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September, the dreaded month has came
again.

The peasants went hiding into
underground and deep forests.

Bloodthirsty werewolves will make their
way towards our entire country to break the bones and steal the bread
of the defendless commoners.

Disbelieved in fairy tales, I searched
for news in the main city.

My mind is frozen with fear as the
townspeople have already fled.

They did not bothered to bring us
farmers along with them, we were abandoned as though we were the
sacrifice.

In a fit of rage, I plundered their
goods and slept in their cozy houses.

The werewolves did not came and the
townspeople returned along as well, from boats and ships.

I totally look like a thief with wine
and ham in my mouth.

The windows opened and I crawled
through it like a caterpillar.

But when darkness sets, the townspeople
left the city and into the farming fields.

And they were no longer in the shape of
humans but of werewolves.

They are prowling stealthily and ever
slowlily, never to alarm a single bypasser.

I tagged far behind them and took the
long way up the hills instead, I need to warn the villagers.

As I sloped down the hills, the
werewolves have already begun relentless attacks on the innocent
farmers and clothemakers.

I found a dead body and grab onto his

silver sword.

With a last breath, I pulled the
attention of the nightly beasts towards me.

One by one, their shadows fly through
the rice field towards me.

AWOOOOOOOO!!!!!

A rain of sharp arrows injures the
werewolves whom exposed their position in order to snatch me.

But who were the saviours?

It turned up to be fighters from
another clan.

They destroyed the werewolves and kept
our territory as their own.

We are glad to be a part of their
empire as we are protected from werewolves and betrayal alike.

But a few more septembers is when we
knew the truth.

All these top fighting clans, they were
all werewolves pretending to be humans.

We poor villagers are being fed to fat
to feed them.

But before I perish, I make sure to
take down a few of them.

The strategy is simple, just strike
them while they are still humans.

No picture.

Stiches of butterfly sealed onto my
garments reminds me constantly of you as I hang it up to dry.

The cozy weather brings joy and kisses

to my heart, but you are nowhere to be seen.

Untouched by my gestured and gifts, you
walked away..

You walked away to your goal and became
what you aspired to be, a basketballer.

You won competitions and fans and

money, but at the end of the day, you sing to yourself alone.

I know, because I am looking at you.

Stars flew like ufos across the distant

skies and you would say

they are called meteorites, but no..

They are not falling stars, meteorites
or comet. Because whenever I wished upon it, my dream did not came
true.

Even though I was still sastified
because I had you all by myself.

You eat alone, you run alone and you
leave home alone.

Pinching the black spots of my lettuce
away from my salad, I nearly choked on the drinking water I just
drank.

You finally found another one..

She was taller, bouncier and prettier
than me, that is why you chose her, did you?

My years of happiness and gratitude
fades away like liquid paper.

Singing a solemn song of breaking up, I
cherish the days I converse with you.

But I could not fake it any longer, I
do not want to hide my feelings longer, I went up to the porch, to my
dear neighbour..

my handsome neighbour which is you.

I hugged you in front of your gal
trying to make her upset but she didn't.

You just said hi and bye as usual.

The girl even smiled at me.

There were cheers and happiness at your
house all day long because I could hear it from my house.

Finally I met my end, you guys..

visited my house and pressed my
doorbell, I was so reluctant to open it.

And it was your birthday! Heck I didn't
know that.

You guys brought me some strawberry
chocolate cake slices, how nice of you all.

Eventually the three of us gathered in
front of the basketball court and we danced like athletes, the balls
scoring in and in, the opponent were..

were surprised. The three on three
match ended with sweat and tiredness.

You passed the ball to me like a gift
and eventually invited everyone to be a part of a new trend, the
mixed gender basketball team competition.

It welcomes basketball players from all
genders to be formed as a team.

You brought the community together and
the people heartz together.

But you do not know my heart.

But you cannot see the butterflies in
my stomach.

But you will not accept luxury gifts
from me.

You are right beside me..

as a basketball captain.

At the corridors of the school, rumours
were on fire.

You could spin out an outrageous tale
and someone will believe it.

And we fell for it too.

There was a realistic human sculpture
placed at the exit gates.

The schoolgirls decided to investigate
on the boy that did not moved.

It was bizarre as we touched it and it
did not flinched.

Only when, his mother arrived, then he
stood up like a robot.

And walk towards his mum.

We laughed at how silly we are.

We had unwittingly fell for a silly
prank.

Burning desires in our heart decided to
seek for revenge.

We crafted a better tale that the
girls' restroom was filled with swimming pools.

The swimming pools had splashing
playgrounds and watery slides.

Indeed, we caught a school boy with our
prank.

He visited the girls' restroom,
expecting a water wonderland.

But all he got, was a wonderful
surprise.

The discipline master had ears
everywhere and soon the perpetrator was caught.

However, the boy was only suspended a
few days.

Suggesting that the teacher knew of the
outlandish rumours.

In another apparent boring science
lesson.

A teacher walked in and explained he
was the temporary teacher as our teacher is on sick leave.

He pointed in the direction of the
school garden from the class's windows.

And gave us a task of finding and
capturing any animal.

The science lesson turned into a fun
adventure.

We caught frogs, butterflies, a turle
and even birds.

Everyone was giggling with their
prizeful catch.

However, a twist of fate happened.

The real science teacher had arrived
while the imposter teacher was gone.

But upon seeing our enthusiasm, the
teacher rethought about her classes.

The teacher explained the rules of
observation, showed us living habits of the garden animals from her
fat encyclopedia.

And, in the end, we released our best
buddies back into their natural home where they thrive best.

This very special day, taught us skills
we could use for life.

And gave us shared fond memories that
would last a lifetime.

No picture.

50 types of flowers

10 types are rustic flowers.

10 types are colourful flowers.

10 types are expensive flowers.

10 types are night flowers.

10 types are rare flowers.

Rustic flowers looks ordinary but you
can easily differentiate them by their leaves.

Small leaves, spiky leaves, big leaves,
narrow leaves, needle leaves, spade leaves, no leaves, curling
leaves, patterned leaves and web leaves.

Rustic flowers can be found at
abandoned houses and courtyards.

There are many different colours of
flowers, but the most favourited are orange, blue, grey, white, pink,
yellow, navy, brown, red and black flowers.

You can find these flowers at shops or
people's houses.

Expensive flowers are usually price
tagged at $10, $20, $22, $55, $60, $70, $82, $100, $120 and $130.

If you bought them, put them in a vase
of sugar water to make them lasts longer.

The 10 types of night flowers are
pillow rose, candy pink, fluffy night, yellow winter, opening eye,
bed of tulips, felling daisy, crown of apples, tipsy lavender and
white cloud.

They bloom flowers in daylight too, but
that is when they often dries up and wilts.

10 types of rare flowers are
manufo-flora, acresyn-flower, symbolif-natura, tentla-ros,
simplepetal, keyin-tree, powderbush, blowingnight, scandalmimic and
prettywild.

Scientists uses these flowers as
medicines and research purposes.

I told you 50 types of flowers.

Which is almost all of the flowers in
our small countryside.

So that whenever you see a flower.

You will be reminded of me too.

Riding his four horses from the sky,
Helios, the god of sun descended on mortal earth.

He have not came with good intentions,
he grows sick of the bloody wars.

“Bloody mortals! They only live to a
hundred years old but yet they are wasting their precious life force
on fighting.

This madness must stopped!” growled
Helios.

But things is not as simple as it
always seems to be.

The ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus have
landed a siege to the city of Rhodes.

It was a fail siege as the city of
Rhodes is surrounded by waters.

The waters not only bring in wealth,
trade and food to the local villagers of Rhodes,

It also deters enemies from attacking
Rhodes easily.

“You must attack with all units at
once, that’s how you win a war.”

Antigonus confidently commanded his
fierceful troops, and carried his troops on ships to bypass the
natural water defense.

As a bad expert on naval combat,
Antigonus soon realized his mistake, the waters surrounding city of
Rhodes is too shallow, the river bottom rocks keeps banging onto his
warships.

His warships was delayed causing his
other land forces to end up as mincemeat when reaching the enemies’
fortress.

Rhodes troops shoot arrows at the
arriving warships killing many on the onboard troops.

When Antigonus and his warship arrived,
all they could see was blood river and dead bodies of his land troops
flowing on the surface.

The troops of Rhodes decides to rid the
root of evil for good, reaching for peace in the next 100 years. And
they go and slay every single enemy, surrendered or not.

Helios tried to stop the war by
bringing out the power of Sun, the day turned white,

Everyone turned blind.

“They are as good as blind people
anyway.” Helios comforted himself to stop the pointless killings.

Villagers from neighboring cities came
and was shocked at all the blinded people,

They build the Colossus of Rhodes which
is the statue of Helios, the God of Sun.

It was an unforgiving winter, the snow
buried the corn fields and the grape vines. Winterhall is nevermore.

Everyone runs out to seek for a better
harvest, but all eventually succumbed to the illness.

With hunger, bacterias and viruses
proliferates much faster and digests the body cells and organs from
within. It looked like the farmers have turned zombies as their
bodies were black.

I am a doctor and I am here to save the
world.

But I was in touch with something more
than what my medical profession can assist in. The whole bioform of
the landscape and grasses all seems to lose their shape and colours.

I used a fire and warm up the fields of
harvest and it helped. My conclusion is the strong coldness have
terraform this planet into a cold icy realm.

So I went to the farmers and speak to
them the truth.

They listened and did not leave their
cave villages anymore, they dug deeper and deeper, the deeper it is,
the further away from the coldness they are.

We used lanterns and candles to
substitute for natural sunlight and it worked, all our corns,
potatoes and grapes started growing again.

But people are impatient, they dug even
deeper and deeper, eventually we accidentally triggered a sinkhole,
and all is lost.

Everyone and everything is thrown
inside this deep natural hole of 2.4 km. The heat is intense in here,
it was like the opposite of the realm up there.

We split into teams to salvage our
supplies and explore the mystery caverns. We found ancient carvings
and ancient straw beds. We are not the first ones here.

The cave paintings showed vividly a
legend, humans slained all the dragons that were flying around to
wreck farms and houses.

A hero named VAGFSDGd, bring out his
fork and stabbed into the last of the dragon. The villages celebrated
for days and for weeks.

But something strange happened after
months and years passed by, the sun grows weaker and weaker. And the
clouds became less and less.

The last few cave sculptures showed the
reason why, the dragons have helped breathe heat and warmth into the
realm and their wings helped the wind to continue to blow.

Without the dragons, the planet turned
into a dying stone where nothing can grow on it and nobody have any
food or rations.

They decided to proceed forwards and
find the eggs of the dragon, it is said that they had stockpile them
in case humanity forgets their lesson again.

I as a doctor concludes this giant
fiery eggs are dead, no movements or heartbeats can be felt. They
thew it away to the nearby hot boiling river.

Interestingly, the eggs start to float
and crack, it was a rebirth of the legendary dragons. Their beaks
were full of flames and they blaze the whole cavern into a fire mess.

We hatched the wrong eggs, these are
the pheonix eggs. But nevertheless, the pheonix flew up the sinkhole
and transformed the planet into a better place.

I am still stuck in here, my rations
are running thin. We started quarelling and fighting. There is no way
to climb up 2.4 km. And one day, after half of us are gone, the
phoenixes returned.

They decay into rotting flesh and
skeletons. Inside their body are a few more eggs. We hid the eggs and
ate their flesh.

We used their skeletons to create
ladders and ladders, eventually we reached the top.

We are safe. But our humanity have
descended, we sacrificed others to save our skin. We are no longer
humans. Our rage and guilt turns into fire and we started breathing
fire at each other.

Our thickened skin started to flap
through the skies and we see pictures of farms, villages and castles.
Our eyes turned black and we see nothing but enemies waiting to be
destroyed.

We kept hunting down more and more
victims and burn down more and more villages. Eventually, the
extinction of dragons is no more.

The people gathered in armours and
forks to slay and hunt us again.

Our reptilian behaviours suddenly
diminished and we realized we transformed into dragons. We need to
transform back or we be hunted down or that we hunt them down.

And, we realized the cause of the
transformation, we ate the forbidden flesh of the phoenix and our
comrades. That is what had led to our descend.

Our brains lit up and we became
monsters again and fuel enmity the war between the dragons and the
humans.

We are the masters of the skies and the
humans are the protectors of the earth, but the world cannot do
without either of us.

The hamster spins and spins its wheel
but couldn't outrun it. The day has finally arrived when it does its
escape.

It have been captured by a man with
blonde hair whom torture it with scratches every week.

It needs to climb to the roof of the
cage and flip open the switch and kick vertically upwards to slam the
big door open.

Ding dong, dang, and it's master is
back home again.

"Smiley! Smiley!" you could
almost hear the thumping of movements from the creaky floor. It is
perhaps time to abort the mission.

But until when will I be able to escape
then? No, it must be today, everything else is excuses.

I bumped through the cracks of the cage
wires and my face almost exploded and realized I was being dumb, but
an inspiration led me to do the ultimate manuevuer,

I did a vertical somersault and clench
my jaws onto the ceiling of the cage.

Now this is a challenge for my stamina,
I gripped my abdomen and swung back and forth, and eventually, I
kicked opened the big door and flung myself out as well.

"Are you hungry? Do you have
water?" An ominous scream filled through the halls of giant
mansion.

The giant is coming for me, he is
literally going to make me his pet rat, but I will not submit my fate
that easily.

I slided towards the darkness of bed
bottom and slided towards the cabinet legs and bump underneath the
table.

I bet the silly human will not find me
here, this is where the human walked right pass to the prison cage.

And, indeed, I was right, the tall and
merciless human went pass me with his smelly foot and socks. He knelt
down in front of his dungeon and looked for his tiny companion but
long was it gone.

I quickly swooshed out of the door and
stampede through the many doors. I ended up injured as I got caught
in multiple falls from staircase.

"EEEEeEEEEEeeee" A tall woman
screeched and blasted my ears away. "Get this foul vermin away
from me." Another replied her, "No Ma, that is my pet.”

