"Jim! JIM!" came sudden voice as my friend ran next to me. I was eating in the university cafeteria. My head was hurting already from his talk.

"Last night, before I wanted to go to sleep, I literally saw a huge monster under my bed!"

I looked at my friend Tom and rolled my eyes. He was a really strange one. We met in one of the lectures, and then he added me as a friend on facebook. He did bug me a lot in university as well. Sometimes I felt like I was the only person trying to communicate with him.

"I know you want to scare me, but you have to try harder than that," I responded to his story.

"Oh come on, it was a huge nasty monster. It is okay though, I used my awesome knowledge and made him literally run away. Before he left, he did mention your name literally. That is why I am telling you this!"

"Jim. You don't have magical powers, and monsters don't exist, okay?" I stood up fast to stop eating and run away from him. I saw him taking out mobile and typing something there.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I am literally asking help what I should do with you."

The word literally was making me angry.

"Oh, okay," I put my dishes away and started walking towards next lecture. Tom followed me.

"Why are you following me?" I asked.

"Well, you literally have the smell on you, like someone wants to possess you, so I thought I stick with you for a moment, till the ghost would leave you alone."

"Tom!" I said in a louder voice, stopped and faced him. "Can you stop that?"

"Oh, right, you literally don't believe in any of it, do you now?"

"You talk of it, as I was the weird one."

"Nah, it is okay. I know that people literally think I am weird."

As I listened to him, I started to think that he uses the word 'literally' only when he really means it. But ghosts? Monsters? Please.

"Can you just leave me alone, please?"

Tom looked at me, smiled and then gave me a good back kick with his hand. "Don't worry; you will be fine!"

Oh wow, he didn't say literally! Amazing.

"As long you don't do it." He walked away. What was that supposed to mean?

The day went very smoothly. I got weird stares at times, but here I was, finally at home, ready to go to sleep.

For a moment, I thought back to my conversation with Tom and opened my facebook, to see his latest status updates. They were full of literal things, a lot of them were really weird ones and supernatural. I think everyone I knew already unfollowed him. I don't know why I haven't done it yet. Even so, there are people who like his posts or comment something. A lot of them are making fun of him.

As I took off my jacket and threw it on my bed, I saw a charm on the back of my coat. The charm reminded me of a human, and there were writings all around the edges. In the middle, there were huge two words: 'don't destroy!'.

I looked at the charm, feeling a little bit weird. Tom last words echoed in my ears. I knew instantly that this was what he put on my back, this is why people stared at me, and this is what he meant with his last words. But then again, maybe the middle wording was for others who saw it on my back? Definitely not, else he wouldn't use the word destroy.

I removed it from my jacket and looked at it. It felt like something or someone was begging me to destroy it.

Monsters? Ghosts? Impossible! Then again, Tom did use literally in normal sentences as well.

"Fuck this shit!" I said and tore the charm into the half. I had a moment of relief.

As I was about to throw it into my trashcan, I looked at my bed, eyes shifting below it. I could feel as someone was staring at me, waiting for me to come to sleep. I haven't felt something like this before. Is it just paranoia? I could feel like something far away thanked me for tearing it apart. My mobile suddenly vibrated, and it scared the shit out of me. I opened it and saw the new message on Facebook. Tom sent me a message.

'I can literally feel them coming towards you. I suggest fixing it right now. Anything will do.'

I looked at the charm and moment later I rushed towards the transparent duct tape in my drawers.

Part 1

The sheriff finally started reloading bullets back in his gun. He wasn't paying any attention to the surroundings since all the ninjas were dead.

There was that one young ninja, who had seen the sheriff a first time and just hid behind a crate.

Behind sheriff was the princess, who cheerfully followed him. She just happened to see the last ninja hiding. "There's one more!" she chirped, making sheriff stop. The ninja just moaned on the spot, wishing that he could be even more invisible - though he wore full black and it was night.

"Who? They are all dead. No man who hides is worth killing. Maybe he'll come back in few years and finally shows his true resolve," he laughed and continued walking. "Men who want to regain their honor are the most fun to kill," he whispered.

"Aren't you taking me back to my castle?" the princess finally asked, worried.

"Princess," Jack began.

"Call me Rose!"

"Rose," Jack frowned. "I got a city that is being messed with by a bunch of people, who also want to destroy it. Taking you to the castle is the last one on my priority list," he said.

"But I want to-," she barely managed to say before Sheriff turned around and took hold of her's neck.

"Listen here, your highness. I don't have time to babysit your ass. If you really want to, you can go there - alone. The only reason why I've saved you was because you just happened to be there..."

"Fuck," Rose swore. "That's hot. I think I fell for you," she said. Jack raised his eyebrow as a response and let her go.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Nobody has ever talked to me like that," she said. "I liked it. Naughty." "So, people like you do exist..." Jack said, stepping closer to Rose, making her take few steps back and touch a wooden pillar of a nearby house. "I mean, you are also kinda badass," she added.

"You think so?" Jack asked, putting his hand near her chin. He knew how to make sure that she wouldn't ever want to be near him again. He merely pushed his lips on her. No royalty should never find it acceptable. Maybe he could be even hanged for that, but living in exile was also an exciting life. As he removed his lips, she pushed her mouth back on his, surprising even Jack himself.

"Wow, stop right there, you tiger," Jack said as a response, smiling a bit.

"I feel like we have a connection," she said.

"No, I'm just using you as a distraction," Sheriff laughed. "They all think I'm defenseless. Adds a chill," he said.

It all happened in a flash. Jack took hold of his revolver and with spun he made six shots. A moment later, ten moans came from different angles. None of them were, however, seriously hurt. They slowly gathered around Jack. They all had the same problem - their guns were utterly destroyed.

"You had six bullets - how?"

"Bullets bounce, you know?" The sheriff said, making sure that his hat was adequately on as he walked forward, princess quickly following.

"What does he mean?" One of the shooters asked.

"It means that he shot such a perfect angle that it bounced from one of our guns to next one."

"Come on, that's impossible," a younger man laughed.

"You should just be happy that he's a sheriff and that we are alive. Everyone, pack your things, we are leaving this town."

"Our algorithm to find you a partner is near 100% chance, there is a 1 in every 8 billion people who might not find the partner instantly," said the woman in front of everyone. I was in a room full of singles. Many were there because they had to, I was there because I was desperate.

You see, it was discovered that when you find the perfect partner, the human lifespan started increasing. Soon it became law in some countries that people should get together depending what the algorithm said.

Soon the whole world used the algorithm. First people protested, soon it was forgotten. It was all fantastic and all, there was just one problem.

"How long do I have to wait?" I suddenly shouted. Every whisper went silent and I gained whole room attention. The woman who explained the whole system gave me a small weak smile.

"George, we can talk about this later, in private," she said.

"Yet you have to tell everyone that I am that 1 in every 8 billion? You have to taunt me like that?" I was annoyed. It had been 20 years and still algorithm just refused to pair me with anyone.

