*thunder* *drip* *drip* *drip* *drizzle*
The city was covered by rain clouds that went as far as the eyes could see and the streets where reflecting the lights of the various stores next to them.
Businessmen where shouting at their phones trying to make themselves heard.
Children where jumping into muddy puddles on the streets, much to the delight of their parents, and the sirens of ambulances echoed all across the city announcing another accident to everyone still sleeping in their rooms.
As you probably noticed, the rain, an unwanted guest at the moment, was ruining the day for thousands who had better things to do than get dragged down by it.
'But such is nature, isn't that right?'
a silent voice muttered in a daze.
'Unreasonable, there at the worst or best moments, and definitely not something you could casually dismiss or avoid.'
That were the thoughts that ran through Ray's head as he observed the usual bustle of the big city through his window.
At the moment, he sat in his kitchen trying to eat his usual meagre breakfast while having time consuming philosophical thoughts about the nature of things.
His food was covered by a sickly grey colour, because the clouds outside thought it would make for a funny scene to suddenly turn the world into an old movie.
The Eggs looked like cheap plastic knock-offs and the coffee looked like someone had filled it with a cup of cigarette ash.
Result of the observation: Aesthetically not very pleasing, thus "yuckie?"
And even if he wanted to eat and drink, the eggs in front of Ray were already cold, his coffee had stopped producing steam, and the kitchen he was currently at seemed too dreary to actually consider having a happy meal.
'Goal reached !'
- probably the world
Usually he would be up and about, running towards the bus stop; trying to get to work early so that he can earn himself more overtime, however, today was a rather special day for him.
Today, was the day that marked his first step into adult life or what some in his business would call "lay-offs".
You heard that right!
Fired!
Ray got fired from his job because of "complications in the hierarchical structure of the business and the future prospects of the company" or how the rest of the populace would call it:
"tax evasion, but its okay, because I help the economy by driving a gold plated Ferrari"
The primates at the very top thought it would be funny to play jigsaw puzzles with the accounts and caused an entire investigation which ended up with an insane fine, seizure of the companies assets, and the subsequent layoffs of almost everyone in the company.
It would've been good if anyone had so much as an inkling as to why and when everything went to shit, however, things decided to happen almost immediately.
To be precise, in the " I worked normally yesterday, and today I get fired"-immediate way.
It would've been great to have known something about the companies downfall, thus giving everyone the chance to slowly search for a new job, however what is done, is...well…
….done.
Ray stretched his hands above his head and looked at the ceiling, his mind now preoccupied by the "surprise" he got a while ago.
It had been an hour since he woke up and got that call from his sleazy department head.
[Flashback]
He was just about to eat his breakfast and rush towards the bus stop, when his phone started buzzing in his pocket.
When Ray saw that it was his department head, he thought that it was just the usual "corporate slave whipping" before work, however, fate had other plans at that point.
"Mr. Lysander, we are sorry to inform you that the board has decided that you will have to leave us, due to the ´"financial situation" of the company. Please come today and pick up your belongings from the office. According to your contract…."
The voice coming from the phone seemed to be shaking, as if the person was fearing spies on every corner. Usually his attitude towards the employees was overbearing and disrespectful, however he seemed much more "agreeable" than usual, but before Ray could give it any more thoughts, he heard the voice exclaim.
"Ah! now that I remember it, Mr. Lysander, since you are already taking your things from the office, could you take a few "books" with you for us. Could you do that for us? For old times sake?"
The voice sounded as if a snake had finally found prey and Ray could feel that something definitely was wrong with that request, but, at that point he was too preoccupied with the alarming news than to be wondering about such "minor" things.
After a few moments of silence, he took a breath and agreed readily to the clearly dubious request.
In his time at the company Ray had learned that leaving the workplace without "issues" was hard without doing something for them "in return". People would suddenly get a bad reputation on the job market or suddenly get arrested for illegal drug usage, if they did not comply with certain "rules".
The list of such cases goes on endlessly to the point were everyone in the department had come to a silent kind of agreement:
1. 'If you leave, then do so quietly'
2. ' "for old time's sake" let's leave with a good image'
And Ray was not one to destroy his future.
[Flashback ends]
Now Ray sat in the kitchen looking at his phone. The eggs and the coffee were turning more undesirable by the minute.