They swiftly entered into an argument,
it seemed like my master had prisoning me without her permission.
Strange logic, but it matters not to me. I finally reached my end.

I was stopped by a giant oak door.

It looks so beautiful that this must be
the exit to paradise. But my tiny feeble hands do not have the power
to open it. A dash of broomstick tossed me up into the air, I
screamed with might.

I fell down like a helpless tortoise.
My face is bruised, my legs previously wounded on the staircase
jumps, and my heart is pumping too hard from all that adrenaline.

The giant master started clenching the
broomstick from big Ma. It was like watching a wrestling fight. I
could not resist to watch a little more before coming up with another
escape plan.

This time I had to escape through a
windows, pretty difficult as I need to jump up the stairs and up the
kitchen table and up the windows bar. It was like mission impossible.

But if I do not go for now, it seems
like I will be torn apart by two mischievious giants.

I pressed hard at the legs of the
chairs and my fingers bled as my nails are tearing apart, I used my
nails and tail to climb up the chair.

I rested at the comfy seat as I
wondered where the humans went.

My energy is recovered, I jumped and
used the momentum to create more energy and did a diagonal flip jump
towards the chair's back which is also a plush cushion.

I directly went outside the kitchen's
windows and went straight into a green paradise. The smell of dirt
and oxygenated air fills my weakened lungs.

I was happy to be free and ranaway. I
became one of the few prisoners that claim their freedom by their
very own volition.

The rain blasted down the bushes and
the cars slamming up and down the streets. I was lost in a city. I
tried to venture off a little bit and went into a very nice and cozy
park.

I was protected by nice and caring park
rangers and visitors.

You could see people playing badmintons
and jogging, all minding their own buisnesses without disturbing the
wildlife. I setup a nest and dug my underground hole.

But what appeared to be an easy job
turns up to be another's home. A long and slender creature pushed out
the sand of my underground hole. It is my nemesis, the snake.

It did not need jaws, for its mouth is
wide to swallow me whole. I do not have a chance and I went away.

Eventually the snake lost track of me
or perhaps it was just chasing me away from its territory. I found a
group of rats and befriended them. They gave me biscuits and I gave
them hugs.

It was a nice evening.

Ah, here I am again.

This is not reality but a surreal
dream, the evidence are that I cannot tell whether it is day or
night, I dun see my family and there are no people staring at phones
like zombies.

Lets brighten up, it becomes day, let's
populate area, my family and strangers starts running everywhere. I
need to chill at a park. My tense legs in real life can't bring me
far.

It would be good to enjoy a picnic or
such in my dream instead.

Alright, the park river seems a big too
huge, it is like a horizontal lake and that makes this dream even
more fake.

Before changing the size, I am going to
look into it, there are tonnes of colorful fishes and ocean manta
rays swirling a park river, now that is over the top and too intense.

A giant black lungfish dashed up the
sky and splash drops of rainwater onto as though it knew I am going
to change the scenery.

I tried and tried, but as I narrow down
the river, the land besides it becomes narrower too, a biker fell
into the river.

A grandma carrying a baby had both legs
sunk into the river.

A security guard blocking people from
entering the river is instead swimming inside the river.

Well, at least the river is safe, there
are no crocodiles or snakes or monster sized catfish. Oh wait a
minute, I am not supposed to think about that.

Try not to think about pink elephants
and your mind will picture it. The river is now crawling with all
kinds of creatures.

Blood oozes the scene and people are
dragging their feet towards the shore. There was a big whistle,
calling everyone to leave the park.

But the park visitors are entertained
with the variety of fishes and monsters lurking underneath the wave.

I took out my camera and capture
images, hoping that I can remember them when I wake up and make it
into a story. But the more pictures I took, the closer I got to the
lake.

Because that is where the juicy part of
the story is. A green and sharp reptile shook his entire body like a
burping lizard, the splash blinding the swimming people.

A grey shark opening its big wide mouth
and devouring anything as long as it move.

And many venomous snakes just skiddling
together, trying to keep other animals away from them, they are tired
of this mess.

I have many dreams but none as chaotic
as this. It is time to balance things out. I pointed my eyebrow
together and imagined myself doing pull-ups.

And it worked, many sea creatures are
gone, or should I say, replaced with green crocodilians. Their jaws
snatching more and more preys and submerge them underneath the red
river.

My feet is on the sand, I am still
safe. I peered sideways, and there are no crocodiles hiding in the
bushes.

I moved backwards and backwards and
breathed like through a pipe. "Brother, it is time to wake up."
my brother thugging onto my pants.

Oh, you think I do not want to wake up
right now? I can't, I am stuck inside a nightmare I created myself.
This is as amusing as a comedian dying due to depression, guess I
shouldn't say that.

Broken limbs and the quietness are left
in the pinkish river.

One could see a hundred of more ancient
looking dinosaur scaled crocodiles just paddling like nobody
buisnesses.

It is a crocodile park, as if any
government is sane enough to construct such a park.

If I am eaten, I might be able to wake
up, ho, those angular teeths and banging jaws, I might have prolonged
stress after I wake up too. Any ideas, any ideas, guys, save me.

Then, the overpopulated crocodiles
started clawing and attacking each other in a frenzy. No, I did not
do that.

I watched everywhere in the park, a
pale girl, a running man and a disturbed fisherman. Now which one of
them looks the more suspicious.

Well, the pale girl, of course, she is
looking directly into the monster river and is not doing anything
else like a park visitor would be doing.

I walked towards her slowly and called
up her name, "Hey angel, did you help me?". She did not
turned her head away from the river.

"You are under a lot of stress in
real life, try to keep that down or you will lose control of your
mindbending power.

" I retorted,"It is just a
dream, also I can't control other people in my life making things
difficult for me.".

There was no response but the following
words appeared in my mind, crocodiles will not eat you up but stress
will.

The pale girl disappeared and there was
left a few albino crocodiles that were two-sized of a crocodile, they
looked like they killing the other crocodiles just like how white
blood cells functions. When I tried to solve my real life problems, I
instantly waked up.

A disheveled knight walks into the
dense forest for hiding. But the relentless lightning and flashes
still chase after him. "I should not have killed him." Gepa
repents for his sin.

He followed his king's order to kill an
assassin, it turned up to be an innocent merchant. The king most
likely had plundered the merchant's goods and did not bothered about
Gepa the knight.

But Gepa kept running, his sins is
melting inside of his heart, blending him with darkness.

The fast wind breaks the branches and
the leaves fell like snow. There was no light, not even dim radiance
from the moon, it was pitched black that night.

All he could see was sounds, the loud
sounds of his metallic shoes clanky and bonking the dirt path.

He gets more and more tired, but he
could not remove his armour, he is aware that there are animals
living in this dense forest, some of which that can incapacitate him
without his armour.

Every echo he makes, the weaker his
body. He fell into his knees.

When you thought lord would grant him a
break, shadows started loomping at the ends of his vision, pinching
in closer and closer.

He knows he is not alone but a faint
sound sends shiver down his spine, it was the rhythm of a piano and
the pitch of a chair being dragged across the floor.

What gives? He decides to step forward
into the sound and face the eyes of a demon for once and for all.

But the sounds was not nearby at all,
he keeps dragging his feet onwards until the air turns into ice. The
trees grew ever taller but is devoid of leaves and vitality.

The shadows of the trees looks like
dancing witches but there were no flying brooms or magical aura.

As he breached through the final inch,
he stands in front of an ancient gnarled tree, its branches weeping
like a woman's hair.

Finally, he finds the source of the
otherworldly energy, it is coming from this very tree itself. The
forcefield is propelling all of life and death away from this
perimeter.

He thrusts his iron gauntlets into the
tree and is getting sucked into it. He went into the distant pasts
and possible paths.

When he awoke, he realized he had made
a contract with a devil. His fate of bringing good and justice to
people is now not needed of his service.

The tree was the dying form of a fallen
foe, a devil battled against angels or such, then he was petrified
until a tree took over his source of life.

But by harbouring the devil's core, he
abandoned his goodwill and innocence to the demonic realm as well.

An ethereal figure got pulled apart
from his body and walked away, possibly his good aura.

Not sure was it the sleep or the
newfound mystical energy, the knight Gepa surged through the forest
dwelling and reached to his familiar place. He was back at the
castle.

His heartbeat beating slowly but
powerful. Memories of a holy knight have turned into vengeance of a
black demon.

Voices keeps speaking into his head,
his feet turning towards the forest trying to runaway but couldn't.
He was trapped inside of a body that is not of his own anymore.

His veins is crawling with purple
centipedes and darkness is oozing out of his armpits.

He had pledged allegiance to the
otherworldly and if he breaks his bond, he becomes a zombie, a
mindless one.

The castle standing ever tall and its
banners ever long.

One flick of the knight's fingers send
the gravity out of the forkman, they flew off the walls, making the
castle's wall defenseless.

Gepa jumped up with unnatural power as
the wind sides with him, the trees turning into a greenish blur.

But now, the castle's gates have 20
maceman protecting the towering spires and holy church behind.

As imposing as it is, Gepa flew in like
a dracula and started pommeling the valiant guards.

Two flanks of crossbow archers step out
from hidden veins of the castle and started surprise attacking the
knight.

Gepa's bloodflow have turned into
tragedy, as powerful as he might be, how could he battle against 60
man?

Just when he is about to lose, demonic
minions have arrived and scratched the powerful guardsmen. "Get
into the castle hall!" screamed a witch, whom had brought the
minions here.

He broke open the gleaming gates, a
banshee and a cerberus follows behind him.

Gepa points his knight sword against
the throne and speak, "I challenge your authority, you are not
fit to be a king anymore."

The king smirked and slouched lazily at
his square chair, "And it is your right to do so, the governance
of this land has always been given to the one with the most power and
not the one with the most rights. You had sold your soul to the
devil, if I perished, do you think a demon like you would be the
better king?"

Gepa got confused by the profound
situation, "I am here to claim your head, not your throne.".

He did not cared about what happens to
the kingdom, he just need to repent for his sins and then he will let
the demon inside of him do whatever he wishes to do.

Blue assembled knights and red snipers
blocked the view of the king.

Gepa is aligned with a banshee and a
cerberus. It is hard to imagine that three can defeat 40 elite
soldiers.

The air crackles with tension and
everyone started punching and kicking for their lives. Gepa
self-immolate as his aura turns into fire itself, he torches any
knight that dares to come near him.

When the knights perished, the banshee
resurrect them into skeletal minions fighting against the king's men.

The cerberus had bad luck and got its
foot slain, without legs, even with three heads, it could hardly fend
off the enemies, and died tragically.

There was a loud gong on the castle's
gate, the remaining macemen and crossbow archers squeeze into the
grand hall, scaring the courage out of Gepa.

Gepa's fire aura is now nothing but a
matchstick's power.

The king fearlessly descends down the
long stairs and head straight to Gepa, "Kill me." The king
dared Gepa the knight.

And so he did, the metal blade thrust
through the royal clothes and blood squirts onto the colorful
carpets.

Gepa managed to turn his pitfall into a
completed quest for redemption, the demon with fiery eyes took over
his body and ascended the throne.

"You fool, I was the real king all
along, the king you slain is just a possessed human, something just
like you. I have finally switched from an old and frail human body
into a young and powerful human body. Your contract is released in
good favour."

With a nod from the new king, the
gruesome knights and soldiers started advancing back to their old
positions and defend the castle.

Demonic minions, witch, banshee and
cerberus all worked for the king.

Gepa the knight is now Gepa the king.

Your friend hurried you, "You need
to go now.". You gave him an empty stare, trying to make this
situation a stupid one. Your friend pestered you again, "They
are coming for you.", and the thought of that puts you up to
your feet. When you left your house and parents, zombies crawled
towards your direction as well but they were not your source of fear.

You have stolen something precious from
the graveyard of the Neverending and the vampires will chase after
you and kill you to bring that artifact back.

You peered at the blue moon before
going underneath an underground passage. You thought this prized item
would render the vampire blood inside of you useless, turning you
back into a human.

However, the pages in this book were
filled with unknown graphs.

The elders leapt into fear, and worried
you might be using the relic to turn all the vampires into humans
instead or perhaps to return the zombies to permanent rest.

The scent of blood and evil splatters
the courtyard, the elders announced your threachery and every single
vampire is now tracking you down.

You are still being pursued by the
energetic zombies, your heart pounding as though it is made of heavy
metal.

You finally reached a clearing, your
breath stilled and body slumped, this is a good place to bring down
the zombies.

Channeling the power within another
spell book, you shouted fire bolts and lightning bolts towards the
undead, they got engulfed into a wave of elements and shrieked in
agony.

Their bodies turned into a solid wall
blocking the rest of the zombie army.

You casted another invisible spell on
yourself and walked out of the cavern on the other side.

You still have vampire friends in this
village but you dared not risk it, you decided to head towards the
cathedral iron wounded gates.

You already knew vampires gather here
often, so you were not surprised when many vampires started flying
out like flying squirrels.

You entered the forbidden chamber which
the vampires dared not enter. You spoke to a hidden entity whom seems
to disdain you.

The candles stars to flicker and the
ornate stained glass windows starts to fade into blackness.

The hidden entity were the master of
all vampires but somehow concealed himself for unknown reasons. It is
the first time anyone seen his face, and his face is half zombified
and half vampire.

He sensed your fear and guides you into
feeling secured. Even though vampires here have the power to
reanimate dead but zombies will eat the vampires whenever given the
chance.

And at this point, you cannot tell
whether the master vampire is a zombie or not.

"The Grimoire book is not from the
mortal land. It looks like a powerful artifact but is actually a
curse brought in from the abyss. The very fact that you are chased by
both the zombies and vampires are a testament to how unholy this
thing is." His gigantic vampire wings flapped loudly inside the
forbidden chamber.

You held tightly onto the unholy book,
realizing its existence may disrupt the balance between the realms,
far beyond the casualty that anyone can restore back.

"Can you save me from this curse?"
You begged.