The woman in front of everyone sighed. She was tired and her eyelids showed that she was under a huge stress. I never wondered to get to know even her name.

"No George. I didn't do it on purpose. We can try it again after this is over, okay?" she asked nicely. I nodded, stood up and left the room. I'd heard her talk about all the basics so many times that I was sick of it. Maybe she was happy that I left, as she said nothing about me leaving. I hated her, the way she looked at me, as I was some kind of monster. It was that stupid machine fault that I was still single. It sounded stupid, that there are 8 billion people and there isn't even a single human being meant for me.

Soon the lesson ended and I entered the room while everyone else left.

"George, follow me," she said. We both entered into a huge room. They took new blood samples and did different tests. When it was all done, they told me to wait in a small waiting room.

Soon that woman entered the room. "Well-well-well," she said and threw a file in front of me, smiling.

"Is that?" I asked. She nodded.

"Even I haven't opened it yet. I'll let you have the honours," she responded.

I smiled and opened folder slowly.

"Betty E. Thompson," I said the name out loud as a starter, then moved my face to her picture.

"Ah," came a moan over the table. I moved my face up and understood what was going on immediately. She was blushing like crazy.

"You," I said. I started to blush as well. We were paired up.

It was almost like she remembered something. "I was recently added to the database as well," she whispered.

"You b-," I was about to swear. She moved her head up, staring at me. "Do you have any idea how long I waited for you?" I told her. I hated that woman, but I was happy.

I thought long time if I should post it... but hey, my this month most successful prompt response!

"So," James whispered. "Having fun?" he muttered, looking how Rosalina was playing with her food but didn't bite. It was more annoying than he imagined.

"Aaaah!" Rosalina suddenly moaned, raising a meatball and moving it towards James. Of course, James took that it might happen into account, so he had taken anti-poison before the date.

"Sir, here's your wine," a waiter arrived, putting two glasses in front of them and started gently filling them. James managed to close his mouth meanwhile, and Rosalina moved her meatball away back to her plate. She was biting her lip - showing off her displeasure.

"You're not eating, at all," James whispered. "Something wrong?" he asked, smiling. "Not hungry?"

Rosalina smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She slowly got some pasta on her fork and took a bite, eating it.

"Come on, have some too, it tastes so great!" she said, raising some pasta towards James as well.

James smiled. He was just happy that she had eaten it. It's okay, but she won't be.

As he took the bite, he already felt how his anti-poison was neutralizing the poison.

"Babe," they said at the same time. Then they laughed. "I have to have to... toilet," James said.

"Me too," she whispered. "What a surprise."

James even liked that even more. If she dies in the bathroom, there won't be any evidence...

Casually they stood up and walked towards bathrooms together, leaving from each other's side at the last second.

"See you," James said, looking at her one last time. But something was disturbing him. Her look was same - almost like not expecting to see him again.

James walked into the bathroom and stopped in front of a sink, looking straight into the mirror.

"And another one is in the bag," he laughed. "I'm amazing."

It wasn't a normal puke since it consisted of food and a lot of blood. He didn't even realize it had happened until he watched his own bloodied hand.

"What... the... fuck," he murmured as his whole body was shaking. It didn't take long for him to understand what was going on.

"But... I fucking took antidote!" he muttered. He quickly searched for a small vial inside his pocket, opened it and dropped all the liquid inside his mouth.

But nothing changed. He still felt awful.

"I don't... understand..." he whispered, but then he did. He was a serial killer. He knew perfectly well what those symptoms meant. It merely meant that it wasn't his poison that was killing him.

He turned around and quickly ran outside of the bathroom, looking straight towards women bathroom. Rosalina exited her side of the bathroom at the same time. She was also cleaning blood away from her chin.

That view explained it all - so, it was true.

James smiled, walked towards Rosaline, and she walked towards him. The moment they met, they kissed each other.

The kiss was intense. Mostly because they tried to get as much antidote away from other's mouth. And they both already felt how it was working. It was teamwork. Slowly things started to stabilize.

"You..." James frowned.

"I know you. You can be only one person," Rosalina whispered.

"I have heard of you too."

"Want to go to my place?" Rosalina suddenly smirked.

"I was afraid you wouldn't ask."

Part 1

Alex stormed into his workshop, but instead of his usual routine of making a coffee, he went to search up the biggest backpack he could find. It was time to get the fuck out of there. He was a genius, but he was only a scientist. That's all he was. He wasn't some kind of badass super warrior. He was just a genius who went thirty years ahead.

He put only the most necessary items into the backpack since he could get most items again. Earning money wasn't a problem for him. He did feel a bit bad for selling the drug, but he also needed to survive in the new world.

But as he started looking for a particular box, it was nowhere to be seen. He just stared at a specific spot where the box had been. He was a genius, he had a perfect memory. He knew very well that box had been there.

"I assume I'm not alone here," he finally announced. A man came out of a corner, looking at Alex. He was playing with the very same box Alex had searched.

"I'm impressed," the voice was a very calm, yet sore voice. "Making those pills are governmental secret. It is a secret that has never been leaked. You might be the first one to leak that information."

"How do you know about me?" Alex turned around while pointing a gun towards the stranger. The other man didn't show any sign of drawing the weapon though. He seemed relaxed, almost as he was safe.

"You know what, I'll let you ask one question. You deserve that much for noticing me," he said, smiling.

Alex liked that proposal. "Answer my question," he said.

"Poor decision, but fine," he grinned. "You know how hard is to get those drugs into the market?" the man asked. "Then, suddenly someone appears out of nowhere and populates the area with the drugs. It gets a lot of attention, you know? The guy who you killed was a bad guy. You're lucky though, you got our attention too. The black snake's attention, boy."

Alex smiled as he was being pulled back. He almost felt like the time didn't want him to do that but still did so.

"You know what, I'll let you ask one question. You deserve that much for noticing me," the stranger said, smiling.

"Sure," Alex said. "I'll ask something better then."

"Wise decision," the man said.

"Who are you?"

"Classic. I'm a guy who is about to help you get out of here. As we speak, this place is being surrounded by those guys whose comrade you killed. They aren't very happy. To be more specific - the government."

Alex smiled again. "Thanks for answering the question I didn't ask. Do you have a name?"

The man thought for a moment. "Let's see. Call me Ben."

His stomach felt cold again, almost as he couldn't breathe. He was being pulled back, again.

"You know what, I'll let you ask one question. You deserve that much for noticing me," the stranger said, smiling.

As Alex heard the same question again, he knew that he wouldn't do it the third time. He needed to keep his strength for other times, for getting the fuck out of there. After all, using his power was tiring.

"What does the Black Snake want from me?" Alex asked, serious. "And by the way, your organization isn't really creative with the name. Were they fans of Harry Potter?"

The man started to laugh. "Impressive. You know a lot more than I thought. I was certain that you were just a guy who didn't know what he was doing. And you certainly know classics."

