael."
Kael made his way to the office buildings one elevator, and went inside. It was crammed, the air was moist and he could feel the body heat of every person inside.
"Gosh, it smells like shit in here." Kael thought to himself, twitching his nose.
Kael headed to his car, as he opened the door there were loud, creaking noises and a mysterious smell coming from inside. He sat down on the warm, but comfortable seat, and put on his favorite music and drove home.
When he arrived home, he took out his keys, a familiar jingle echoed through the night. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. No one was waiting inside for him.
"Like always" Kael mumbled. "One of these days I'll get a girlfriend to greet me at home..." He said, as he imagined a life with a happy family, where someone who actually cared about him was there, waiting to greet him.
He headed upstairs to his room, popped open his 3 bottles of meds, and quickly placed them on his tongue and swallowed, tasting the bitterness of the white tablets.
"No dinner today I guess" He thought "While, I'm not even hungry, I could just have something extra to eat in the morning."
He drifted off into a deep slumber, but he seemed to have been awoken by a mysterious voice, but was he really awake? He wasn't in his room, he was just in a cold, black box quiet enough to make his ears ring.
Kael started to panic, and the mysterious voice in the background repeating "Good luck" was not helping him at all. He frantically walked around the box looking for something he could see--smell--touch. "This can't be a dream, it's too real, I can feel the box perfectly." He muttered, his breath shallow.
"It's not a dream." The mysterious voice said, the voice sounded that of a man in his 60's. It was scraggly, but also had a deep, luscious charm to it.
"WHAT IS THIS!? WHO ARE YOU!?" Kael yelled, only to receive no other answer other than the continuous repeating of an eerie message "Good luck... Good luck... Good luck..."
Kael's head started to run wild, "Am I dead, is this it for me?" He thought. He had little hope that this was even a dream, he just wanted it to end.
Kael suddenly got light headed, his body started swaying around in the box, the cold air brushing up against his pale skin, his brown, medium-length hair swaying with his body.
He fainted.
In what felt like an instant. He awoke. Birds chirping, a vibrant green grass swaying in the wind. "Am I in the afterlife or something?" He said with a nervous tone to his voice. Suddenly he heard the joyful screeches and yelps that sounded of children playing. He stood up, his head still dizzy from what had happened, and noticed 2 young children--A girl that seemed to be around the age of 8, and a boy who seemed to be around the age of 10.
"What the hell are they wearing?" Kael tried to reason with himself to find out why two children would be wearing clothes that looked like they were straight out of a fantasy novel.
He walked towards the children, as he came into the sight of the children, they seemed to become weary and nervous. As Kael approached the wooden shack, the kids ran inside and shut the door. Kael stood in front of the door. Confused out of his mind. "Where the fuck am I?" This question kept repeating in his head.
After a minute of Kael waiting at the door, he heard the shake of the doorknob and a loud creak. An old women, who looked around 70 stepped outside. "Um, hello..." Kael said awkwardly, he didn't even think about how he had no shirt and pajama pants. "Gosh I must look like an absolute creep." He thought.
The old lady, seemingly perplexed said "Hello, and who may you be?" "Um, my name is Kael and I'm in a bit of a situation right now please allow me to explain." Kael said, trying to be as nice as possible to not get on her bad side, "This might be the only person here who knows what happened to me." He nervously tried to believe.
"That's alright buddy, come on in let me get you all fixed up." She said, signaling him to enter the shack. "Why is she so trusting of me, a random shirtless man?" He was perplexed.
Kael pushed the door open, it creaked shut behind him as he stepped in. The house had a woody, earthy smell to it. The room was silent, similar to the black box. "Hello?" Kael said to break the silence. The old women responded, seemingly full of joy "I haven't had a visitor in a while! Come on, have a seat."
Kael stood there, frozen for a moment trying to process all that had just happened to him. This lady didn't know Kael, but it felt like she did. Kael felt an unnerving sense of familiarity with this women.