But the master vampire reluctantly
replied, "Since you wanted to be a mere human, you shall pay
with the price of your life."

You sensed a threat and self-crashed
through the windows, the other vampires started to chased after you,
eager to rip you apart.

You tried to throw the book into a
river but it reappeared in your arms. You tried to burn it into ashes
and it reappeared flying motionless in front of you.

The only way to end this conflict is to
kill the other vampires. But they are your relatives or distant
cousins. Vampires are often related to one another.

And if you did killed them, your
parents will be hung as punishment. So there was no choice but to
keep on running.

The more you exercise, you more
resilient you became. Your althetic abilities far surpassed the old
you. You actually reached a land devoid of vampires and zombies.

It is so peaceful in here, that you
finally became lazy and settle in.

There were human gangsters here
collecting free money from everybody. Eventually they caught onto
you, failing to pay any coins, you bring out your fangs and turn them
into slices of red meat.

The passerbys gaped at you and started
packing up their belongings. You noticed that unnatural decay
followed in your footsteps, possibly an aftereffect of the grimoire
book.

You got rid of the gangsters in the
village and yet the village holds you in contempt, they bring spears
and fireworks to dispel you as though you are a vampire, oh wait, you
are.

You brandished your jaws towards them
and half of them fell onto the ground. Before you lost your logic and
eradicate each of them, a portal beams out.

Gargoyles and ravens flew through the
portal and started attacking everyone.

As long as the portal is opened, any
demons can stepped through in and you can no longer sleep in peace.
You entered the portal in an unwise manner.

But you thought to yourself, "Maybe
this is the key to unlocking the secrets to the book of grimoire."

But a world of damnation appears before
your very eyes. A scourge of imps escorted you to King Yama across
the burning lake and firefall.

The ruler of this realm and the arbiter
of souls greets you, his breath of words are as ghostly as it can be.
The shadowy guards standing in lanes, their eerie gazes fixate upon
you.

King Yama reveals that the grimoire is,
in fact, his creation. Anyone whose name is written within its pages
will be chased by spirits and demons of all kinds.

You started to flip the book
impatiently and found out your very name is written on it at an
obscure page.

The book is a conduit to the realm of
death, it brings the cycle of life back into balance.

You realized your very identity of
vampire have defied the logic of death for many years and you are
merely returning to what you are supposed to be.

You offered to return the book of
grimoire, but he shows you a desktop of books, "I have plenty of
it and even ones with different effects.

Usually I am here to judge your sins
and reincarnate you, but I shall let you go since you have trespassed
onto one of my mistake.

Do me a favour and cleanup the other
vampires and zombies you knew of.".

You returned back to the desolated
village through the portal, it had already turned into ruins.

To kill all of your vampire kins would
be so immoral that you wondered whether it is actually easier for you
to have died at the master vampire's hands previously instead.

Then you thought that if you were to
become human, vampires and zombies will chase after you endlessly.
And you began to write down every single name you knew of.

You went back to your hometown and
found out news of mass deaths to vampires and zombies.

All but one, the master vampire.

As you approached the forbidden
chamber, you could hear echoes, "Ahhhh, a bringer of death. But
does your actions shapes a better world?"

It is time to fight your vampire
master, but those few words are enough to make you feel like a lost
kid.

The air inside the chamber is covered
in smokes of incense. The foul smell stopping you from detecting the
master vampire's aura.

With a sudden burst of movement, both
you and the master vampire locked into each other with full might,
the snarls of fangs brutalize the shadowy night.

You dodged all of his attacks and you
pressed him into a corner. He reveals a blast of power as though he
was not an old elderly.

A whirlwind of strikes and bursts of
magic hammered down your spirit. You could no longer parry anymore
hits. It looks like your view is fading away.

Then you hold onto your book of
grimoire, trying to scare the ghostly vampire away. The walls tremble
and the air is flushed with vibrations of punching and kicking.

Your determination has run into an end.

You taunted the winner, "I am the
wielder of the grimoire and is the strongest in this land."

The winner snaps back at you, "I
am alukah, the most pure-blooded vampire, granting me the strongest
power anyone has ever known.

I was only foul by a zombie bite and
you dared to challenge my might, it was me whom taught you to suck
blood."

You quickly wrote down his name and an
ethereal iron maiden coffin appeared, locks and chains flung outside
and captured the master vampire.

He was stunned, trying to understand
what ghostly attack is this but it is too late, he was buried inside
the iron maiden, his body is struck with metal spears inside of the
coffin.

The master vampire's threat has been
extinguished and you are the last vampire known, you wrote down your
name but realized the book cannot kill its owner or writer.

You are left as a prisoner to your
bloodlust and vampric powers for many centuries to come while hoping
for some knight or wizard to bring you down.

Eliana is a knowledgeable relic
explorer, his granddad had shared his mastery of the Ancients' lore
with her.

In fact, his granddad owns a whole
observatory at the peak of the mountain, peering through that lens is
a wide view of vast lands and shadowy caverns.

Eliana was a charismatic girl, she made
friends with a trio of companions in school, they all shared the same
interests in unknown tales and treasures.

They are a scholar, a rogue and a
giant.

Along the far journey, the scholar
managed to pour out Eliana's true goal.

She wanted to bring her granddad back
to life, his sudden death had stopped his wisdom of adventuring as
well.

If someone like granddad were to lead
the way, half of Eliana's adventures into finding relics can be
considered half-accomplished already.

The companions gave a vague expression
as though they disliked that idea.

During the steep hills and sprawling
canyons, their expedition slowed to a halt.

Everyone is mindful of each other, this
is the best time to get intentionally "lost" and ownself
find the treasures and keep it all to oneself.

Before long, Eliana realized a
different plot, they planted her death by pointing her the path
forward which was a dangerous cliff instead, and she felled.

Her body hurts as much as the betrayal
did because she could not comprehend why.

Four years of classmates is no match
for a pile of treasures.

Luckily she wore a rope jacket, those
ropes tying all over her body was not for decoration, it is made of
rubber and plant fibers, allowing the wearer to bounce off dangerous
falls.

But a bigger twist had appeared, a fair
looking horse appeared and lick her wounds.

She rode onto it and it brought her to
a secretive cove, a room once owned by her granddad.

All of the Ancients treasures are
apparently moved here, there is a whole background map of the entire
area.

Eliana knew the group of betrayers will
be stopped at the Maze of the Edge.

She fed the horse and left it behind,
for where she is going, dangers lurks.

Giant accidentally triggered a pitfall
trap at the maze, the bottom trapdoor revealed many spikes, Giant
used both of his shoulders to stop the fall.

The scholar and the rogue hesitated for
a moment before pulling the Giant out.

The lack of drinking water slowed the
group down heavily and then they met Eliana, "I got into a fall
when I was trying to relieve myself."

The companions were surprised at her
healthy appearance and welcomed her back.

Eliana knew the mystery of the lost
drinking water pool and kept misdirecting the group into other
directions inside that big green maze.

The rogue went crazy and bashed through
the green walls, but eventually returned with a greater thirst.

Scholar thought about waiting for the
rainwater and then realized how are all the plants growing without
rainfall, there must be a river or pool nearby, using his knowledge
of plants, he leads the group to the plants that required more and
more water in order to grow bigger.

Eventually, the rogue pulled open the
green walls, "Hey, the fressh looking pond of drinking water."

Everyone relished themselves.

Eliana smiled with sadness, her plot to
dehydrate her teammates were foiled, a silly plan but dehydration is
one of the fastest way to die.

A vicious chimera with multiple scaly
lizardy heads looked towards the drinking pool and goes into a
stampede like an elephant.

Holy moly, that huge lizard was not
written inside granddad's note at his secret cove.

Multiple spits turns out to be venomous
needles shot towards Eliana and the rogue, the Giant dashed in and
blocked those hits.

The group quickly went into a great
distance before finding themselves standing on a huge wide canyon
that you cannot even see the bottom, it is just pitched-black down
there.

This place is so scary, it almost looks
like the wind is trying to push you down into the abyss.

Eliana thought of another plan and
started throwing rocks down the canyon, she kept spamming rocks until
the group looks at her suspiciously, "I am just seeing how deep
the hole is, since we are not hearing any sounds, it is too deep for
us, perhaps our journey has ended prematurely."

Then many deep howls travelled from the
deep bottom of the canyon.

It almost sounded like a rock avalanche
except that piles of rocks are climbing upwards towards the
expedition team, as unbelievable as it were, a group of stone golems
started appearing in far sight.

They were colossal and they were not
happy.

The rogue started taking his ropes and
tied everyone together and onto a tree.

"I am already poisoned, so let me
be the bed." Giant was the first to jump.

When he jumped, the rope tied to the
other companions pushed them down too.

But they did not landed onto the sharp
ground, they landed onto big webs of white strands instead.

The cute spiders happily greets their
meal and started stapling the group of travellers.

Eliana knew that struggling and rolling
around will loosen the stickiness of the web, so she calmed down and
told everyone not to make noise or sudden movements or the terrifying
queen spider will appear.

They silently took the impales of the
tiny spiders until their faces squeezed like lemons.

Interestingly, the spiders got full and
left, everyone thanked Eliana for her deep knowledge.

Eliana is now crying with sadness, not
sure whether from the bites or the lost chance of killing her
teammates.

The giant was the first to got down
from the web as he was too heavy and he plucked the rest of the team
from the spiders' web.

"Unfortunately this is where I
stay," the Giant moaned with his bad english but everyone knew
he was poisoned and could no longer move.

The rogue took out his clothings and
bind onto the Giant's body and started pulling him along the journey.

The scholar is skinny and have no
muscles, but he did helped pulled too.

It was a team effort came true.

The strangest part of this deep cavern
is that they can see, and soon enough, they knew why, there were many
minerals that were illuminating.

Eliana danced upon the starry wide
cave, the shines seems to flow like a river underneath their
footsteps bringing them to a half done chapel. "Another chance,"
Eliana thought to herself.

Eliana went missing halfway the walk
and burned down the chapel which the wraiths cherished.

Spectral wraiths started looming out
everywhere, flying as though they did not have a home to return to.

The group met up with Eliana and
everyone brings out their weaponry to defend against the unknown.

However the group of undying wraiths
appeared before them humbly and thanks them for destroying their
chapel.

They could not move on to their next
life as they needed to protect the chapel from dangerous monsters
here, but they just realized how stupid that is because nobody have
been visiting this chapel except for these new adventurers in a
decade.

The ghosts turns into oxygen and splits
up into the air.

Everyone thanks Eliana again for her
wise decision to burn down the chapel.

Eliana is now brooding with deep
confusion.

Eventually, they found the treasure
spot of the Ancients.

There were chests but they were already
looted.

Everyone sighed, but Giant sighed the
heaviest.

The scholar shared everyone his food,
the rogue shared everyone his drinking water.

Eliana finally took out some medicines
and gave it to Giant and he immediately turned better.

Eliana woke up early in the morning and
glided passed a titanic wooden bridge, she started to spin the wheel
so the bridge goes up and split apart.

The group of companions are on the
other side of the bridge, "We are still here, Eliana!"

Eliana knew this bridge is a shortcut
back home and otherwise it will be almost impossible to go back up
the deep canyon.

Eliana climbed the ladders that were
old but steady.

As she climbed higher and higher, she
remembered that the Giant blocked the Chimera's attack towards her
and that everyone helped pulled the Giant across the journey except
for her.

She had irreputable proof that they
killed her granddad because they tried to silenced her too, but was
it all her imagination?

The image of the ghosts from the
previous chapel appeared in her mind, thanking her.

Eliana realized that maybe this world
is not about herself only, she slid back down the staircase and
unwheeled the bridge.

Everyone came along and thanks her as
though she was helping to scout out for an ambush before letting them
pass through.

Finally, Eliana admitted the truth that
she tried to abandoned them, she knew they tried to kill her.

It was a pivoting moment and everyone
cried too.

They told her, they stole items from
granddad's observatory and was caught, they ranaway and granddad
slipped while chasing after them.

If Eliana was to revive granddad,
things will get complicated as though they are the murderers because
they did not brought the injured granddad to a doctor,

they had to end Eliana's life too to
keep things quiet.

They apologized heavily towards Eliana.

But Eliana realized the very truth that
her granddad's death was indeed an accident and that she had been
chasing after her own imagination, a chase after the shining light
that can make her world whole again.

The group became more matured, they
grew up and became responsible adults, they occasionally set out to
more adventures with Eliana.

And Eliana finally smiled.

The author was waiting for his food
delivery which comprised of hawaiian pizza, spicy tomato spaghetti
and the new spiced drumlets.

The wait turned into a time dilation,
and before he noticed it happening, his brain have already entered a
new realm which seems to be dredging out his moral compass.

A 10-year-old boy named Adam, looking
awkwardly similar to the author was playing computer games non-stop.

His hobby has turned into an endless
obsession, he plays all kinds of computer games; Free 2D racing car
games, paid 3D fantasy rpg games, and the popular subscription-based
3D mmo games.

As the advertisements rage through the
internet, he found himself downloading and playing the "free to
play" anime mmorpgs.

This wrongful decision has burned the
back of his pockets, leaving him penniless.

He was addicted to computer gaming and
the scientists were worried for his mental wellbeing.

Year 2300 is a time when humanity had
begun to regress.

Mankind unlocked the recipes of
technology and automation but that had led to the devolution of
mankind.

Humans now looked round and fat like
gym weights.

Society has diverted its attention from
wealth and health to sleeping and eating.

It is not allowed to, but people
continued to sleep in public spaces like bus stops, parks and cars.

The notions of wealth, fame and
relationships are all thrown out of the windows.

This laziness spreads like a virus
making everyone looks like homeless people.

No matter how much the government tried
to intervene, the lack of enthusiastic response only led to a further
crumbling of the economy.

The leaders have no choice but to shift
their focus towards meeting the basic needs of everyone, which only
helped the system to spiral down further.

A group of university graduates has
convinced the government to conduct an experiment of a kind, the
details were kept secret but generally, it is about cloning humans
with human dna in year 2020, which was thought to be when humans were
at their most industrious and resilient age.