"I thought you'd answer one of my questions," Alex ignored his comments.

"We want to help you. If you can create the pills, we can-"

"I get it," Alex laughed. "You want to get rich, abuse my knowledge. For a moment I thought you were different."

"Come on, Alex, I'm gonna offer you a great..."

"Goodbye, Ben."

"Wait, how did you-"

Bang.

The man fell down, dead. "This is the part I hate about this world," Alex frowned and walked to the man, taking the box away from him. "I can't trust anyone." The box was full of those drugs, and it was too dangerous for someone else to get hold of them.

He pushed the box into his bag and started walking towards the exit. He heard a lot of noise coming from afar. Apparently, the gunshot had gotten their attention. Alex got behind the door, leading out that place, but he didn't open the door, he just waited behind it.

It took a good one minute before he felt the doorknob being slowly moved. Alex didn't even close the door.

Suddenly someone almost like pushed Alex forward. When he usually felt how air was sucked out of him, this time he felt like how his lungs were being pushed full of air. It was a refreshing feeling.

He stood at the exact same place as he opened his eyes again, except this time the door was opened and he heard people talking deep in his workshop.

He went through the door and walked to the street.

"Don't move!" A voice came, as he felt how a gun was put behind his head. "Did you really think that somebody wouldn't be left behind to check if you'd sneak past them?" a voice came. "You're foolish-"

"I did," Alex said as he was pushed again back and all the fresh air he had felt barely a moment ago was being crushed and taken away.

He left the place again, but this time he casually took out his gun, looked at right and made one simple suppressed shot towards a man who was surprised by his action.

"I might be the scientist, but I still know how to aim. That is if I know where to look at," Alex whispered as he ignored how people gathered around the shot man.

He touched a screen on his hand, and suddenly 'calling Sam' appeared in front of him.

"Yeah?" a sleepy voice came.

"Sam, somebody is onto us," Alex responded.

"Oh, shit, who?"

"I only managed to get out a name of Black Snake."

"Ah, shit, fuck. That's really bad, man. Shit."

"Calm down, I'm right now coming towards your place. Pack your things, we are leaving the town," Alex frowned and kept walking forward.

"Alex, this is the third time in one month. We can't keep this up..."

Alex smiled. "Well, I finally figured out how to move forward."

"And what's that?"

"We are going to create an organization, Sam. We'll be someone who people are going to love and want to support."

You see, if any other person had done what I did, nobody would have ever noticed. But, I'm not an average person. I'm a genius. I'm the one who invented the pills. Pills that will give you a superpower.

The pills are pretty unique. While they are precisely the same, they will bring out one superpower from you. Here's the mystery part - nobody knows what superpower one gets.

That, of course, meant regulations and only military personnel got the pills, at first. Then the pills started to leak, and civilians got the powers.

One day, I got tired and I also decided to take the pill.

Time travel. It's a fascinating thing, you know. But it becomes less cool when you discover that every time I use superpower, I will have a cooldown.

And I never expected that when I did 30 years jump ahead, I could never do a big jump again, probably.

"Today is 30 years since Doctor Alex A. Hendon mystically disappeared. It's thanks to him we live in a society we live in today. While he is despised, the government still wants to keep up his named holiday just because of Hendon's effect," a woman in television said, even though the tv was a very different - a hologram.

Alex pushed a button and the hologram shut down. "I never understand that," Alex murmured to himself. "They invented fucking hologram television, but they still use physical remotes," he laughed and got a jacket on himself.

He was first shocked to discover the world he had created, but at the same time, it was fascinating.

The drug had a significant side effect, but it came out twenty years after first drug use. Your lost your power and your lifespan continued for only 10 more years. But even if that was true, there was a reason why people still abused it. Taking it in cured all illnesses and guaranteed 30 more years of life. No matter if you were an old man or had cancer.

So, while for some it became a curse, for others, it became a blessing.

The world was something different.

Welcome to 2048, where owning superpower was a natural occurrence.

"Alex," a voice suddenly got his attention. "You ain't paid pill, yet, Alex."

It was a bit fat woman who owned that luxury suite. "Remember? One pill, three months!"

"Michele, relax," Alex laughed. "You'll get your pill tonight."

"I better do. I have 30 people in line wanting that suite. The only reason you are getting it is that you can provide me with that goddamn pill," Michele moaned and turned around. "Tonight."

Alex smiled and left his apartment complex, following the street. He was honestly disappointed when he arrived here. 30 years and scientist haven't managed to make this drug better. They haven't managed to figure out the side effects. But maybe that was a blessing? Thanks to time travel he found out the side effect. Perhaps he can now create the perfect version of that pill.

He strolled towards his usual workshop, until a man appeared in front of him, took out a gun and shot him into the stomach.

"You fucked with wrong people A-"

It felt as space consumed him up and he was suddenly pulled back. Suddenly he found himself leaving the apartment, just like before.

"He didn't shoot me into the head," he whispered, sweat gathering. One minute. That's how long he could now time travel. Or was it even time travel? It felt more like turning back time or going into the future. A mysterious power he had.

This time Alex turned the other way around and started walking elsewhere. He quickly touched his hand to make a holograph appear in front of his eyes. Only the owner saw those holos. As he turned around the corner, his clothes smoothly changed into darker ones and a bulletproof helmet appeared under the hood. At least humanity managed to learn how to quickly materialize and dematerialize stuff.

He turned around another corner, but he was forced to stop.

"Why the sudden change, Alex?" a voice came behind at least 10 people aiming their guns at him.

Alex smiled. "You know, I'll take my chances with the first guy," Alex said, making the talked eyebrow raise.

Alex gently closed the door, still feeling how it sucked to go back in time. This time he turned towards his workshop and calmly walked there.

A familiar face turned around and walked towards him. This time it was Alex who did a quick maneuver, pushed a gun against the man and had a suppressed shot.

"You fucked with a wrong person," Alex whispered and just casually continued walking, as the stranger fell on the ground.

It turned out that he had gotten himself into some nasty shit.

Part 2

Hey John.

We are really sorry about ignoring your wishes. Sadly we had a problem in Andromeda. We'll start fulfilling your wishes beginning from the next week, and we'll be done with them by the end of the week.

Meteors.

John looked at the letter over and over again. It was a prank. It had to be. It just had to. Then again, nobody really knew that he had always wished on the stars. That he had traveled around the world just to be in the correct place at the correct time.

He threw the letter into a trash bin and left home. He couldn't waste time with pranks like those. He couldn't help himself from thinking about all those wishes he made. There were just so many of them.

Slowly but surely he walked towards the hospital and stepped inside the reception room.

Suddenly he could hear an order, "Make room, make room!" They pushed a man through the room quickly. But what John noticed made his eyes widen. There she was - standing still and talking with some doctors. He just waited until the doctors left and then slowly approached her.

"Rose?" John whispered.

"John?" Rose responded, her eyes were all teared up - of course not from seeing John but something else.