The company chatroom on his phone was buzzing with constant hate messages that seem to be pointing fingers at the management, and some even threatening with legal measures for this unfair treatment and the immorality of it all.
'things just never seem to work out, huh?'
stated the silent voice of Ray's inner thoughts at the moment.
Ray, or to be more formal, Ray Lysander, 19 years old, male, and clearly depressed right now, is one of maybe millions in this world who you could call "an unfortunate existence".
He came into this world alone in front of an orphanage. This probably doesn't make sense for most "normal people", however, this is just it. He just appeared in the system out of nowhere, something that probably was the result of some unwanted and hidden pregnancy.
There were no other information about him, neither the hospital he was born in or the whereabouts of his parents, anything at all.
To put it comically, he just popped out from somewhere and was delivered to the doorstep of the orphanage, like food delivery.
Without ringing the bell.
In a shoebox.
Nike's "just do it.", be damned.
The only thing that he knew about his arrival was the recounting of the old orphanage director who took him in back then.
The director told him that besides the blanket he had on him, he didn't even have a name card put in his little shoebox. A despairing affirmation to say the least.
The beginning of many things that would not work out for him.
His childhood was a mess; he got transported like used goods from family to family, and the "friends he made along the way", were just a temporary solace to him before he got send somewhere else. It wasn't that he was a problematic child, it was just that he was very emotionally scarred by the constant shifts of "residency".
Trust lost is not easily attainable again, and even if it wasn't the fault of his adoptive parents, he couldn't really reign in his alienating behaviour towards them.
Could you get used to constant change and uncertainty?
Probably not.
Imagine the uncertainty that a child would have about their stay in a possibly new "home", when they had been "given away" too many times. Every crack that seemed to run through their tiny little hearts that just desire the warmth of "belonging", but just couldn't open up because of frequent "failure".
Thus young Ray couldn't stop himself but be very cold towards every foster parent, and every possible adoptive family, since it was easier to numb oneself and keep taking steps back instead of taking a step forward.
There were many families that tried to take the steps for him, however, that only resulted into opening a hideous can of worms that is better left unmentioned right now.
Even the eager ones would just lose interest at some point, since the dog wasn't doing tricks for them.
Getting him to show them affection was as hard as climbing a mountain, and many didn't really have it in them to go the extra mile.
Thus, he wandered.
Atleast school was something that seemed to be the only constant in his life.
No commitments, no emotional obligations, just the bare necessities he had to work through for his future. So he ignored everything and everyone, and just kept on "doing his thing".
And where did that lead him?
Not really something that we could call "satisfying", since, yes, no commitments, blablabla, however, we live on earth as humans and interaction is the main thing we always do.
He went out as the best of his grade, but having no social skills really brought his advantages down by a lot.
Interviews made him seem like some weird guy.
People would dislike his slightly exaggerated behaviour, even if it was unintentional.
The only job he got after frequent workplace changes was as a secretary at a dubious weather observatory that had too many employees for his liking.
It was, to be frank, not a surprise for him that they got caught for their mathematical, since he saw it coming from a mile away.
The entire "business plan", if you could even call it that, just seemed "really fucking stupid".
They called it the "observation of weather phenomenon and production of weather based engineering miracles", but in reality it was nothing more than a money laundering machine.
Thought Ray as he gazed at the newly written articles on his phone.
"well...Fuck it. Wasn't hungry anyway."
Murmured Ray as he slowly stood up and walked away from his food towards his room to change into proper clothing.
He quickly wore his clothes and walked to the mirror for a last check up.
In front of him stood a young man with messy, slightly spiky, black hair and light brown, almost amber-like, eyes. He wore brown leather shoes, a cheap black suit from ages ago and on his left hand he wore a silver watch that he got from some rundown thrift shop in the city.
Not the most stylish get-up, but the young man in the mirror definitely had the signs of an aspiring heartthrob, not that he knew though, "friendless and all that".
'Ok, time to get my stuff and go job hunting again…'
thought Ray as he turned towards the door while thinking about his next job opportunity.
[15 minutes later]
It had been a few minutes since Ray arrived at the bus stop that was conveniently placed "a few blocks away". Unfortunately he didn't have a really good walk to the stop because the rain started pouring even harder on his way.