Adam was one of these clones and to
prevent his mental health from further deterioration, the scientists
confiscated his computer and games, causing him to rage.

He was so angry that he exchanged a few
arguments against his "father", but upon remembering his
"father" is just a scientist and not his real father, he
believed that this "father" is unable to care for or
understand him.

He was able to plot all kinds of
vengeance towards the scientists, but calculated that his actions
might hurt the other "kids" too and so he aborted his
plans.

The transformation of anger to calmness
surprised the other scientists, they noted that the clones are
already more mature than the real humans outside of the laboratory.

Yes, Adam lives in a laboratory and
with the other "kids" as well.

Most of the time, the scientists are
cowering behind a sheet of safety glass, monitoring and educating
them from a safe area.

Adam was supposed to live a beneficial
routine until the age of 20, however, as the scientists see his
spirit dwindled heavily, losing interest in various activities like
gym exercises, playing with stuffed toys and engaging in friendly
board game competitions with the other "kids".

The father reluctantly returned Adam
his precious computer and games.

Adam's eyes flickered with happiness,
his energetic body had returned and he played computer games all
night.

Soon, Adam and the "kids"
became 20 and is required to step out of the laboratory's walls to
prove their worth.

They are the secret weapon to
humanity's decline.

But when they left the compound, they
saw the truth outside the world and their morale plummeted.

The skies were black, the lights have
turned red from radiation, and the streets were filled with
empty-headed humans that stared at phones.

Some vehicles drove by and accidentally
hit one of the idling humans sitting on the car road, but Adam felt
nothing in his heart.

A chill sense of ideology that the
idling humans are already dead was forged into his head.

Adam and the "kids" rode on
the bus that floats with magnetic levitation, heading towards the
outskirts of the metropolitan city, away from the city's radiation,
and getting closer to the green and clean nature.

They are given all kinds of tools and
instructions to restart humanity, and they worked hard to build a new
beginning, believing that they are the humans' last hope.

Every few months, the scientists will
meet up with the strong humans and interact with them without the
sheet of safety glass in between.

However, the scientists stop visiting
them, and their progression of civilization stops.

They did not own a floating bus, so
they built and rode on bicycles instead.

The long and arduous journey did not
tire their muscular bodies at all, in fact, their faces are still
beaming with excitement.

They entered the laboratory but found
that the scientists have passed away, red with radiation.

The "kids" were distraught
and perplexed, there are nobody to guide them forwards now.

The girl named Gem was flipping the
documents hastily and announced to everyone.

Gem: (Sorrowful) "These documents
have the dna of the scientists and us and it showed that they are in
fact, our parents."

Adam: (Astonished) "What!"

As the city towers collapses under its
own weight, the city radiation starts spreading further.

The boy named Cage took thumb drives
containing information about the world, hoping it would increase
their technological knowledge.

Adam retrieved his computer and gifted
it to Cage.

Cage was confused but realized that
Adam was not coming along with them.

99.9% of humans moved to cities for the
convenience of technology and automated machines.

But most of them had devolved as a
result, their bodies inexplicably lost the motivation to produce
offspring.

The lack of new generations and the
spread of radiation currents led to the impending extinction of
humanity.

The group of kids traveled like nomads,
honing their robust bodies and sharpening their instincts along the
way.

Eventually, they met up with the other
nomads from other countries and they learned to communicate with a
globalized language; the sign language.

They exchanged tools and knowledge and
charted towards the Far Point.

However, they found out that the Far
Point is in the middle of the frozen sea, so their journey got
halted, and now they race against time to find a reactive substance
to neutralize the dangers of radiation currents.

As the author's thoughts returned to
the present, he realized that his long-awaited pizza had yet to
arrive.

The doorbell remained ominously silent,
but he already knew that nobody is coming anymore.

His flesh is as skinny as a rat, but he
walked spiritfully everywhere in the laboratory, reminiscing of his
parents, regretting how he wasted his life on computer games.

He has successfully isolated himself
physically, mentally and emotionally.

In the realm of frigid air, the vast
terrain trembles, and the howl of the wind echoes through the
desolate landscape.

Enigmatic creatures, their forms
obscured by the swirling mist, move with elusive grace, their
presence felt but never fully seen.

Ethereal clouds, wisps of silver and
gray, persist in their graceful drift, casting shifting shadows on
the frozen ground.

Descending into the depths of the
earth, a staggering 10 kilometers--or should we measure it as 56179
bananas--beneath the verdant grass, an imposing monolith emerges,
defying comprehension.

Wrapped in a labyrinth of coiled
cables, pulsating with otherworldly energy, the colossal rock stands
as a testament to enigma, an ancient artifact of unknown origin.

Before it, two rows of cerulean
capsules stand sentinel, their sleek surfaces reflecting the pale
light, each cradling adult human curled in fetal positions.

Though their bodies appear alive,
darkness and desolation shroud the surroundings, a haunting reminder
of a world left behind.

Indulging in a slice of pepperoni
pizza, a woman with tousled hair savors the symphony of explosive
flavors that dance upon her palate.

The tangy tomato sauce, the zing of the
pepperoni, and the perfect blend of herbs and spices create a
harmonious melody of taste.

The fiery spices ignite the senses,
searing the lungs, while the golden cheese cascades and melds,
crafting a molten masterpiece that journeys from mouth to stomach,
satisfying both hunger and soul.

But in an unexpected twist of fate, an
otherworldly delivery of ice cream plunges Minari into a sudden and
disorienting unconsciousness.

The fabric sensation of her clothes on
the sofa makes it feels like a bed.

Upon awakening, the weight of a year
descends upon her consciousness, pressing heavily on her mind.

Perplexity ensues, for indeed, a year
has truly passed, a span of time lost in the depths of her slumber.

No familiar faces wake her up, no
family, pets, or alarms disrupt her solitary hibernation.

The absence of socialization leaves her
uninspired and tired despite having just woken up.

Then, a new connection charged up her
physical body and metabolic energy, and her mind races with an
adrenaline-fueled surge.

Childhood memories unfurl, starting
anew and expanding with heightened detail as if the sands of time
have shifted and revealed hidden treasures.

Her mind becomes a vast archive, a
repository of experiences and emotions, it was like someone had
equipped her with an upgraded graphics card--or perhaps a CPU--that
allows for the vivid replay of the tapestry of youth.

Wandering through bustling streets,
Minari witnesses the rising prices but did not feel its impact.

When hibernation possesses the power to
reduce material needs, monetary concerns fade into insignificance.

Yet, an ache permeates her solitary
heart, a whisper of desolation, as she finds herself detached from
society, contributing nothing but consumption, trapped in an
existence devoid of purpose.

In essence, Minari is jobless, or
should I say, does not want to work.

Her world was turned upside down by her
choice, and still, the elixir of motivation eludes her grasp.

She yearns for a sense of belonging,
for a purpose that transcends the mere act of survival.

Her mind embark on a quest to
understand the meaning of life, while her steps carried her through
the labyrinth of neon signs and towering screens that adorn bustling
shopping centers.

Yet, with every passing moment, the sky
gets greyer while her question is left unanswered, she was left with
but one choice, to return home.

Nightfall ushers in the familiar
routine, the memorized set of numbers, 6848 8034, ringing in her
ears. "May I have your pizza order?"

Her anticipation grows as she awaits
the arrival.

But her anxiety makes her go to the
fridge like a zombie, she savor the branded chocolates and sweets she
just bought.

While nibbling, she was reminded of the
cold reminders of her school days.

Even though she was an innocent and
youthful schoolgirl, nobody did hang out with her.

Instead, the other students were
treating her as a courier of love.

Many entrusted Minari with tokens of
affection, candies, and chocolates meant for their clandestine
paramours, eventually, her jealousy seeps in and she started to enjoy
the sweet forbidden delicacies, all by herself, the taste of revenge
being sweeter than the commodity itself.

Within the confines of a chilly room,
dim lights casting feeble illumination, a computer boot up.

A blue hologram materializes into a
computer mouse.

Sinewy tentacles grab the mouse and
stop the test. "Test termination denied." "Error 500."
"Please initiate manual shutdown."

The towering entity, resembling an
octopus in form, releases a sigh of resignation, a bitter lament for
the fate that lies ahead.

As the entity contemplates the choice
to manually shut down and potentially lose all his work and progress,
a glimmer of determination shines in his cephalopod eyes.

He realizes that sometimes, to find
meaning in life, one must be willing to risk everything and embrace
the unknown.

She wore plain white clothes as she
playfully threw ice cream sticks onto castles made of erasers.

Each eraser had a different country's
flag as its theme.

With determination in her eyes, she
threw the first stick, but it barely made a dent in the fortified
castle.

Undeterred, she gathered her strength
and hurled another stick with even greater force.

This time, the castle walls crumbled,
creating a shower of gigantic erasers.

Though she emerged victorious, a sense
of dissatisfaction engulfed her.

She yearned to not only demolish the
castle but also the towering structure standing beside it.

The tower, designed with erasers facing
downward in stacked layers, had unintentionally transformed into an
indestructible formation, shattering the game's balance.

The towering structure presented an
irresistible challenge, tempting her to concoct a meticulous plan,
especially since she had a meager three ice cream sticks to bring
down both the fortress and the tower.

The task seemed impossible, but she
triumphed.

The castle fell first, triggering a
domino effect that destabilized the walls, ultimately causing the
tall tower to lose its equilibrium.

With a final stick, she tipped the
balance, and the tower descended like a falling apple from a tree.

The elation of her victory soured when
her father arrived home and discovered the chaotic room.

"What are you doing? There's a
mess everywhere,"

he admonished her, urging her not to
burden her mother with constant cleanup.

Her father, convinced she was a spoiled
child, was taken aback when she burst into tears.

He tried to assure her that he wasn't
scolding her, knowing that if her mother found out, he would be the
one in trouble.

As the sun began its descent, an
ordinary person walked into the bustling barber shop, a familiar
routine.

The hair cutter, a seasoned old man
with decades of experience, greeted the customer warmly. Taking a
seat, the customer whispered, "Cut it short."

With skilled hands, the old man set to
work, using his scissors to cut large triangles at the front of the
customer's hair.

The shaver glided along the edges,
emitting the nostalgic hum of an old machine, occasionally causing a
slight startle.

The experience was a moment of
rejuvenation, surpassing the comfort of a simple massage.

The customer's hair seemed to grow
unusually fast, necessitating frequent visits to the barber.

He willingly invested in twice-monthly
haircuts from monthly haircuts, considering them a worthwhile
purchase for comfort.

The hair cutter switched to bigger
scissors, deftly trimming the top of the customer's head.

Despite the significant hair reduction,
the customer did not appear bald or unattractive; the layered haircut
created an illusion of fullness.

It was this attention to detail that
kept him loyal to this particular barbershop.

Yet, a nagging thought lingered in the
customer's mind.

How long would this old hair cutter
live?

Who would skillfully tend to his hair
when he passed away?

The hair cutter reached for a mirror
and showed the customer the back of his head, expertly trimmed with
care.

With precision, he performed a final
shave, reducing volume but maintaining the same stylish hairstyle.

Then, with meticulous precision, he
used a sharp razor to clean up the sideburns and the back of the
head, eliminating even the tiniest stray hairs that scissors and
shavers couldn't capture.

The session concluded swiftly, and the
customer gratefully paid the hair cutter in full.

Regaining her composure, the tearful
girl picked up her remote control and aimed it at her father.

As she pressed a button, an
extraordinary event unfolded.

Her father began to move backward, and
the hands of the clock reversed their direction.

A familiar ding-dong bell resonated,
signaling the return of her parents.

Curiosity piqued, her father glanced
into her toy room, only to discover it meticulously clean and tidy,
to an almost unsettling extent.

He asked if Blame, his child, was
feeling unwell.

Blame shook her head, and her father
kindly lifted her, his touch as gentle as a feather.

"Did you stop playing with the
castle and erasers because you were afraid of me scolding you?"
he inquired, his tone softening.

"I don't think it's good to waste
your entire day doing nothing."

He smiled warmly.

"Come on, we're going to a roller
coaster theme park."

Overwhelmed with joy, Blame playfully
kicked her legs, prompting her father to gently place her back on the
floor.

Blame's face beamed with affection.

"I love you, Dad," she
exclaimed, wrapping her tiny arms around him in a tight embrace.

True happiness transcends material
wealth;

it thrives in the simplest of joys.

"Amitabha Amitabha

Amitabha Amitabha

Amitabha Amitabha

Amitabha Amitabha"

In the tranquil ambiance of the Asian
temple, a desperate man finds solace in the presence of the towering
Guan Xi statue.

Her bronze skin wearing flowing robes,
standing patiently to listen to her devotees.

The scent of incense fouls the air,
awakening the spirit of the man.

Above, the temple's lofty ceiling is as
vast as the sky, while the bamboo walls blocked the natural sunlight,
creating a soothing dimly lit shrine.

Lingering in this wooden temple are
bronze statues and revered beings, their skin showing off a glow
rarely seen elsewhere.

Flashback in 5 years, a disheveled
father, his face marked by worry, chants a plea,

"I seek remedies to free the world
from illnesses."

Mother Red: "Who is sick now? Who
is sick now?"

The son peered at his father with a
guilty conscience.

His father was searching desperately
for oriental herbs and wildlife essences in the kitchen cupboard.

Father: (annoyed) "Where are my
medicines?"

Mother Red: "Maybe you used them
already?"

The son continues eating a plain bowl
of rice.

Father: (concerned) "Son, why are
you only eating plain rice? Are you sick?"

Son: (courageous) "Pa, I realized
it is my mistake, I should have insisted your medicines were not
effective on me when I was young."

Father: (self-confident) "Foolish
son, you became healthier when you ate my medicines."

Lost in his thoughts, the father paces
around the house, still finding his medicines.

Son: (courageous) "I lied to you
that I became better, pa. Otherwise, you would just continue to feed
me ineffective medicines."

Father: (obnoxious) "Oh, I worry
that you might have some memory issues, but fear not, I have just the
right medicine for that."