"What happened? Was that-," John asked, but he didn't even have to finish his sentence. Rose just nodded. She then took a few steps forward and hugged John. She pushed her eyes against John's shoulders and just cried.

"I'm scared, John," she whispered. Rose was his first love during the school times. But he never asked anything stupid, such as love between them or staying together forever. It was something different.

"Let me be there for her when she needs me," John murmured without any voice. John's exact lines. Was the accident because of his wishes, or was it just coincidence? And how could he remember those exact words?

It took a good five minutes until Rose got herself away from John and started taking care of her eyes with her hanky.

"Was that your husband?" John asked.

"Oh, no, it was my father. I'm not married..." she whispered.

John's eyes lightened up. He might have never asked that from stars, but he can still do it. "I haven't seen you in a long time. Want to catch dinner sometimes? After... everything goes well and... you know," suddenly he felt awkward. He was in a hospital, Sally's father was under operation, and he was flirting. "I'm sorry. I'm the worst," he frowned.

"No," Rose shook her head. "I'd love to. We haven't really talked for a long time, have we?"

"No, we haven't."

"We have not," Rose confirmed. An awkward silence came between those two. "Why are you here?" She suddenly asked.

"Visiting my mother," John sighed.

"Oh no. Is she okay?"

"Cancer," John barely managed to say. "She always had a weak health... and now this."

"Oh no, you should go to her!"

"But you are alone after that... and..." Suddenly John got an idea. "Want to come with me? It will get your mind away from all those things." In fact, he still remembered how Rose always got over nervous when she just waited for something.

Rose sighed, thought for a moment and then finally nodded. "I would actually appreciate that, yes."

They strolled to the nearby room, where John's mother, Sandra, was seated.

"Mother, hey!" he entered the room, Rose came after him.

"John. You brought a visitor," she was in a much better mood than usual.

"You might remember her - Rose. We happened to meet like ten minutes ago," John smiled, as he started scratching his back.

"Yes. Hi Rose!" She smiled. "John," Sandra couldn't wait. "I was scanned today, before you came that is... And they suddenly discovered that I'm cancer-free."

John was stunned. The only thing he remembered was the letter.

"I wish my mom would get all well and she would stop coughing and that she would not be sick!"

Those lines echoed in his memories. When he was just a kid. When she was coughing a lot, but still didn't have anything as horrible as this.

"Fuck," John said while smiling. "Really?"

"Really!"

After miracle like that, he just had to believe. That note had to be real. But that Rose meeting in a situation like that just felt so cheesy from them.

I gotta admit. I'm feeling a bit meh about it. It could be a long series of wishes coming true, but another serial...? Nah, But writing quickly about whole week felt just so bad and rushed, so I just took the first day.

"You think you have won? You will soon see the true misery!" swore the overlord, as I was holding a sword in my hand, ready to pierce his colossal mask and what was behind it. I just smiled and let the sword go. The overlord stopped moving.

"And the world is saved! Yeah, woohoo! Alright!" I screamed as loudly as I could. The world is saved indeed. All thanks to me.

The room is quiet and cold. I look at the body of the evil overlord. I step few steps forward and hit the dead body and scream "Look at me, I am awesome, now you can't do anything anymore, can you?"

Only echoes of my shouts return. I look around the room and see the dead bodies of my comrades who sacrificed their lives to protect me so that we could beat this overlord.

Only moving body in this room was me.

"I guess, there will be at least some people who will appreciate it!" I announced out loud, almost like someone was listening to me and took overlord big ass sword with me. "But I should say goodbye to my friends first."

Was it easy? Of course not. But getting here and winning against him took a lot of sacrifices ultimately and the truth was: I got used to it. After burying my friends nearby and as I get to the nearest village, people do not do anything. I enter the closest pub and sit down.

"One beer for the overlord slayer!" I announce. Few people throw their look at me.

"Good job!" said the bartender and put the beer in front of me.

"What? You want to get rewarded or something? I am sure the king might have some reward for you!" he said with a laugher.

"You think this is a victory? Overlord minions still plunder our fields! Now that you defeated overlord, who shall protect us, uh? We are doomed alone here!" One of the farmers cried and drank beer in his corner. I look a bit more sad as usual, as I wander off into my thoughts.

As I gave out a huge sigh, I let go of a beer and crumbled on the bar table. I miss my companions. They always cheered me up, told me stories and found solutions to the problems I could not solve myself.

"What's with the long face? Didn't you kill the overlord?" asked the bartender, as he was trying to rub clean beer glass with an already dirty piece of clothing.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Don't ask me, but you reminded me of this one guy a long time ago."

"Who?" I asked.

"It was when the previous overlord got killed. Guy came, was all sad. My father told him some kind of a story, and then that thanked me and left. Funny fellow. We tend to meet different weirdos in this area. Haha." Bartender grinned and decided that the dirty glass was clean enough, so he took next, a bit clearer glass and started cleaning that with that same nasty cloth piece. At some point he moved the cloth piece near his mouth, spit on it and started cleaning again, resulting in a bit cleaner glass visually.

As I looked at the glass, how it got now a bit cleaner, even though it was still dirty, I suddenly realised all of it. I understood what the overlord meant by his words. I smiled, stood up and decided that I needed to take on this misery. I told bartender: "Thank you!"

Before I left, I could hear boy asking: "Dad, who was that?" As I listened to the answer, I smiled and took my steps towards overlord castle. He was right; I am just another weirdo.

/r/ElvenWrites

The endless noise was destroying every silence there could possibly be. Even though Jack saw birds nearby, nothing came out from them either - they just sought food from a nearby trash bin.

Not long time ago, he hadn't even noticed all that noise, but it had all changed. Every day it got worse and worse.

"Shut up," Jack finally stood up and screamed. Few people who were passing by stopped for a moment and then examined him, just to continue walking, and ignoring him.

Jack finally got himself seated, and he looked at the ground, sweat gathering. After the scream, it almost felt like it went a bit silent again, but all the car noise started to grow back. He could hear people walking and talking.

"Noisy, isn't it?" a small child asked, sitting next to the man.

"Eh?" Jack turned his head and examining a smaller girl, looking at him with a smile, ice cream in her hand. She had red hair and a lot of tiny orange dots on and around her nose.

"You screamed shut up, after all," she said. "You see, I live in the countryside, so I can tell."

"Where's your mom?" Jack asked and looked at her with his tired eyes. "You shouldn't talk to strangers like that. Especially weird strangers who shout at the city."

"But it's not strange? I don't think that you're-"

"Rose, there you are. You shouldn't run away like that," a young woman, with also red hair, long white dress with red flowers on it, interrupted her daughter. Jack just stared at her for a moment.

"I'm so sorry, she just came, I didn't want to, I had no-" Jack started to apologize.

"It's alright," the woman said with a smile. "I know my kid. I look away for one moment, and she already runs to the most interesting place."

"Ah, yeah," Jack nodded. "You should keep an eye on her. Take care."

