He left with nothing

He was running away in the middle of the night, trying to escape his hellish reality.

In that dark forest, he clutched his bag to his chest. Far away there was a small light glancing at him, leading the way to the end of the jungle. He couldn’t see clearly that far clearly as he lost his glasses while running.

A gleam of light shone in front of his eyes, making him desperate to reach that beam of light like a mayfly. He sped up, hoping to end his sufferings, checking around to see if anyone’s there, tumbling over a puddle, spraining his left ankle. He couldn’t let a sound off his mouth. Withstanding the pain, he kept on leaping around that sprained ankle. Eventually, he saw that beam of light up close. It was the street light of the road where the forest ends. He panted, drooping on the ground, sweat and dirt dripping all over his face. He left a long sigh, murmuring, “I reached the end! Now no one can find me.”

Though it wasn’t the end of his escape, he took a quick break on a large stone right below the street lamp. There was a bus stop beside him.

Sitting on the stone there, he took out a crumbled sandwich, wrapped in a plastic foil, he had in his backpack. It won’t make him full, but he only had this at the moment.

He took off his shoes to see his left ankle swollen and reddened. Small bruises all over his feet from scratching on sharp branches made it unbearable to watch. He wrapped peony printed handkerchief tightly on the wound it was given to him. Placing his leg on a small stone like a footrest, he rested there for a while.

A white bus stopped at the bus stop in front of him, waiting for him to get on. That road was always quiet, no people uses this bus stop ever. So if someone’s been waiting for something in the middle of the night there, it must be this bus, as it’s the last bus for that night, to the next city.

Hurriedly, he put on his shoes, took his bag and got on the bus in one jump, feeling numb down his feet.

This bus was quite old, the fabrics on the seats were torn at places, but it’s the only bus to go next city in that midnight.

He sat at a window seat in the very back of the bus, his heart still pounding from both excitement and fear. His legs trembled as sweat dripped all over his body.

The tranquil icy breeze brushed his face, making him calmed for a moment.

The bus was almost empty at this hour, with only a few passengers here and there. It was too dark inside. He looked out the window.

The bright full moon lit up the entire forest. He smiled as the leaves on the tree waved him goodbye.

At the next bus stop, a young man sat beside him, wearing an expensive tuxedo suit. The way his suit gleamed, even a child can say it’s an expensive or limited edition one. His bitter face made him look like a young CEO of a big company, but it was unusual for someone like him to be on a bus and in this middle of a night.

He couldn’t think much, just hid his face beneath his hoodie, staring at the window. Slowly, he fell asleep, enjoying the breeze.

Two young boys, around 5-6 years old, were playing in the sand on a sunny day in an empty playground. One of them couldn’t make a sand castle no matter what. Though his friend helped him, his castle fell down repeatedly as soon as he built it. That place was as quiet as a desert.

“Ryan, let’s play something else,” his friend asked him, tugging his arm.

“What should we play?”

“Hm… We can play a role-play game as a family. Ryan, you be my wife. I’ll work for you and you’ll cook me food.” They were playing by themselves for quite a long time when his mother called him over from a distance, “Ryan, let’s go home.”

Their mothers were chitchatting while they were playing. Ryan waved his friend Darius a goodbye and went with his mom.

His dad was reading a book in their study room when they reached home. They were a loving, happy family with a big house, comfortable and cozy. One could feel warmth in their everyday life.

He dashed to his father, laughing and talking about how he spent his day playing with Darius. Suddenly, he heard something breaking down behind him, turned to see his mom, standing at some distance while the walls crumbling in front of her. She faded away in front of his eyes, his face saddened, eyes filled with tears. He cried and ran to save her. Only to notice his father too was disappearing, he ran to catch his dad, but to no avail, he lost his perfect happy family in front of his eyes.

Ryan woke up from a sudden yell beside him with teary eyes. Looking around, he saw the familiar shops leaving behind, where Mr. Dayholt took him to buy all of his favorite stuffs, when he noticed the guy beside him yelling at his mobile.

“How the hell did you get to be my manager? You can’t even take care of my car…” That guy shouted at his phone, “In this middle of the night I can’t even get a taxi.”

“Sorry Mr. Davenport, it was my negligence. I am driving there to pick you up,” his manager replied over the phone, his voice trembling like he can predict it’s the last day of his job.

“No need, you go back, I’m already in a bus, I’ll meet you at my office, don’t waste time anymore… And take my car from there and arrange my flight ticket for tomorrow evening, don’t forget,” he hung up the phone.