The father walked on all fours and
starts searching for herbs underneath the sofa, underneath the bed,
and underneath the dining table.

Mother Red: "Are you not hungry?
You could always search for your medicines after you have eaten."

Flashback in 10 years, a deadly illness
has emerged and persisted for a couple of years, forcing many people
to face the ramifications of it.

The ill lie on hospital beds, but they
claim not for a cure, rather they would prefer visitations from
friends and relatives to warm up this cold, bleak world.

In this ant-like world, one has to keep
on working until he dies.

Socializing and making new friends
becomes a thing of the past.

Footsteps never entering the public
park, library, or zoo.

But during tumultuous events, one can
apply for a job absence to let the government directly cover up for
the company's loss.

Relatives gather around the ill uncle
and aunt, offering them support like money, fruits, and positive
messages.

The day grew and became night, the
light fades as their pulses stopped.

The doctor can resuscitate the
patients, however, they would remain in a coma state.

This would create extravagant medical
bills that would bankrupt ordinary people, the doctor, upon checking
their financial status, had to pretend that there was no way to save
the elderly patients.

The nurse helped the doctor to prepare
the document of death, which surprisingly showed the possibility of
powerful Chinese medicines meddling with the effects of Western
medicines.

This abnormal data have various impacts
and the doctor has to announce it to the relatives.

Doctor: (stern) "Do you know that
it is illegal to give powerful medicines if you are not a doctor?
Because of the abnormal data, it is now difficult to claim monetary
benefits from their life insurance."

This news was a huge setback for
everyone, the payback from the insurance could have relieved half the
burden of the hospital bills that almost everyone pitched in, and it
is now gone.

Everyone avoids looking at the father,
the father was the one who kept advising his relatives on what
medicines are good for what illnesses.

They took his advice seriously even
though everyone knew he is just a medicine delivery man without any
medical credentials.

Many people blamed him mentally but
could not voiced it out because it was his sole passion, medicine has
always been the only topic of discussion whenever he chit-chat.

Flashback in 15 years, the father is
pacing anxiously, his breath heavy.

His young son was struck by an illness,
his father immediately hurried home to take care of him.

Father: (nervous) "This is not
good, I will brew a solution for you."

Son: (frowns) "It is bitter. I
don't want it."

Undeterred, he tries again the next
day, this time blending herbs with noodles, hoping to change his
son's mind.

Father: (encouraging) "Try this
tasty noodles."

The son adamantly refuses upon tasting
the hidden herb.

Thus, the father feeds his son medicine
directly again.

The next day, the father continued to
force-feed his son more medicines.

Son: (stressful) "I do not feel
better after your medicines."

The father was unwilling to give up and
got enlightened.

He prepared a different type of
medicine on the next day. The son drank it once again.

Son: (lethargic) "I feel better,
dad."

But the son lay on his bed until his
school holidays ends.

He couldn't hear his teachers talk.

He couldn't see the whiteboard
writings.

His brain has shut down temporarily
until his immune system self-repairs on its own in a couple of
months.

"Amitabha Amitabha

Amitabha Amitabha

Amitabha Amitabha

Amitabha Amitabha"

The angry man sitting in front of the
statue has become a gold statue himself.

The stressed man now has a face of
calmness and serenity.

The sorrowful man now has let go of his
pleading hands and is just putting both of his hands clasped together
solemnly.

The tall statue of Guan Xi still did
not move.

Guan Xi is still looking at her devotee
patiently.

Guan Xi is still waiting for more
devotees.

His request did not make him rich or
obtain godly powers.

His gold skin has become a symbol of a
regret of a lifetime.

Just like many other gold statues
sitting in the room along with him.

The curious man walks into the tall
office, he was looking for a part time job.

Another man quickly let him inside the
recruitment office.

The recruiter fires questions at him
rapidly and he was quite impressed at the answers.

But the intervieweeeee firmly expressed
his desire for a part time job.

The conversation ended with,

"We are only looking full timers,
this job is so important that we cannot just change to another part
timer."

The intervieweeeee left the office with
hope, because he still have other job offers.

But this event really changed his mind,
maybe, he should just go all out and have fun, then he would be ready
to accept a full time job.

So, the next day, before the ravens
wake up, he was buying a lottery ticket.

The ticket queue is always so long when
the sun breaks the clouds.

Then, he treated all of his friends to
an arcade gaming session.

"Ping! Ping!" They played the
space ping pongs.

"Bom, Bom"

They played the soccer kick, all the
friends celebrated Pear for getting the top score of the day.

Pear did not felt sastified, he invited
his friends to a beach resort next week, they could go to the beach
and swim all day long.

His friends declined, as much as they
loved an outing, they could not resort to emptying their best
friend's wallet.

Pear did not understood their decline,
but anyway, he travelled to many european countries instead.

He looked at castles and scenic rivers.

He rode gallant horses, he wores
medieval armours and took selfies at popular places that have been on
medieval war movies.

Then, a mysterious call made him took
an early flight back to his home country.

All of his prepaid travelling packages
are forfeited and he have to pay additional flight fares to change to
an earlier flight date.

Now, what could be so important to
Pear?

On the crowded booth, there are many
circus dancers and lion dancers.

Pear with a mask walked quickly and
redeemed his prize of $2 million dollars.

All the cameras kept flashing at the
disguised Pear.

"Last year, nobody won the grand
prize, so the prize have been forwarded to this year. 1+1= $2 million
dollars."

The emcee made the crowd excited but
Pear was nowhere to be seen.

At the nearby carpark, Pear was wearing
the lion costume, he then thew away into the bin.

He bought the lion costume from the
lion dancers for 1 gold bar.

Ah, yes.

His $2 million dollars was in the form
of gold bars, he bagged them in the convenience store, using those
big black plastic bags that are sold for $1.

Phew, the bag weights 39 KG and he
traded away 1 KG.

He is walking discreetly like a conman,
he kept looking at the suspicious passerbys.

Even the security guards found him to
be behaving so awkwardly.

Due to security reasons, all big bags
will be checked before allowed to enter the public transport.

Pear have no choice but to take a taxi.

It was afternoon time at 3pm but there
was no sight of taxi.

He kept walking down the main road,
getting closer to his house, 100 meters by 100 meters.

His hands is unfortunately getting
bruised and his feets is burning hot.

He is drinking his sweat but he had no
choice but to continue on his endeavour.

"Take a photo of me,"

Jisoo asked her boyfriend.

Parker knelt on the floor and quickly
take a good shot, folded dress and delightful smile filled the
screen.

They went into a coffee bar to take a
short break.

The aroma of the cappucino whets one's
appetite.

Coupled with a strawberry brioche,
their lunch is sastified.

Then, Jisoo requested for another
photo.

Parker bend his body forward for a
close-up shot, he didn't want to take a photo of the lunch plate with
messy bread crumps.

Other couples looked at them, the girl
was jealous and hit her boyfriend in a jokingly manner, insinulating
why can't he be romantic like that.

But for Parker, he have been taking
photos of Jisoo everytime they go on a date.

He was more like a personal cameraman,

these type of relationship are commonly
known as selfie "boyfriend".

Even Parker's friend warned him,

"Does she like you or does she
loves herself?"

Ditching the negative thought, they
went to a movie theater.

And once again, there was a sculpture
of a famous movie star, Jack, Parker was already standing in place
for the camera shot.

No doubt, Jisoo stood elegantly and
posed with her head looking upwards instead of the famous movie star,
it was a for fun camera shot.

2 hours of movie, Jisoo did not speak a
single word to Parker.

Parker felt unstable, but he knew he
cannot expose his insecurity and make Jisoo uncomfortable.

Then, they went to an amusement park.

Oh, it was more beautiful at night, the
colorful lanterns make the whole park looks like a disco and a kids'
playground integrated together.

Definitely, Parker will have to take a
lot more photo shots tonight and indeed he did.

They went to the roller coaster ride
and screamed their lungs out.

They went to the haunted room and got
bored of the cartoony ghosts.

They went to the toilet and waited for
each other,

they are probably tired at this point
since it was really late at night.

They decided to take a last ride, the
ferris wheel ride.

The ferris wheel ride was just beside
the koi pond capturing tent.

Many kids were trying to capture the
big kois with their tiny nets,

it was obviously a money scam booth.

But, who is to be blamed, when the kids
were having so much fun disturbing the colorful kois.

As they finally reached their queue
turn, they aboard the slow and gentle ferris wheel.

It was the biggest ferris wheel in the
country.

Parker tried to talk about school days
and the meals in the amusement park but Jisoo gave a nonchalant reply
to most of them.

Then Parker tried to bring back the
happy mood with his KonKon 2000 limited edition camera gifted by
Jisoo.

And, indeed Jisoo smiled happily while
posing with the beautiful night scene outside of the windows.

One could see the entire forest, the
high rising office buildings, the scary dark sea and the whole of the
amusement park.

When, at the the peak of the ferris
wheel,

the machine malfunctioned, it literally
grinded to a stop.

They looked at each other, surprised at
what to do,

but their simplistic discussion was
never going to solve anything.

It actually felt more like Jisoo was
complaining, Parker sighed.

But emotions cannot fill the bottle.
Jisoo finally started a chat,

"Why do you always come on a date
with me?"

It was like a question to fill the
boredom but it is hidden with a lethal intention.

Parker raised his camera again and took
photo of his girlfriend,

"So, I could be your cameraman."

The anxious girl asked again,

"What do you like about me?"

Parker finally was appeased,

"I like that you are being just
yourself and not pretending to be someone else."

The shyly girl finally gathered her
courage and leaned in for a kiss.

When the lips pressed together, the
ferris wheel suddenly moves again.

They were bouncing at the momentum and
laughed at the situation.

The girl finally explained,

"I do not know why, but this only
happens with you. For some reason, I always get shy when I am with
you, so I literally do not know what to do except for asking for more
camera shots."

Parker hugged Jisoo and calmed her
down.

But Parker could not find the words for
for he is bewitched by her beautiful floral dress, dazzling eyes and
slim arms.

Pear was dragging his gold bars hidden
inconspicuously in a black bag along the dirty floor.

His shoulders slouched against the
heavy weight and his motivations bends underneath his pride.

He grips his teeth and irons through
his will, he forces himself to walk another 100 meters.

He could have called upon his family to
fetch him back home, but if his family ever found his fortune, he
would have to share.

If he does not share, his relationship
with his family would sour to the point of staying away from each
other, living at two different houses.

His ambition to carry through this
hardship is powerful enough to make him walk further and further.

He realized that there were no taxis
because the government recently allowed private taxis,

therefore, many company based taxi
drivers hopped onto the private taxi drivers trend in order to avoid
the company tax and fees,

earning them an extra 15% more salary
per month.

But for Pear, carrying 38 KG of gold
bars into a private taxi is as risky as it sounds,

if he got kidnapped or robbed, nobody
would ever know,

there are no company security cameras
and no GPS records for the police to track any criminal activities.

So, Pear stopped and rest.

He swings his bag of gold backwards and
fowards to throw it.

Pear walks towards the bag, and then
stops for a break.

He then swings his bag of gold
backwards and forwards to throw it again.

Amused bypassers then tried to help out
Pear, they offered to carry the bag on a bicycle.

Pear was left confused when the
bypasser directly helped without asking,

so after some distance, he quickly said
he is going in another direction and took his gold bag back

but he was surprised at the good
samaritan, he smiled and thanked him.

After some time, more bypassers then
tried to carried the bag together with Pear,

Pear then quickly declined and showed
his confidence in carrying the oversized bag.

Perhaps, he should stop throwing the
bag, it attracts attention and the bottom of the bag is starting to
break,

leaving a hole big enough for the gold
bar to slip through or be seen by others.

The night descends but the victor
smiles, he was only 100 meters away from his home.

He knows his shoulders and his legs
have been tortured,

but his sweet prize pot of a whooping
$2 million dollars was pushing him forwards.

His family just arrived back at the
house at the same time.

they tried to help Pear but Pear
declined as though it was something precious.

"These are my friends' wine, I
take it myself."

Pear explained with a shrewd face.

The next 10 years,

Pear enjoyed overseas travelling,
properties purchasing and reselling,

he was like playing monopoly in real
life.

Pear went to a high end restaurant, the
restaurant happens to be celebrating an event, and Pear got to dine
for free.

Pear went to university, his school
fees are apparently paid already,

someone donated to the school and the
school transferred the money to the current students to pay for their
school fees instead.

Pear gave money to his friends to open
up buisnesses,

and they all succeeded and became
bosses of their life,

they started to repay all the money
given to them with an additional 10% interest and 10% inflation extra
fee.

Pear started to invest in random shares
and stocks, but this time round, he incurred huge losses.

It was a sad day for Pear, it felt like
he had achieved almost everything in life but yet, he did not worked
for a single day.

He went back to his old full time job
interview and funnily, the job is still looking for a conscient
worker.

It was the same recruiter, the same
questions and he got the job.

But it was weird because he does not
know what he would be doing on his full time job.

The recruiter said,

"You will become a deity of luck,
you will help all those who worked hard but was not paid fairly,

you will help people that have nobody
to ask for help,

you will help people to protect their
own money for their own expenses and luxuries."

The little kid rumbles down the
staircase, heads into the kitchen, with a terrifying fright, he heard
human voices.

The voices stops and the footsteps
moves away from the little kid.

The little kid hurried into the toilet
and locked it.

In about 3 hours, the little kid puts
his ear onto the wooden door, he heard no more sound.

He is ready to open it, but then, bam!
bam!

Someone knocked on the door, who could
it be?

"Gem, it is mommy."

Gem unlocked the door and told his
mother what had happened but his mother seems to misinterpret it as a
ghost encounter.

Gem became a very quiet kid in school,
at home and during family outings.

Jenny discussed about the kid's quiet
behaviour in school with her husband, danny.

Her husband was complacent and said,

"Dear, I was like that when I was
a school boy back then."