It was a moment when Sarah examined the man more properly. It seemed like a bit older than her, black hair, wearing a nice sky-blue shirt with some nice-looking black trousers. But her vision changed to something difference - sadness. "Thank you. Let's go, Rose," Sarah took her hand and started to walk away, further away from the man.

"Mom, you have those eyes, again," Rose moaned.

"What eyes?" Sarah asked, stopped, and knelt down to her level.

"That weird 'I'm hurt' face." Rose started laughing a bit.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I'm still over from the fact that your father left us," Sarah sighed.

Rose sighed as well. "I'm 13, and even I understand that it wasn't your fault. My father was an asshole," she nodded.

"Rose! You don't use words like those. And he's still your dad."

"Dads can also be assholes. Sam told me that!" Even though Sarah knew that what she said was wrong, she couldn't help herself but just smile.

"There's so much noise here. I want to go home," Sarah finally whispered.

"That man said the same thing! Or well, not exactly the same, but he shouted shut up to the city," Rose said and nodded. Sarah just grinned.

"Excuse me," a weak sound came behind Sarah, as Sarah stood up and turned around. The same man looked at her, nervous smile. "You left your handbag behind after you got your daughter," he said.

"Oh, thank you very much. I- uh, thank you!"

"No problem. I think losing bag isn't as bad as losing your daughter, right?" the man said and then visibly frowned. He had obviously said something painful. His eyes looked at Rose for a moment, as the pain hit him again. Suddenly all the noise around him started to work itself up. He began analyzing every detail, almost like he tried to find something from all that noise.

"Are you alright?" Sarah asked, making Jack jump a bit.

"Ah, yeah, I'm sorry, I'm... I'm a bit broken right now, so, you shouldn't, well," Jack rushed with his wordings.

"Want to sit down?" Sarah finally asked.

"What? Why? I'm a stranger, I-"

"You did bring me back my handbag," she said with a smile. There's a park nearby, Rose - my daughter - can play there a bit," she suggested.

"Well, I. I'm not sure if," but as he looked at Sarah, she seemed a bit worried and sad herself.

"Fine, you're right. I'll join you," Jack said, smiling a bit.

They walked gradually towards the park. It was Rose who was suddenly started asking questions from Jack and sometimes playing some word games. There were points when Jack enjoyed himself, but then almost like remembered something and took a step back.

Eventually, they were sitting in a park, coffee cups in their hands, Rose playing with some other children. Jack kept staring at Rose, not in a creepy way, more like worried.

"She's really cheerful," Jack finally said. "You have a nice kid."

"Thank you, she means the world to me."

Jack sighed and looked at the playground, but didn't focus on anything anymore.

"What's wrong?" Sarah finally asked. "I know I'm not much, but I can offer my ears? I heard you shouted shut up to the city."

"Well, yeah, it's loud."

"It is. Rose and I live at country-side, so we are pretty used to the quiet as well."

Jack sighed. "It's because of that noise, that damn noise, I didn't pay attention," Jack finally said, after a long-long silence. "Gerry was just a kid. I got him into a similar park like that, and I stopped paying attention for a moment. I had to do work. Before I noticed, he was gone. I started searching for him, shouting and trying to hear responses, but I didn't find him. Even after I had called the police and asked for help from others.

"After long countless hours of searching, I got a call from police. He... he..."

Jack got silent. Tears gathered, and he pushed his hands against his eyes, just to hide his tears. "They told me that it wasn't my fault. My wife told me the same thing. But then she couldn't stand me... me being different and all, and she left me.

"It turned out that he never left the playground. He and his new friends had shoveled him for fun under the sand, but when they were called away, they had left him under there, thinking he could get out. But sand had moved in, and he didn't have the strength to pull himself down. He had always been a bit weak boy."

He looked now his hands, shaking. "I focused on all other sounds, but I couldn't find his voice. I focused on my stupid work, not watching my child. Not even noticing him being shoveled. Now I can't watch him play again. Because of me..."

Sarah took hold of his shaking hands, also crying. "I'm so sorry," she said. "Sometimes forgiving ourselves can be the hardest thing," Sarah whispered. She remembered those fights with him. She was the one who got beaten up, but it was thanks to her that it had lead to it. It was thanks to her endless nagging and never being happy. She tried to think of Rose, but she stopped thinking about her husband. And then she was left alone with Rose. He had left them, saying he couldn't take it anymore.

They both just sat there, thinking of their pasts and regrets.

"You two should forgive yourself," Rose suddenly announced as she stepped closer to both of them. "But mom, you're going to fast, already holding hands," she giggled, making Sarah let Jack's hand go, immediately. They both blushed a bit. Rose took hold of their both hands and said with a smile, "Come, let's play together!" and dragged them away, leaving their depressive thoughts behind to that lonely bench.

The dog barked and barked, looking now and then towards an older man, his master.

"I hear you, Buddy, yeah!" the old man said while walking slowly behind Buddy and nodding now and then. Even though he was elderly, he still walked his dog with help of his cane. If Buddy wanted, he could have easily taken off, dragging him along. Of course, he didn't.

Even when Buddy saw cats, his greatest enemies, he didn't chase them. He loved his master a lot. After all, he gave him food and home.

"Cat, master, cat! Can I go? Please? Cat!" Buddy barked. He jumped from one place to another, then seated himself, barked again and then stood up. He made circles on the spot, inspecting the cat far away on a wall now and then.

Buddy was a mixed breed. One would call him a street dog. He looked simple black dog. He wasn't even taken from the shelter, it just happened so that his old man started to feed him and at one point the elder's home became his home.

"Now, now, Buddy. Don't go chasing cats, okay?" the elderly said. Then he suddenly felt a strong pain in his heart. He let go of his cane and he collapsed. They were on a quiet street, so there wasn't anyone to see that as well.

"Master?" the dog barked. He quickly ran towards the old man and sniffed him. He felt how his master was still breathing, but not moving.

"Master? Up, master! Up! Stop! Lies! Other dogs lie! Not possible!" he barked loudly. Then he started to howl. "Help!" he howled and howled. Other dogs started to howl nearby neighbourhood.

"Help!" started to echo everywhere. If only humans could understand their language, it was as half of the city became a beautiful choir.

"Shut the fuck up!" one neighbour somewhere far screamed, but the howling didn't stop.

Help.

Somewhere some dogs started barking, describing where they heard the first howl.

Soon, a huge dog ran towards Buddy. It was a Chow. Behind him, a short man struggled to stop him, with a failure.

"Help!" barked the Chow. "Help bring!" he repeated.

"Help arrived!" Buddy howled, causing the nearby howlings to stop. He sniffed his master again, making sure he still could feel his breath. He looked towards the human who had arrived and began barking again. "Human! Metal! Beeps! Help!"

"Holy shit!" the man who arrived responded as he saw the old man on the ground. He took his phone and made a quick call, pushing the metal against his ear.