He was drenched when he finally reached the holy sanctum which was underneath the roof of the bus stop.
Ray had completely forgotten to take his umbrella with him because of all the hectic thoughts he had at the moment.
Now he was cold, his pants sagging and becoming heavy, and the cloth on his vest was sticking uncomfortably to his chest.
He swore to himself that once he got his stuff and arrived back home, a long hot shower was in session.
At the moment he was shivering while sitting at the bus stop.
All around him was almost no one, since everyone would usually be at work right now.
The bus stop was right in front of the central park of his area. Behind him, many bushes and trees stretched sporadically towards the distance where one can see a big grassy area start to expand outward.
One could hear birds of many different species seemingly challenge each other up in the tree crowns and see little squirrels burrowing their nuts on the ground. The trees constantly emitted small tapping sounds as water droplets collided and fell against the bark of their strong branches.
A seemingly mischievous wind pushed against Ray's back and brought with it the smell of grass and dirt. In the distance he could hear cyclists rushing through wind and rain, while in front of him he could see the last few cars heading to work. While feeling his surroundings, Ray also caught the smell of gasoline when an old car passed by, bringing him that classic feel of nostalgia from way back then.
'why is it that the smell of pollution always brings a pleasant feeling to people?'
questioned Ray as his thoughts started to wonder.
He had just been wallowing in self pity, when he got suddenly pulled outside his thoughts by this unique scent.
Honestly he was a bit thankful for that at the moment, since he always tends to get too caught up in bad moods which always ends up with him getting really depressed..
*'''blingblongblinling'''*
However before Ray could continue his "loud" silence, he suddenly heard a very familiar sound play right next to him.
He looked to the side and realised that a person was sitting right next to him. He must've been to preoccupied with his nirvana'esque state to have noticed that someone actually sat near him.
But then again wasn't someone already there when he just arrived?
'whatever'
sighed Ray in his thoughts as he took a clear look at the person next to him.
Right next to him sat a rather young looking girl, who seemed to be holding a gaming device in her hand. To be precise, it was an old NDS that just booted up. He watched in silence as the girl picked up a game cartridge and inserted it into the device, a few moments later she selected her game and started playing it.
It didn't take long for Ray to be hit with a nostalgia nuke, when he finally noticed what game she was playing.
In the screen he saw how a little orange haired man was running on some alien planet and excavating fossils. He saw how the little guy in the screen fought things that looked like purple tornadoes with what seemed like monsters that jumped out of his futuristic bracers, and a cool looking spaceship that flew from planet to planet.
'DAMN, IS THAT 'PEAK' IM SEEING'
shouted Ray in utter disbelief and joy as he thoroughly went through memory lane.
"Spectrobes"
Thats what the game was called. It was an old game that "black mouse company" put out there to compete with a certain other monster catching game from Japan.
It was a futuristic space adventure mixed with archaeology, monster raising, and an intriguing lore behind it.
Basically a wet dream for the space, archaeology, and dinosaur enthusiast that Ray was in his youth.
Don't judge, he was that kind of kid.
He remembered how he would try to set up excavation time records on the NDS that he had shared with the kids at the orphanage back then or how he would awaken those fossils to unearth unique looking monsters to fight the evil eldritch beings that suddenly appeared in the games story.
That might've been some of the most fond memories that Ray had up until this point of his life.
Once he started watching that girl play, he couldn't stop himself from taking his eyes away from the screen. It was just too great of a reminder of happier days, to the point where he even started to forget about what is to come later today.
'I have to get myself an emulator to play this game again!'
decided Ray as he finally couldn't stop the itch to play the game in his mind.
*zishhhhhhh* *creaaaak*
However before he could make his thoughts reality, he had to hop on the bus that just appeared out of nowhere. He reluctantly stood up from his seat and gave the "gamer girl" a last look, before he entered the bus.
When he finally sat down, he couldn't help but longingly look back at the bus stop, however, much to his surprise, the girl had left already.
'*sigh* seems like they just wanted to take a short break and game a bit'
thought Ray as he started to turn his head forward towards the road.
What Ray didn't know was that at the exact moment when his eyes left the seat outside, a small shadow seemed to flicker in the forest behind the bus stop.