Jenny tried to capture her husband's
concern,

"Today is the graduation day,
there was a carnival but Gem was just standing at the canteen,

he only watches the other kids playing
around at the carnival."

Danny retorted,

"I did not even have a carnival
back in my days..."

Jenny said,

"That is not the point, alright,
nevermind."

Danny turned off the lights, he went to
Gem's room so his wife would not have to over worry about it.

Danny asked,"What story do you
want me to read today?"

Gem said no politely.

Danny insist,

"The three little piggies? The
tortoise and the hare?"

Gem explained,

"I read every single one of the
books on the shelf, dad."

Danny curls his son's hair and stayed
until the candle weathers away.

In the morning, the chirping birds were
singing at the huge backyard.

The backyard was filled with a water
fountain, tea bonsais, flower bushes and coconut trees.

The aroma of the fried eggs zoom
through the air, Jenny was both the mom and the maid of the house.

Grandpa and grandma walked slowly down
the staircase and reached for their morning deluxe.

Jenny walked up the stairs but could
not find her husband, but at the windows, she saw Danny digging the
soil with a hoe.

Jenny knocked on her son's room, then
entered but she found no one.

She wrapped up the blanket and tidied
the room.

The computer was still on and Jenny's
curiousity caught onto her.

Click, click, click and click.

She found nothing, then Gem entered the
room.

"Breakfast is ready." said
Jenny.

"I have eaten with grandparents,
they are now watching television."

said Gem.

The grandmother have painful knees,
even just walking down the stairs pains her terribly,

she is definitely not walking up until
night falls.

The grandfather walked out to the
backyard and see what Danny is doing.

Danny was roughing out the soil so the
plants' roots can grow better but grandfather could never understand
such tedious methods.

Grandmother sitting on her big
comfortable chair peered out through the big windowed door.

She was more interested in what they
were doing rather than what was showing on the television.

She grumbles and walks up to the center
of the mansion, there was a statue of a deity, she burns some joss
sticks and offers her prayers to her grandparents, and then, the
deity of luck.

The whole family appeared soon enough,
everyone take turns to keep their eyes closed and bow at their
ancestors and the deity.

There is a big clock guarding the
doorway, the bird came out and "koo koo".

The grandmother asked the grandfather,
is he going out today when she already knows the answer.

Grandmother walked him to the door and
waved a big goodbye.

The grandfather said,"I will buy
something nice for you."

Despite the mansion having two
well-polished cars, the grandfather walked on foot instead.

Despite there is a bus stop nearby the
pathway, he walked on foot instead.

Despite there is a shortcut of the car
road side path, he walked through the nature park instead.

He bids good morning to the big eyed
flying creature on the tree.

He bids good morning to the crowd of
monkeys snatching from each other, from what seems to be a soft drink
bottle.

He bids good morning to the early park
visitors.

Then, he reached his destination, right
beside the church, there are many coffeshops and merchant shops lined
up side by side.

It was a crowded day as usual, for the
freshest fishes and meat are sold in the morning.

But, he was not here for the market, he
went to the coffee shop instead.

The son, Gem, groaned,"Why do I
have to pray to the deity?"

His mother said,"Even if you do
not want to pray for yourself, you should help your ancestors to pray
for the deity of luck."

This confuses Gem even more.

His mother then said,"The deity of
luck blessed your ancestors, so they were able to buy this mansion
and the land we are standing on."

Gem wowed,"Even the land belongs
to us? Well, if I am staying in this house, it means I am blessed
too."

The father, Danny, told them to bath,
as they are going for a shopping trip, he was excited to buy home a
gaming console at the pretense of buying for Gem.

But when they drove their car there,
Gem looks uninterested in anything.

The parents sat down and rest, then
suddenly, Gem went to a shop, the parents later came along.

It was newly opened, hamsters riding
wheels and birds boasting their colorful feathers.

The father decided to buy his son a
hamster but he said no.

He likes the tiny puppy even more, its
golden ears flapped down, its round, beady eyes, his short body, it
almost looked like a soft cushion animal toy.

But, it moved and it eyed at Gem whom
stared back at it even more.

Gem begged for his parents to buy it.

His parents was at lost at what to do,
will the dog bite them?

How big will the dog grow?

What if the dog mate with other dogs?

The father, Danny in his tiny office
room inside a very tall office building.

He opens the app, paint and keep
drawing stickmans, coloring the background.

Then he opens the video app and watched
other artists drawing natural landscape and house designs.

He tried to imitate all that on a free
app using an unreliable drawing tool and a computer mouse as brush.

He found a trick and is able to clear
up mushes by scrolling in, then he could see the pixels and remove
any offending drawn pixels, one by one.

Now, he drew a beautiful tree, the tree
have branches growing in diagonals, overlapping each other.

The leaves were shaped in spade with
many tiny lines crossing each other.

Then, he looked at the online reviews
of art tutorial books, drawing magazines and the price of gaming
consoles.

The time flies and it was already time
to return home.

He knocked on the boss's office,"I
am going home, I have already completed half the task."

The boss smiled and bids goodbye,"Keep
up the good work."

Danny was always lazing around in the
office but he was no fool, he had already completed all of his tasks,

he have even done tasks that his boss
had not given him yet because he could already predicts what tasks
his boss would give him later on,

because all the tasks are like chapters
within a project, and from the office computer's history, he could
see all the projects done in the past, he would copy and rephrased
it,

he was quite surprised when he found
those project files too.

The mother, Jenny works in the engineer
department.

But she was not just an engineer, she
considered herself an inventor, a designer and an engineer.

This time round, she was tasked to make
a fan for the gundam board room.

The gundam board room is where the
pilot drives the gundam and shoot missiles, but it is undeniably
small and crampy.

That tininess of the room makes the
heat grows rapidly, there was nothing to cool it down, there was no
air vent because the entire room is fully covered, because if the
gundam ever reaches space,

the lack of oxygen would kill the pilot
if there was an air vent.

Jenny complained about the dynamics of
air flow to his colleague, Tam.

Tam agreed in all,"This is mission
impossible."

Jenny then said,"If there is no
air flow for the heat to leave the board room, it will never be able
to cool down efficiently."

Tam, then showed Jenny his board room's
chair prototype, it was so tiny, that no human could ever sit on it
while not falling down.

"Like, who are they designing
these gundams for? Tiny dwarfs? Kids?"

Jenny laughed but later they both
suffer in pain at their impossible task.

Grandmother wanted to take a stroll but
she was tired, she kept thinking about where did grandfather went to.

Grandmother turned on the television
but she was not interested in the drama, it is the same old drama
that have been replaying for ages, families quarrelling each other,

solving the problems and loving each
other again. Different actors, same story, different background, same
ending.

Her legs keep shriveling, her arms
becomes droopy, she wishes to eat the breadcrumbs from the kitchen
but is too lazy to walk there.

Anyway, grandfather will bring home
some better treats anyway.

She remembered back when she was young,
she would go outing with grandfather every weekend, like today.

They watched so many movies that she
lost count of how many movies they have watched.

They have travelled to many countries,
walked for long distances, they visited snake temples, golden
buildings, river village and a skiing resort.

But, now she is confined to this chair,
it feels very painful to move. In order to fix the muscles, the
doctor said she needs to exercise.

It was no solution but endless pain for
grandmother, then she fell asleep on her big and comfortable chair.

The grandfather bought his coconut rice
and chicken wings, bamboo rolls and fish soup for $22, he gave $50
and received $28 change for it.

He sat down and took a break but
something caught his attention, someone else paid $50 but received a
$65 change, he told the customer,"You have earned it."

The customer was in denial, he
said,"This is not $50."

The grandfather looked at the $50, it
featured a squid face and was mostly blue in colour.

The customer explained,"This is
$100, if you fold the dollar note and it have two perfect squid face,
it will double in value."

No way! The grandfather was so
surprised at this big news, he immediately tried the method by buying
more food and it worked, the coffeeshop seller gave him much more
change for his folded $50.

The customer then explained,"The
more you fold, the more value it will have."

The customer then do a trick and showed
it to the grandpa step by step,"Now this is worth $2500."

The grandfather almost fainted in a
dramatic way, he tried to do it so despite the customer discouraging
him to do so.

The customer then lamented,"See,
there is a small tear here, the squid's face here is bigger than the
squid's face there."

The grandfather then asked a curious
question,"Then how much is it worth now?"

The customer expressed sadly,"It
is now worth $0, it is now just garbage, but I was the one that
entices you to do this trick so I can buy it from you as it is my
fault."

The grandfather then traded his $50
folded like a durian with a brand new $50 from the customer's wallet.

Then the customer went to a nearby
vendor, the man with a mysterious hat that was helping to exchange
money from different countries.

The customer gave the $50 that was
folded heavily and unfolds it, the man with the mysterious hat traded
$5000 for it.

The grandfather angrily approached
him,"Hey! You cheated me out of my money."

The customer then tried to prove that
he is not the scammer and asked the money exchanger how much is the
folded $50 worth?

The money exchanger said,"Exactly
$0."

The grandfather argued,"Then, why
did you gave him $5000?"

Then, the money exchanger
explained,"Because he unfolded the dollar note and it showed a
serial number 777 7777."

The grandfather realized his mistake
and then apologized for his rashful behaviour.

It seemed like the money exchange rate
have a lot more things he did not knew of.

The son, Gem played with the puppy
until it became a large sized dog.

He have to remove the dog's waste,
bathe it everyday, bring it out for walk, mop away the furs dropping
on the mansion's floor.

Coupled with his high school homework,
he was crushed like underneath a rock.

He tried to shove his pet to his
mother, but his mother was busy at work, same for his father.

He tried to shove his pet to his
grandmother, but she was always just sitting in the same old chair
and not moving.

He tried to shove his pet to his
grandfather, but he was always going out to nowhere.

His near coming exam is driving him to
an edge.

If he fails this, he will not be able
to enter the college that everyone is going to, he will be sent to a
private school instead,

that will not look good on you when you
go for a job interview, and this might means the end of his career.

Right now, he have to make a choice, or
rather, he have already made it, he just needs to wait for the right
time to do it.

Late at night, he thought he heard some
voices, but it was nobody, he opened the gates and let out the dog,
he ran along the neighbourhood, so did the dog followed.

It was weird to see a teenager and a
dog running late at night with only the street lamps glowing.

But the dog lost his owner, or rather,
he was abandoned.

Gem took a bus back home, alone.

Soon, the exams came, he didn't scored
well as he was still distracted by his abandoned dog, but the free
time he gained helped him a lot, he managed to get into college with
a decent score.

The father, Danny woke up in the
morning and kept searching for the dog.

Because he had to work monday to
friday, he tried to ask his family to help search for the missing
dog.

Gem found the dog, he looked around and
saw that his family was not nearby.

He pretended he did not knew the dog
and slid through the lift and escaped away.

The dog also noticed Gem, but it did
not recognized its owner anymore.

When the dog was a puppy, his owner
looked at it with loving eyes, this person was not the same person he
met long ago.

The dog understood and ran faraway, to
the grass plains, to underneath the benches of the park, to the
bushes beside the playground.

Its stomach was growling, the night was
falling and it does not know what future is holding for it.

Danny tried to celebrate Gem's exam
passes and reduce the sadness of the missing dog by buying a gaming
console for him, okay, alright, it was more like, for himself.

The game art was fanciful and gripped
everyone's attention, the whole family kept playing it but within a
week, they got bored of it.

Danny realized he loved the game art
and not the gameplay itself.

As the rain pour and pour endlessly,
the forgotten dog walks up to a small roof, the rain stopped within
the circular roof and he smelled a familiar scent.

The dog's eyes looked up and widen, it
pulls out its tongue and started panting and wagging its tail.

The mother, Jenny was holding an
umbrella for the wild dog.

She took the dog to an abandoned pets
facility named pets' paradise and abandoned it there.

The dog was left confused, why again?

The dog played with the other dogs,
chinchillas and birds of paradise but when it thought about its
original owner, Gem that played with him from young till adult,

it was a memory that could never be
erased from its mind.

So sometimes, it sits on the long
cushion and looked out the metal grills, waiting for someone to come
for it.

And, someone did came, the mother,
Jenny always came, donated some money and played with it along with
the other dogs.

Jenny shuffled the dog's head and the
dog smiled.

The grandmother was excited at the new
gaming console but she was so bad at technology.

Today, the grandfather took a break and
kept chatting with the grandmother.

He realized the grandmother do not know
how to start up the gaming console and asked the father, Danny for
help.

Danny, easily flipped on the switches
and showed them an example on how to click the settings.

It turned out that the sedentary
grandma started jumping up and down, and then bend her upper body to
the left and right.

On the tv screen, there is a rowing
boat cruising down the river with many obstacles.

The gaming console was capturing the
grandma's position and interacting with the gameplay itself.

The grandfather was amused at the sight
and joined in the game.

They now shared many more moments in
life together.

The grandmother's muscles started to
become healthier and her vitality slowly returned, redness started to
return to her face.

Seeing that grandmother is now active
again, grandfather asked mother to plan for a family outing again.

They went to a bird park, the path
slope was steep like a mountain and there were many animal
enclosures.

The vibrant birds flew through the
shoulders of the visitors.

The sneaky cranes walks past the behind
of visitors.

The little monkeys climb the top vines
where nobody is looking at.

The ostrich stared at Gem and Gem
stared right back at it, it looks so majestic and dinosaur alike.

The family outing ended with a parrot
flight show, where the parrots flew through hula hoops placed at the
corners of the arena.

Mother, Jenny said,"This bird park
is newly opened. Is it fun?"

Gem, looking at the white tiger
enclosure said,"This is much easier than having a pet, there is
no need to feed, bathe, clean and walk it."

Father, Danny said,"True, we can
come here anytime you want to."

Grandmother said,"Well, you could
always donate at the animal shelter and play with the abandoned pets
there."

Grandfather said,"Or, you could be
a zookeeper."

Gem shook his head,"You guys think
too highly of me.", then he realized he told nobody about the
truth of his missing pet.

Mother, Jenny, her colleague, Tam and
many other engineers and staffs stood in rows in front of the
gundams.