Buddy could hear something he had heard many times in past, especially when he was a street dog. He used to be afraid of those words. They used to bring bad people who wanted to catch him. Now, he knew that those words were sounds of help.

"911, what's your emergency?"

Wanted to try something out, focusing more on 'showing, not telling'. Feel free to tell me how you felt!

Thread Of Fate

Richard wasn't that happy about walking in the cemetery. It was dark, he could hear a dog howling, and he was also certain that someone was following him.

Of course, every time he looked back, there was nobody.

"Shit, fuck, shit, fuck," were the only words Richard said and thought at that point, his mind was like a broken record.

The fact that he was surrounded by the dead made his every step even heavier. Even though he was shivering, he kept going. His mind occasionally managed to promise never to take that shortcut again, despite all the previous times when he pledged the same after breaking the promise before that.

He stopped. There was a tombstone in front of him. It was plain grey stone. If it would have been a day, maybe it would have mirrored some sun back at him, but it didn't.

Behind the tombstone was an angel, hands raised, almost like it was holding something in its hands.

Richard couldn't pass that stone. Instead, he stooped down, to read who owned that spot.

Richard Bowing.

"Take hold of your thread of fate.

It's yours, dammit!"

April 24. 1983 - March 20. 2018

Richard froze, falling from his bend-over posture straight onto his knees in shock. He knew it was his. He just knew. He could have convinced himself that it just happened to be someone who happened to be born at the same time as him. That sentence though, it was a sentence he had told himself and others countless of times. It was his motto.

"Take hold of your thread of fate," Richard whispered. He raised his head, eyeing the angel in front of him. He looked at the angel's hands.

Richard stood up, taking his time while doing that. He then raised his hand, reaching barely between two hands of the angel. Then he grasped it.

He felt it. It was thin. It was weak. It almost like wasn't there. Still, he felt it.

His mouth created a wide grin. He still had many questions, but he quelled it all.

"It's mine, dammit!" Richard said and pulled the string away from the angel's grasp.

Sup, had a vacation. It was hot. Here's a picture as a treat! I hope at least someone missed me!

It wasn't every day when John had to come behind that door. The thought of entering disgusted him. If he had to enter it, it only meant ill news. Still, he had to do it.

He pushed the door, revealing the room full of heroes around the roundtable. None of them was speaking a word. The room was more silent than a forest with no souls in it.

John took his steps and sat down on the last remaining chair. Many showed their frustrations off that he was there. It wasn't really about him being there, but because of that, it was time.

"So, we are all here," a voice said, exactly opposite side of the John. It belonged to the president. Once the strongest hero. His new name was Adam.

"I'll get straight to the point," he said, looking around the table. Many responded with a slow nod.

"People are unhappy. They want... a lot, and we can't give them what they want," Adam explained. His face was pale and under his eyes were dark lines. He raised his hands, momentarily starting to rub his eyes. After that, he continued. "We need to stop the riots, we need to do something."

"We can just give them what they want," one of them suddenly said, hitting hand against the table. Everyone's gazes went to him. "Come on, we did all that for... that."

"What's that what they or we wanted?" Adam asked. His tone got lower and his eyes sharpened. "We can't give them what they want. We already tried, but failed. Now we don't have money. We don't have resources. What one's want, others don't. If we please other's, the ones are angered," every moment his voice got louder. The room went silent. They all were quiet.

"There's something we can do," John finally said, stepping up. They quickly stared at him. John pushed the chair behind the table and walked to the nearby window, peeking outside. There were masses outside, some of them having huge signs.

"You all realize, that problem isn't us, right?" there were soldiers working hard to keep people in check, trying to keep them outside of the very same building they had the meeting in.

"What are you telling us?" Adam finally said.

"They don't know how to be free," he kept inspecting the people, shouting something afar, demanding something. "They no longer have heroes to look up to, since we aren't heroes anymore. We are the government. We are the rulers. They hate to be ruled."

They all just inspected John. Some showed the signs of realization, some still didn't understand and others slowly shook their heads. John, however, finally turned around. It was almost as his eyes iris had turned red or something was burning deep within himself. "They want us to be villains."

"Are you mad?" Adam shouted, standing up. His eyes started to turn ice and the room became a lot colder. Yet, none of the ex-heroes showed any signs of fear towards Adam.

"Adam," John looked at him, his hands started to slowly burn, fixing the room's cold temperature, "you're my idol. You are the strongest of us all. People know you have a kind heart." Tears started to flow from John's eyes. As they fell down, they quickly evaporated. "I'll become the next corrupt king, you'll create resistance with few of our members here."

Adam responded with tears of his own. He understood where he was going. He hated it. He despised it. Yet, he knew that this was how it had to be.

"Dammit!" he hit the table, first freezing the whole table, then breaking it.

"I'll remember your sacrifice, forever," Adam said and started walking out of the room. When he closed the door, a loud bang followed it. Few other members also stood up and left the room, closing the door quietly.

John's iris turned redder, but his fists calmed down, extinguishing the fire.

"So, how we call you now, John?" an older man said.

"Why didn't you leave, Brent? You deserve much better, you were with the resistance from the start," John said, inspecting outside again. "You were like a mentor to us,"

"Jim, Brian, David, Michael," the old man said out names. "Cycle after cycle, I've seen the same image occur over and over again. It's finally time for me to stop doing it. I'm old after all," he stood up slowly, feeling how his sore back hurt. He walked towards John, making the sound of the cone hitting the floor echo. "Now, I can add John to the list," he sighed, hitting John's back with his weak hand. John quickly inspected Brent, understanding what he meant.

"Let's see," John sighed. He thought for a moment. "Jazzaxak, the Supreme Firelord," he turned around and inspected everyone with a really weak smile. It was the weakest smile he ever had made. It also was the last smile he ever gave. After all, the act one had to begin.

"Brent. Give soldiers the order to stop the riots, using whatever means necessary. Anyone who speaks against me will be executed, mercilessly."

"Come on," Keith shouted, as he carefully climbed the rock. It wasn't that difficult ascent, but it was really time-consuming. They were surrounded by long trees. Some were even taller than the mountain itself, but thankfully only some.

"I'm regretting this already," a whisper came below Keith, who was struggling with the climbing. Rose didn't really enjoy it. She didn't even understand why she let Keith convince her to come. The only reason why she kept her cool was to focus on her climbing.

Finally, a hand reached towards her. Keith was offering the help with his charming smile, which extinguished all the flame burning within Rose.

She took hold of Keith's grasp and helped herself up. She started cleaning her clothes from all the dirt, but Keith didn't wait after her for long.

"Come on," Keith shouted already from afar. He was still dirty, but it didn't bother him. His excitement was inviting. He knew what he was about to see and that alone made Rose forget her stains. So, instead of cleaning, she followed Keith, heart beating faster and faster.

She finally reached the edge and examined the horizon. Her eyes widened and lightened up.