A horde of dogs entered through the
grand hall protected by an electronic device that requires the
correct bark.

The dogs marched in line and turned
towards the gundams, each of them have their own gundam and beside
each gundam have an engineer or staff.

A black dog with long legs walked
towards Tam, then Tam pets the intimidating dog.

A chihuahua walked towards to Jenny and
waited.

"Pet the dog."Whispered Tam.

Jenny felt so weird, she had no
connection with this dog but she have to pet it but it actually looks
like it was waiting for it.

Jenny pet the chihuahua's head and it
was smooth and soft.

The MC walked up the royal stage and
made an announcement.

It seems like all the gundam human
pilots are now exchanged to dogs because of suitability and
loyalness.

But it is important for the dog pilot's
caretakers to take care of them too.

Tam nods his head in disagreement,"I
have no idea how to handle pets."

Jenny comforts him,"Dun worry, my
family owns a pet dog before, I can help you."

The MC and an alone dog walks down the
stage and leaving the grand hall.

As the alone dog walks pass Jenny, she
pets the dog's head and the dog growls furiously.

Everyone in the grand hall holds their
breath.

Tam started to pull Jenny back,"That
is general McKrazy, you do not pet general McKrazy."

Jenny realized her stupidity and the MC
warned without using his speaker,"You really should read your
emails, lieutenant Jenny."

Grandfather passed away peacefully, it
was treated as an ordinary death as he was already near 90 years old.

Father, Danny finally took his
childhood hobby seriously and redecorated one of the mansion's room
into a painting room.

Son, Gem found many friends in computer
online games, but they all left sooner or later, but even if he felt
lonely inside,

he is not going to buy another pet
anymore because he knows it is wrong if you are unable to take care
of them.

Grandmother asked mother, Jenny to
visit the animal shelter and handed her donation money discreetly.

Jenny was curious and asked,"Back
then, how did you knew about Gem abandoning the dog."

Grandmother said plainly,"Sometimes,
I fell asleep on this chair, and that night I saw Gem leaving the
house with the dog. But how did you find the dog?"

Jenny responded,"I checked his bus
card records and searched around those places."

Grandmother said,"Shouldn't we
bring back the dog and just pretend we found the dog and take care of
it ourselves?"

Jenny said in a serious tone,"The
dog will be more happy with its other dog friends there."

Grandmother nags,"Even if I "go",
you still must make sure the clock is not spoiled, repair it when
broken.

And everyday, never fail to pray for
our ancestors and the deity of luck, place food and gifts on it,
alright?"

Jenny asked,"Gem had a trauma when
he was kid, was it you who was in the kitchen?"

Grandmother explained,"It was not
me, I was always sitting on the chair, you need to know we are not
the only ones living in this mansion."

And the grandmother hands Jenny a
platinum key.

The
girl with flushed red face wearing a proper school uniform jumped
over the fences, then ran like an athlete.

She
was travelling on the side of the car road, it was dangerous because
you cannot see the cars driving towards you as they appear from
behind your back.

Another
boy was instead calm. He also wore school uniform and a black tie
with diamond designs and rode on a bicycle, he was moving at the same
speed as the schoolgirl even without pedaling hard.

There
were some cats fighting along the street when one of them suddenly
pounced into the air.

A nearby kid got surprised and fell down.




The
kid slammed so hard onto the hard floor that his arms became bruised
but all he does was look around nervously.

The
schoolgirl with a nice heart help the injured kid back on his feet.

Then she brought him back to his parents which was at a nearby house
with opened gates.

The parents wanted to thank the schoolgirl with expensive fruits
but she was long gone.

Today is examination day and she is not going to make it at this rate.

The corner of her sight irritates her more than ever.

A schoolboy was riding a bicycle on the other side of the car road
without breaking a sweat.

If only, she too knows how to ride a bike.

At the car road section layered with traffic lights,
the schoolgirl had a chance to outrun the schoolboy.

The schoolboy was patiently waiting for the traffic light before passing.

Many parents were fetching their kids to school as well, causing a huge jam.

But that was not the whole reason for the traffic,
a bundle of old pots and debris were blocking half of the road.

Even when it was none of her business, she continued to help removing the
wreckage.

Theschool boy went past her like a fly.

She can only sigh.

What frustrates her more was that the school boy did not help her to
remove the debris even though he had more muscles than her.

Her shoe laces got untangled and disrupted her run.

She did a quick fix by pushing the laces into the shoes but it just kept
coming out whenever she lifts her legs high up to run.

The sun have just risen showing that it is 7 am.

She already could not make it on time for her 7 am examinations.

For every examination, there is a 5 minutes preparation and 10 minutes of
pre-reading the questions before the test actually starts.

Even though this means she could still make it on time, this means she
would have lost 15 minutes of time advantage.

For a weak student like her, this is very useful.

The cyclist pedalled so hard, the school girl could no longer see his back.

But when almost at the school gates, she saw an elderly with weak eye
sight getting lost.

The old man was always looking for the food shop but his feeble sight
always trick him to go to the food shop at the school instead.

This is usually not a problem, since he can just eat there but today is
school examination day, the shop will be closed today and the old man
does not know anything about it.

The school girl explained to the old man and showed him the correct path
to walk in the direction towards a mega mart.

The school girl is now very angry at herself for being so late.

Interestingly, she caught with the cyclist because the cyclist still have to park
and lock his bicycle at a safe area.

She shouted at the schoolboy, "Hurry up."

When they entered the examination hall, the teacher stopped the both of them.

The teacher realised it was the school role model, Timmy.

She quickly make up some excuses saying, "You were helping the other
students, were you? You can go in."

But the same teacher stopped the school girl, "Oh no, you are very
late, we cannot just let you into the hall and disrupt the examination process."

"You do recall that we had already told everyone that latecomers will not
be able to enter the hall, right?"

The schoolgirl was angry but helpless.

She tried to explain what had happened along the way but the teacher did
not even looked interested.

The school boy, Timmy brought out his phone and showed videos of the
schoolgirl helping out to the teacher.

The teacher was moved and had to let the school girl take the
examinations as well.

But it was a redundant move because when the exam results came out,
the school girl had failed in all of her exams.

Timmy had gotten straight A like always, he was made the school's role
model again.

The school role model system was an effort to motivate the other students
to study well too.

Real life: Damn, the pizza delivery man came faster this time, I am going
to rush up the story.

While the school girl was dining in the canteen hall with her classmates.

Timmy noticed the school girl and asked if she needed help with her studies.

The other schoolgirls were giggling as though they are eyeballing a
school romance.

The schoolgirl, however, was not smiling. She asked why did Timmy not
help her along the route to examination day.

It feels like he has another agenda to help her with her studies now.

Timmy then explained simply,
"Because that is not what I am good. I am better at studying."

The schoolgirl was not sastified with answer but she needed the help and
started to discuss about the curriculum.

The giggling died down as everything becomes official business only.

At night, I was faced with a chilling
nightmare about chameleons that moved like dinosaurs.

Memories years ago flooded back in
making it feel like it had only just happened yesterday.

When the mothership paused on top of central district.

We could see a wasted land, buildings
are turned into chips, pathways have turned into rivers.

There are no more signs of human activity.

A professional team dropped down from
the sentry helicopters.

The ropes automatically released the
occupants without fear.

And they slid into the burnout city state.
From there, they travelled northwards into the heart of Nirvana.

Nirvana is a natural preservation,
untouched by modern buildings and technology.

As the trees touches the sky, its
shadows protected the animals living underneath.

Deers feeding on luscious plants
growing besides the bush of flowers which had an unique structure.

Optimism about the radiation levels
were why the scientists had planned a trip here.

But further investigations are required
to assess the area's suitability to be inhabited by humans.

When we trekked through the jungles, we
saw many unnatural phenomenon.

Tall stones plated on top of each
other. They looked eerily like a hybrid of a monster and a chameleon.

The most creepy part were that they
were scattered everywhere throughout the lush jungle.

These statues had marble eyes that
followed your every movement.

It is like a well-crafted illusion and
the prove that they are not made by nature.

But the illusion turned into reality.
They started walking inconspicuously with us as we ventured into the
Solace pathway.

The large statue of stones pulsates
with rhythm, jaws were unhinged, revealing scrolls of spiny teeth.

Their once meditative faces turned into
contorted faces of nightmarish quality.

There comes a hesitation when our
patrol guard refused to move forward.

As expected, an animal leapt from the
bush and sink its teeth into the legs of a human agent.

But it was not a natural animal. It is
as large as a human but with a chameleon face.

Chaos settled before we could swiftly
dispatched it.

One by one, giant lizards jumped from
nowhere and we end up fighting against them.

Those whom handbrawl ended badly, the
others used guns that fired photon bullets.

These bullets defy gravity and make the
monsters bleed.

We know the guns have a critical
weakness, it needed sunlight to recharge.

Even though it is day time, it will
eventually be night time and we will be left with nothing except our
fists.

We battled our way through the deep
jungle, mud on our faces, blood on our legs.

We cannot tell who is who, we just
stick together.

Countless of lizard kills produced food
aroma that aroused the nearby chameleons to head out for a meal.

Downslope, it is a funny sight to see a
group of inexperienced soldiers shooting against a ton of troops.

Soldiers that fall down are left behind.

Soldiers that tried to help the fallen
soldiers end up getting surrounded as well.

Along with the chaos, a big fat lizard
charged towards me.

It had a grotesquely buldging eye that
gazed upon my movements.

In a threatening move, it opened its
triangular mouth with bone-chilling intensity.

The lizard spits a demonic tongue at my
direction, I evaded it.

To my surprise, that tongue that looked
soft completely destroyed a boulder besides me.

In that moment, a lot of questions came
into my mind, wondering about the true nature of our mission.

It was supposed to be a simple couting
expedition. How could it have snowballed into a fight for our last
breath?

Everything seems so set up, I was a
pawn in a perilous game without knowing it.

I was gripped with fear but I did not
sweat my pants. I somersaulted into a hole.

The hole happened to be a snake tunnel
but as I clawed my way in, I triggered a switch knob by accident.

I was then tossed into a nice airy
cavern that connected sanctuaries of religious writings and tools.

The immediate contrast between the
world above was apparent.

The serenity I felt was like winning a
game machine.

Meanwhile, at above.

A senior soldier flung taser machines
that springs lightning to nearby victims.

Some
soldiers enjoyed the view of the powerful shocks of electricity that
plummeted the lizards like flies.

The flashing sequences stalled the
gruesome battle temporarily.

On the next hour of tactic, the lizards
turned missing.

The human scouts suspects they were
simply camouflaging and they had to keep moving fast.

Whispers of walk were amidst the dense
foliage of the jungle, following the foot tracks of its preys.

Senior Patterson took out a laser
compass and moved the team in unison, and they reached a beautiful
white templed enclosed within massive walls with broken holes.

They hurried to fix the walls without
realizing the beauty of it.

The walls were plain white and had
drawings of the progress of civilizations.

The many vases attached to pillars were
empty as nobody were there to water it.

When the scouts hover their feet into
the dark pit hole, a whirring of noise and their shoes lighted up
with bright blue.

They descended slowly into the hole as
they could not see far with just the light from their shoes.

Unfortunately, they face their fears
again.

Critters hanging onto the crescent wall
leapt adjacent until they could scratch the hanging pinatas.

The humans started firing photon gun
bullets in all directions, turning the heat up.

The scouts could not fire anymore as
they are too far away from the sunlight.

They let go of the ropes and jumped
straight down. Luckily, the bottom was a pool. Or perhaps, someone
made a clever guess and did the first jump.

Tossing the guns, they made a final
march in the underground labyrinth.

The chameleons were not willing to give
up and kept chasing.

The clumsy humans started to collide
into each other in the darkful area while the chameleons had night
vision.

Exhaustion took placed, the humans
slowed down to a wall.

Pink tongues started wrapping around
the slower soldiers and dragged them like dumbbells back into the
lizards' embrace.

As they gorged on their food, the floor
is made wet with saliva.

The remaining half of the troops took
the opportunity to make their escape in a different direction.

Underneath the depths of the ancient
temple, I kept walking till I saw the familiar faces of my comrades.

Better to be in a group than to be
alone.

The chambers led to a puzzle waiting to
be solved.

Each door were made of a different
coloured material.

However, we could not open it. Senior
Patterson took my gun away from me and fired directly at the door
knobs.

It opened but I felt uncomfortable
having my item snatched away without asking.

I voluntarily chose the white door to
explore while the others volunteered for the other coloured doors.

But how is it called volunteer?When
each one of us must choose a door.

The white room was a mystery to me. It
had signs of human activities like food bags, crude weapons, old maps
and beds.

"Knock knock"

But it was not the door.

I twisted my neck and saw someone
hiding up in the ventilation hole.

She gestured me to hide in there too.

Of course, I did.

I did not liked my team.

I do not feel safe without my gun.

I am forced to volunteer whatever that
actually means.

I scurried up and crawled into the
concealed chamber. Then I sealed the ventilation hole with bricks.

When I lied down on the cold, hard
floor. I realized just how tired I am.

I tried not to fall asleep but to no
avail.

My last vision was the slender woman
squatting like a man at the opposite corner.

My hands limbered on the floor and my
body relax despite the scratchy stone floor.

When the night is inked with a thousand
paint, the chameleon army launched a final strike.

Their primal instincts fighting within
their hearts, but they could not outbeat their hunger and the
temptation of a wildly combat.

I am enclosed within four walls.

"Help me, help me." was all I
could hear.

The sound gets fader and fader. I could
not see anything but I pretty much understood what had happened.

The lizards climbing all over the
temple structure and ravaging the site.

It was as if they are proclaiming their
dominance over this forsaken world.

The creepy silence was ironically loud
as I could hear my heartbeat bang.

Because I know I would be next.

As the air blew through the chambers, a
candle of light comes back to life.

The darkness got pushed back and the
fire becomes ever stronger.

Human voices everywhere.

Did they finally won the battle?

It might be a trick or my mind playing
tricks on me, because the soldiers did not even have anymore
firearms.

Photon guns without sunlight are just
toys.

I felt like a dimwit, I was most likely
a foolish pawn in a battleground.

But even then, I still felt bad for my
teammates that I left behind.

The sound of wind cuts brought in a
hundred more recruits.

The sentry helicopters dropped ropes
right at the temple, and the fighters charged in like a warzone.

But their enthusiasm was met with
pauses when they saw bloodstains and damage everywhere.

The senior, Voyal kept his cool and
marched the troops like in basic training.

Chameleons rolled in like bowling balls
crushing the poor victims like cheese.

Their exploration turned into
desperation.

Chameleons were secretly hiding from
the ceilings of the temple, their skin is white matching the colour
of the ruin.

Their slashes from above sliced apart
their foes like bacons.

The recruits are definitely overwhelmed
with their senior being useless.

The ones that escaped into the center
hole found the many coloured doors.

They did found the correct pathway. But
unfortunately the chameleons were doing a stakeout here.

They pounced at the soldiers like
rabbits from the narrow corridors.

Sweet juice dripped onto the marble
floors like pouring grape wine.

A nasty grip of terror catches anyone
who enters the room.

Failing to walk any further, some
pretended to be dead.

Interestingly the chameleons are more
interested in moving baits.

The human team moved in unison and
found the correct exit as there was some left behind signs from an
earlier team.

I could hear sounds of someone removing
debris, probably from the ventilation hole.

I do not know how many hours have
passed, but the new influx of air makes it easier to breathe and calm
down.

Mysteries swirling in my head. Why was
I really sent here? Why are they keeping the truth from me?

And why are humans returning to Earth,
could the federation be finally running out of supplies?

The sharp sound of growling snapped at
me. I thought it was my tummy but a pair of white eyes were staring
at me.

The woman whom stayed with me is
turning forest green and mutating into somewhat not.

Not a human, not a chameleon. The
hybrid creature lashes at me.

But untransformed fully, she is bearing
some weaknesses.

The monster is dizzy and tired.
Changing forms requires lots of energy expenditure and it does not
looks like she is a willing one.

I am not going to wait to see she is
friendly or not.

I hopped towards the ventilation hole,
but strangely, there is now a metal gate at the very end of the
tunnel.

I could not move any further. Her
transformation scares the spirit out of me.

I cried and cried, but nobody could
hear my pleas for help.

The long hallways were dreadfully
silent.

And a powerful hand trapped my feet but
I did not want to leave, so I grappled onto the metal gate.

I used up all my strength to hold onto
the steel bar but the noxious enemy keeps on tugging on my feet.

I was pulled back into the room, the
powerful force caused the metal gate to break apart and I took it
like a shield.

My body slithered from the tunnel back
into the room like a snake.

I see that the metal gate is broken
with sharp edges. An inspiration comes into my mind.

The hybrid woman looked at me. Her face
were like two distinct-parts, one human, one chameleon.

She did not transformed properly and
that makes her even scarier.

Her head were uneven, her hands were
chameleon, her legs were spiral.

But her strength is unmatched.

When the hybrid gasped for air,
exhausted from pulling me.

I leapt up like a butterfly and smashed
the sharp metal gate at her stomach, at her head and repeat.

The creature broke into a warcry but
soon defeated.

My lethargic body slammed onto floor.

My vision catch onto the ghastly
creature, I looked at her and see whether there are sudden movements.

This was the only time that I actually
saw unnatural scratching and walking on the sandstone walls.

These are all danger signs.

A wave of energy tremored through the
underground of labyrinth.

The recruits who had entered were
finally leaving, they have accomplished their mission, whatever that
may be.

I yearned to remain in my safe haven,
but if the team is leaving, I could not possibly stay at here.

I need to go back to the safe
mothership.

I dug through ventilation hole and I
grouped up with the recruits.

They were heavily armed but their hands
are occupied.

They were holding onto a big sack, the
contents are possibly an artifact from the temple's treaure room.

Both the chameleons and me could sense
that these recruits are strong and well-trained.

Going into battle is not going to be a
one-sided victory. The chameleons bide their time for an easier meal.

Even though the chameleons were
camouflaging, I could strangely sense their presence and see the
sudden movements of their eyes that is hidden as ordinary stones.

The loud whirring machines hovered over
us, trying to attract our attention.

I have never felt so much hope and
despair at the same time.

As a person of no status, I will never
find out the true meaning of this excavation and what was inside that
burly sack.

The irony is that the radiation is
within the same levels as in space, mild and safe.

But what was all that mutants and
chameleons?

That damnation of a memory is cast away
long ago.

But tonight, it reappeared as a
nightmare, shivering me to my bones.

I do not know many things, but one
thing I do know is that I do not want to return there again.

I had applied to other motherships, but
it seems like there were no replies.

Unimportant people have the least say
in this modern era.

My mind slipped away and was induced
with another consciousness.

The sensation of evil washed through my
body, my body shook unbearably and I slowly turned green.

I climbed onto the edges of the ceiling
like a lizard.

With quick movements, I opened my
bedroom's door in upside down.

The cells of my skin transformed from
green to grey, eerily matching the colour of the mothership.

I caught onto some human sounds and
went in that direction.

I slowly opened the control room's door
in upside down.

A human could not see me hanging up
from the ceiling, he saw the door moved on its own.

He will be scolded if the door is left
opened, so he had to close it.

And I took my chance, I snapped onto
his whole head.

While exploring the dormitory, I found
several video clips, parachute and coffee.

I jumped off the mothership and burned
through the ozone layer. The lack of oxygen turns me inside out.

Like a frozen frog,

I glared at the million stars,

accompanied by the thousand suns, along
with the hundred constellations.

I have lost my head but somehow my eyes
stayed opened as if this was everything that I have ever wanted, a
view of the galaxy.

My colleague shook me as agreed.

I wake up from inside the mothership.

Everything felt so surreal at this
point that I am still having motion sickness.

Before he gets angry, I am going to do
my cleaning duty.

The machines zoomed up and down the
mothership.

It spun out mopping sticks and gloss
the entire floor.

I just kept on pressing the buttons and
awakening the other slave machines.

Inside the white pallid world, the
water move motionlessly.

The air is cooling but you could feel no breeze.

I am here every month like a faithful pilgrim.

And every month, at this path section,
I get to see a bird cage.

It was colossal and suspended in the
sky as if tied with unseen ropes.

A symphony of life thrived within this enclosure.

Vibrant as the colors of a dream,
the birds dwelled in this aviary clutched to the sky.

Their colorful plumage was a sign of
healthiness and they danced in the air as if they were swimming.

Without noticing my presence, they
flaunted their resplendent feathers comically.

But, with a second look, you could see
that the cage is mostly a barren wireframe exposed to the elements.

It was a world that needs its occupants to adapt to it.

Nervous birds continued to judge the other birds.

Charismatic birds continued to sing like idols.

They could be friends or enemies in this tiny world.

And the choice was obvious.

Below my knee, emerald grasses swayed
and rippled like cascading curtains, a vibrant tapestry in a
forgotten theater.

But you could see nobody watering it or appreciating it.

One day, a pigeon pilfered a
breadcrumb, and got revenged, its bone got broken by another.

It marked the arrival of violence in
the heavenly tableau.

This utopia, like many before it,
tiptoed towards inevitable tragedy.

It was the way of beings, to forever
yearn for more.

The skirmish ignited a quest for
alliances among the avian residents.

Strength emerged in numbers, and unity
was their fortress.

Feathers ruffled and tempers flared,
their captivating display resembled a broken society.

An awestruck witness with eyes aglow
like a child, stood captivated by their drama.

Soon, the injured and the aggressor
found themselves ostracized, making their minds run with anxiety.

The isolation proved too much to bear,
pushing the aggressor to strike again, this time with fatal
consequences.

The fallen bird lay lifeless,
breadcrumbs spilling from its beak like a silent elegy.

The menacing bird placed a claw atop
the fallen.

In a profound turn of events, other
birds began to bow to their unspoken ruler.

They bowed, and bowed, and bowed again.

But none dared to approach the enigmatic ruler.

Though the cage will become dirty, it was not mine,
yet I still felt a responsibility to tend to the fallen bird.

How could I do so without inadvertently
setting all the birds free?

My eyes fell upon a golden key, the key
to their prison.

Tentatively, I unlocked the cage, a
surge of emotion compelling me to set them free.

Yet, not one dared to venture beyond
the threshold.

The mockingbird's violent gaze
paralyzed me, deterring any interference.

I yearned to give the fallen bird a
proper farewell, but my hand remained tied.

With a heavy heart, I sealed the cage,
my silent plea that the owner would return, hoping he would bring a
resolution to this poignant riddle suspended in the sky.

Butterflies flew in the church's
backyard.

A loving couple walked into the stage.

They proclaimed their love amidst a sea
of spiraling confetti.

The guests clapped their hands as
though they had won a lottery.

The butterflies flew away like a gust
of wind.

The bride stopped smiling as she
experienced her tummy getting squeezed by the dress.

The groom took a sharp look at the
crowd to see if there is any unwelcomed guests.

A camera shot light up the scene and
everyone smiled again.

A wedding is but the beginning of an
arduous journey.

This life commitment tests the couple's
endurance and intelligence.

Statistically, not many couples pass
the test.

And when they are surprised with two
sets of twins, their relationship is going up a cliff.

The parents are in pursuit of their
dream job and to feed their dream family.

That very commitment sprinkled little
attention to the little dwarfs in the family.

The younger twins fought for control
over the tv game console.

The older twins stayed in school and
played rugby till the school closed.

The hardworking parents fell sick and
slept like pigs.

The children complained about having
plain bread for lunch and that nobody was boiling drinking water.

The younger twins ditched their house
and enjoyed a fun stay at their friends' house while entertaining
themselves with computer games.

The older twins ditched their house and
ate outside, they played rugby at a public yard and slept at there
too.

Under the starry night sky, the young
couple reflect on their decisions.

They interlock their fingers in a
casual way.

"We have did everything we
promised in our wedding's vow." said the wife.

"But our family is like a broken
one." continued the husband.

"What are we working so hard for?"
asked the wife.

"So that we can build our dreams."
answered the husband.

But the missing kids ruin the vibe.

The temporary guests in the friends'
house finally faced mockery.

Because they were not helping with any
housework and dining for free.

The park sleepers are annoyed by the
local police, the police shooed them away.

The twins had no idea why, but they had
no choice.

When the four idiots returned home,
their parents smiled like it was a christmas gift.

The mum opened her arms and embraced
all of them.

The dad hurried to fry some eggs and
hams.

The mum cleaned the house and make
their beds.

The dad washed the plates and dry the
clothes.

The kids are happily playing console
games and watching rugby tv competitions.

They were in their own world, they felt
safe and joyful.

While the parents toiled hard, the kids
gets more comfortable.

The parents did everything they could
to ensure the kids will not want to leave the house again.

Someone say this is a dysfunctional
family.

Someone say this is a pointless family.

But only when you are part of it, then
could you feel it.

The tiny little warmness inside your
heart that keeps you going.

Maybe they are a misguided family.

Maybe they are loving in the wrong way.

But they have loved.

Maybe the kids are lacking in
discipline.

Maybe the kids needs some help.

Or maybe they are just kids, seeds of
happiness waiting to be sprout.

I went to school but I failed all my
tests.

I entered an university but I did not
graduate.

I am smartest amongst all, among the
idiots I meant.

Flair in my presence, so bright and
keen,

Overcoming challenges, I am a resilient
man,

Xeroxing wisdom and dreams into the
air,

Radiating warmth with a spirit so
serene,

Ambitious and creative, a force always
seen,

Inspiring others with a better drive,
not so green,

Navigating life's journey, like a
fearless marine,

4 represents all that I knew of, so
pristine.

I was a fool.

When I asked to be the smartest person
alive.

My desires grew numb, for I sought
knowledge above all else.

Refusing to work, my income was none.

My family was burdened with my foolish
plight.

But the society kept on continue
running like a car engine.

I was absorbed in my own brilliance and
could not cared for mundane tasks.

I have the solutions to society
problems,

but I could not solve the problem from
my own.

I was like gollum from the lord of the
ring,

I hoarded my wisdom like an ignorant
fool.

To be the wisest, I believed, no other
could surpass.

As striving for the best devoured my
soul.

I became a mere husk of my former self.

I finally tried to set my knowledge
free.

In the form of stories and poetries.

I hope my creations could help heal
wounds' deep bends.

And entertain those who cannot sleep.

I do not want to be a fragment in
space,

floating endlessly and aimlessly.

A masterless samurai hones his sword
skill amongst the tranquil bamboo hill.

His sword skills moves like butterfly
that sprays the enemies with red ink.

He was known as the Crimson tempest.

He enters fight regularly, and he
hopped like a bird, then evaded enemies' hits like a fly.

He slowly closed the distance towards
his targets.

Then he stabbed them twice, as precise
as possible.

Once an arena, the bamboo hill turns
back into a quiet hill.

As the war clouds darkened the horizon.

He became interested of all the
possible challengers.

In preparation for his battle, he ate
simple tofu served by a beautiful maiden.

He released his sword from the
scabbard.

An aura of power sends lightning to the
battlefield.

The fighting samurais and archers were
confused.

As there was someone killing soldiers
from both sides of the faction.

The general sends in the shuriken
throwers.

Shurikens chased after the Crimson
tempest but he just dodged it like a mole.

Hugging onto an archer, he lifted him
upside down.

He stole his bow and fired arrows to
pin down the shuriken throwers.

He charged like a war horse, through
the grass of enemies.

Using his ultimate technique, he
exploded many slashes to the enemies.

His power and range was incredible.

And the general flee like a rabbit.

As the sakura blossoms fall, the
ministers revealed that the recent wars had only brought losses.

Capturing territories becomes a risky
buisness, so the shoguns sought for a better path.

A peaceful river brought in many
herons.

The Crimson tempest reminisce of the
tofu maiden.

The little tavern became a house for
the pair.

One sword to rule them all.