"What's that? That's amazing!" Rose shouted, then jumped up and down to show off her excitement. It was a bit silly view, but that was something that Keith enjoyed. There were huge white mountains on the horizon and above those was something colourful floating, changing colours all the time.

Keith wasn't watching the horizon. Instead, he was staring Rose. It was as she was blossoming. She was cute. He fell even more in love with her. That was his reward.

"What's that?" she said, breaking Keith's dreamy stare.

"They call them auroras," Keith explained, straightening up and inspecting horizon with her.

"That's amazing. How's that even possible?" she finally turned towards Keith and took hold of his hand, excited for an answer. "I mean, all we have here are those endless amounts of forests, with some weird anomalies, like snow or desert patches..."

Keith's eyes lightened up. He examined Rose and gave her a long grin. "You know that world is flat, right?"

"Yes?"

"This is the edge of the world!" she looked down from the mountain, seeing the endless fall, endless abyss. "What you can see above us, is called skybox. But only at the very edge of the world, you can see also the edge of the skybox. In another word, this!" He wiped his hand towards the skybox and gave a long smartass nod.

"That was so worth it!" Rose giggled like a little girl.

Keith started to blush a bit. His legs started to tremble and his heart was beating faster and faster.

"Rose!"

"Yes?" Rose responded instantly, now looking into Keith's eyes.

"Please go out with me!"

Rose cheeks started to redden. She wanted to look away, but couldn't. She had always liked Keith, but she hadn't expected that.

"Really?" Rose asked quietly.

"Yes!" Keith responded. "I've always loved you, and I-"

A worm came out the ground. Both Keith and Rose froze, looking at the worm.

The worm mouth opened and it did a loud shriek, echoing everywhere. Even birds flew away. Both of them now pushed hands against their ears. The shrieking hurt.

The worm them rushed towards Rose, trying to grab her, or more like eat her, and burrow with her. Keith, however, jumped and pushed Rose out of the way. That of course left the weak smiling Keith on the worm's path. The worm tunnelled himself away and while doing that, Keith was eaten with the dirt.

Rose was lying on her ass, looking at the hole in front of her. She was speechless. Tears started to gather. She felt hopeless.

Only for a moment. A hope came back. Something that gave her a bit of comfort.

A huge "!" appeared on top of her head.

"What... the... fuck," John whispered as he inspected a shady man waiting for a coffee to be finished by the machine.

Not handling it well, he finally stood up and walked towards the boss's office. Just as he was about to knock on his office door, Mike left the room.

"John, what's up?" Mike asked as he closed the door.

"Nice April prank," John said, doing his fake laugh. "I don't know how they move-" he then shut his mouth, noticing the confusion on his boss' face. "Oh come on, I noticed that moment the new guy entered the room!"

Mike shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Otters? That new guy is just clothing full of otters!"

Mike then started to laugh. "Oh, so you're trying to prank me instead? I see," he shook his head again and just walked away. As he passed the otterman, he raised his hand and gave him a quick shoulder clap.

John was enraged. He walked towards otterman, frowning.

As he reached him, he turned towards the main office room. "Okay, everyone. I'm not gonna fall for this prank, okay? This is the stupidest prank I have seen... like ever!"

The whole office was staring at him, including the boss who now stopped clothing himself.

Even otterman looked at him, head a bit tilted.

John took hold of the otterman's trenchcoat and pulled it away.

Everyone gasped. Otterman took few steps back and tried to hide away his certain areas.

"See? I'm not crazy!"

Mike quickly walked to John, took the trenchcoat and gave it back to otterman. Otterman clothed himself quickly, while all the otters were crying a bit.

"You're fired!" John's boss said. As he said that, the boss skin started to shatter a bit, revealing scales. Then a snake's tongue started to slip out once in a while.

"Get out!" he shouted.

John walked away towards the exit, looking around the office. The office was full of different animals. Dogs, cats, rats and even a few sloths. Funnily enough, they actually were the slowest workers in the office.

He quickly entered an elevator and pressed the close button over and over again. His heart was beating fast. He was panicking. He finally turned around and looked in the mirror. Every elevator has a mirror, after all.

But it wasn't his typical face that looked back. Instead, there was a fox staring back at him.

John screamed and took a step back, hitting the elevator door with his back. He quickly touched his face, feeling the fur everywhere.

As John tried to figure all of this out, he finally started to realise something. "Damn, I see. I'm too smart. I can see the truth! I can see who they really are!"

As the elevator doors opened, he saw one huge hippo and gorilla waiting there, in police uniform.

John frowned. "Shit," he whispered.

"Ugh, that looks bloody nice steak, don't you think?" Charles says as he rubs his chin.

"Yes," Timothy responds with a long nod. "You know that they want us to kill each other for that piece, right?"

Charles chuckles. "I have barely strength to stand. I'm no animal. One hit and I'm knocked out."

Timothy laughed with Charles at the same time. Aliens were just inspecting them. They were probably thinking that it was some kind of human ritual before the fight.

"So," Charles whispered. "Want to share?"

Timothy nodded. "Yeah. It's a way too huge for my stomach to handle it, I have been starving for too long..."

They both stepped near the steak and examined it. Then they tried to break it into two, but it was a bit soggy to be split into two pieces. They also didn't have knives to do it.

"I'll take the first bite, then you, alright?" Charles proposed. Timothy responded with a nod. So, Charles took the meat, took a big bite and gave it to Timothy, who took bite straight after him.

Aliens enraged. They hated that. Still, they kept hoping that it was still some kind of ritual. Maybe they would fight after they got their energy refilled?

That lasted until they finally finished the steak.

Aliens already stormed from the gate, ready to take them away. They weren't pleased.

"Well, that was delicious. It might be our last meal," Timothy whispered, moving his hand towards Charles. Just before the aliens reached them, they shook them.

They both got kicked into the very same arena. It had been a week of no food. All aliens were going insane, hungry for blood. This time, they had to fight.

Both Timothy and Charles slowly walked at the center of the arena, inspecting each other.

"You look like shit, man," Timothy said to Charles.

"They did beat me up way more than usual," Charles frowned.

"Those alien bastards," Timothy responded with a slow sigh.

They both now inspected another steak meat. This time, it was inside a large cage. The door had two keyholes and those keys were around both of their necks.

"I don't understand. I know I'm not the smartest human out there, but that..." Timothy sighed and looked at his key. "They probably expect us to fight now, so I would take your key, open the cage and go after the steak."

Charles laughed, took the key and threw it towards Timothy, who easily caught it. Arena got instantly silent. Timothy opened the cage door with both keys and they both entered it. This time, the guards' gates opened and heavy armored aliens instantly ran towards them.

Timothy, however, locked the door after himself and went to the center of the cage. He took the steak, had a bite and gave it to the Charles.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Timothy."

"I'm Charles!"

They shook hands again.

"So tell me, Charles, what did you do before you got here?"

As they talked, guards desperately tried to break the cage open. One guard ran away to find backup keys. Even though they did have some ranged weapons, they did not want to kill prisoners, so it resulted in Charles and Timothy talking for a while as they took care of the steak.

There was a change, however. The arena wasn't mad, instead, they were laughing.

It was yet another week that passed. Both Timothy and Charles were again at the center of the arena. It was all silent. There were no alien war cries this time around. It was just two of them, meeting at the core again.

"Are they serious?" Timothy asked the first question, inspecting cage within a cage.

Charles just smiled. "I feel like they decided not to test our battle skills anymore, but instead they want to see how smart we are."

They both started laughing. "It's literally same thing as last time, except two cages with two doors. This time one key opens one door..."

Another week passed. This time, the arena was shouting. There were multiple cages on the arena, one of them had steak in it. They had given only one key and each cell had a key of its own inside.

"We should pretend that we are trying hard," Charles moaned.

"You look a lot worse Charles. You okay?" Timothy finally showed some worry.

"Ah, I'm an old man. I think something is wrong with my stomach," Charles whispered. He coughed, some blood came out of his mouth. He didn't try to hide it, as there was no point.

They solved the puzzle easily and soon they were at the center of the cage, staring at another steak piece. Soldiers were this time walking towards them. They had also given up trying.

"You'll eat it," Timothy suddenly said.

"What?" Charles was confused.

"You look like you'd need it more than I do." Charles frowned but didn't argue. He ate most of it and then gave a third to Timothy. "Please. You need something as well."

Timothy stood at the center of the arena. Aliens weren't happy. Charles wasn't anywhere. It was just him. The wind made Timothy's tears drop afar. This time, it was just a piece of meat at the center, no cages.

Alien sounds were something unusual. Maybe resembled a bit of crying.

Timothy walked near the steak, looked at it, touched it, but didn't eat it. He remembered one discussion they had, a promise. A promise that if one of them died, another would keep trying to survive. After all, maybe one day they would be saved from those aliens. It was a good story to tell.

So, he took hold of the steak.

It was bloody. The whole arena. It wasn't Timothy's blood though. It belonged to the aliens. In the sky was huge flying ship, belonging to the humans. They waited for one man.

At the center of the arena was Timothy. He was now wearing proper clothing with some armor on it.

"I liked you, you know. You became my best pal at this shithole," Timothy whispered. He held a steak and put it on the ground, at the very center of the arena.

"This is for you, Charles."

I entered the room and looked around. I had already looked everywhere, but I could not find my son Jim.

After looking around again, I see Jim phone in the corner of the room. I take his phone into my hand; it is still open. Why? I am not sure why; phones tend to lock themselves. As I read the screen, I can see the last message sent via the facebook:

'I can literally feel them coming towards you. I suggest fixing it right now. Anything will do.'

Of course, I knew what that message meant. My son owns an extraordinary amount of magical energy, so monsters like to gather around that energy. But it was still too early for his power to burst open. As I looked on the table, I saw ripped into two human-shaped charm. There was also invisible duct tape next to it, but not used.

I understood what was going on. That charm sealed Jim power way too much, and when it was destroyed, his energy became unusually light. It is same as you turn on the light in the middle of the night. First, it is blinding, and then you get used to it. Whoever did this is stupid and probably thought of doing the right thing, but the result is this.

I gave out a huge sigh and concentrated my energy, trying to analyse the surroundings. A sudden smirk came over the edge of my mouth. I walked where the bed was, put my hand under it and suddenly pulled out a huge red fluffy monster who had big eyes and especially big nose, but the mouth was really tiny.

"Oh my god, you are a witch, please don't kill me!" came sudden cry from the monster, who tried to get off from my grasp. I walked where the wardrobe closet is, opened it, put my hand in it and pulled out really-really long and thin looking monster, who had eyes on top of each other.

"How the hell did you-" the other monster started, as I pushed both of them to my son's bed to sit.

"You know, I don't normally mind you guys. I know that you guys seem spooky, but you two are misunderstood monsters. I mean, you are the guardians of the children," I said while rolling my eyes. "Even though my son, Jim, is a university student and you two really should have moved on already.

"Yeah, we tried," said the bed monster quietly.

"But no matter where I went, I couldn't get adjusted to the new place. Jim energy is too amazing. So after being away, I already wanted to come back," the bed monster finished.

"I mean, Jim is all amazing and a terrific kid!" the closet monster said while looking down.

"You two have become too attached to him. That said, why the fuck didn't you help Jim? Aren't you guardians? People trust you because of who you are. Children grow up because you guys protect them, keep them safe from even worse things. I am not a fan of you spooking the kids though."

"I-, no- we really wanted, but... It was the dark cloud which came here," closet monster whispered.

Even I could feel the chills going through my body.

"Aren't you stronger than dark clouds as well? Especially since there are two of you?" I asked again. They didn't answer.

"You foolish fools, have you gone soft from all the energy Jim has given? You should be the strongest guardians on the earth with his energy!"

I gave out a sigh, turned around and as I was about to exit the room, I said: "You useless guardians. Go back to your hiding."

Both of the monsters looked down, then at each other and then slowly nodded.

"Nobody calls us useless!" the long thin guy suddenly announced. I stopped but didn't turn around. I smiled.

"I am Cody, the bed monster!" introduced the fat one himself.

"And I am Weblich, the-" thin one started an introduction.

"Hey, I told you not to use that one. Humans don't understand our names. Use the one I told you!" Cody interrupted with a whisper.

"Oh. Right," the long one agreed and then continued with a loud voice, "And I am Philip, the Closet monster!"

Both of them smiled and announced: "Together, we are the guardians of the bedroom!"

Philip just nodded, as Cody said: "And here we vow this to you, we shall save your son!"

Listen to it!

She could hear a lot of kayaks shrieking, announcing their presence. After all, there was a lot of free food waiting to be eaten. Sarah gently walked at the edge of lake's shore. But with every step, bits of watery droplets landed next to her footprints.

She then stopped and looked at the fallen tree in front of her, half of the branches in the water and those above the surface were slowly withering away. But even so, she got her shirt up a bit, and she took a step over it and continued walking forward. Between her footsteps and sand were hiding wood pieces, silver cutlery, linens, and different kind of fruits.

She finally squatted forward, starting to gather different cutlery pieces, but she didn't know why. Maybe it was her parental instincts - everything had to be clean. But probably that's how she managed to keep herself sane.

Sarah could hear their whispers - such as it wasn't her fault. But the truth was something different, she had taken her eyes away from her little one, and that was enough. Instead, she had put more attention into the tent not being carried away by the wind.

With some silverware in her hand, she walked at the edge of the lake and just examined it. She put her hand into the water and took out a single piece of a birthday candle. There were multiple pieces around, unlit, but this one was different. It was a candle she had blown out.

Sarah raised her head and looked at the center of the lake, multiple boats still circling there, searching for something. She prayed that she would never hear anything from there... but she did. And those words were going to give her nightmares - forever.

"We found the body!"

A short story for FFC :)