Kaelon Blackthorn, a man in his late twenties, stepped into a pub, a bar that has seen better days or even worse ones.
The neon lights outside the pub flickered like dying stars, casting a pale glow. Inside, the air felt thick with the smell of beers and smoke of a cigarette.
People sat in small groups, their voices mixing with the sound of clinking glasses, laughter and music.
When Kaelon pushed through the door, he then felt the familiar weight of his troubles settling on his shoulders again. He walked to the bar, sitting on a chair in front of the counter table.
The bartender, a grumpy-looking man with scruffy dark brown beard, glanced at him with tired eyes. "You are here." he says, looking at Kaelon. "What will be your drink today?" he asked.
Kaelon looked down at his worn white shoes and sighed. "Give me the strongest thing you've got, but also something I can definitely...afford." he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
The bartender then poured a shot of amber liquid into a chipped glass and slid it over to him. Kaelon grabbed it and threw it back in one swift motion.
The burn in his throat made him feel good. It was a familiar pain, one that definitely helps him to get distracted from the deeper ache inside.
He felt like a ghost while sitting alone at the bar. He does breath, he does exist, yet he feels empty, dead or just lifeless inside.
The laughter around him somehow felt distant, he had always struggled to make ends meet, juggling multiple jobs just to pay rent for his crumbling apartment. Friends had become distant memories, and he felt more alone than ever.
He took another shot, savouring the way it burned as it went down. It was easier to drown his sorrows than to face them.
Each drink felt like a small rebellion against a life that had given him nothing but disappointment.
As Kaelon stared into his glass, he thought about his day. He had lost his job again, fired for showing up late one too many times. The manager had looked at him with pity, but Kaelon had felt only anger.
Anger at himself for not trying harder, for not being successful like how the people he knows are now successful in their own life while he is still stuck in one place.
Kaelon drowns himself by drinking his sorrows and his miserable life away, the people he once called his friends later on are now laughing at him.
Their words stung, a reminder that he was and always will be just a failure in their eyes, a person who can't show anything to their parents, feeling like the world was being too unfair.
He then took a deep breath, forcing the memories away. Kaelon focused on the present, the warm glow of the bar, and the people around him. A couple laughed at the table next to him, their smiles were bright and carefree.
Kaelon envied them. He wished he could feel that kind of joy. But all he felt was just bitterness.
As Kaelon ordered another drink to drown all his sorrows and struggles away, he noticed an old man sitting a few stools away from him. The man had a long white beard and wore a tattered cloak.
The old man seemed out of place in the bar, but he just shrugged it off and went back to focusing on drinking more. The old man looked and watched Kaelon with keen eyes.
"Drowning all your troubles, are you, young man?" the old man said, his voice low and gravelly.
Kaelon then looked to his right shoulder, looking at the old man with an annoyed expression on his face. "What does it matter to you, old man? You wouldn't understand," he replied, taking another sip from his glass.
"Perhaps not," the old man said, leaning closer. "But I do understand what it's like to feel powerless. I've seen many young men like you lose their way to life." the old man says to which Kaelon just shakes his head.
Kaelon rolled his eyes, not interested in some stranger's advice. "I'm fine," he said, a little too defensively. "Just leave me alone, old man."
The old man smiled softly, unfazed by Kaelon's personality. "You may think and say you're fine. But I can see the weight you carry. There is a way out, you know." the old man said.
Kaelon frowned, intrigued by the old man's words. "What do you mean? A way out?" he asked.
The old man then reached into his cloak and pulled out a small, ornate key. It glinted in the dim light of the bar, catching Kaelon's eye. "This key holds a very special ability, but with such ability, it also comes with great responsibility as you will become the owner of this key." the old man says.
"Once you have this key in your hands, you will instantly become the new owner, and you must take good care of it." the old man says. "Andas the new owner of this key, this key unlocks a door to another world, one where you can find yourself, and everything you desire."
Kaelon stared at the key on the old man's palms, skepticism swirling in his mind as he looked at the old man's face. "Right. Like I'm supposed to believe that? You think I'm going to believe an old man's words in a bar? I may be drunk, but not too drunk to believe that kind of crap."
"Besides, where will it take me? Narnia?" Kaelon says sarcastically.
The old man then chuckled, his eyes twinkling. "You can choose to ignore it, but this is not just a key. It holds power, but you must be brave enough to use it."
Kaelon just shook his head, laughing it off as he does not believe the words from a strange old man who is wearing a tattered cloak in a bar. "Yeah, sure. I'll just use the key and my life will magically get better. That's how it works, in books." Kaelon says in a sarcastic tone.
"Sometimes. The first step to change is believing in something greater. Life can only be unfair if you choose not to change." the old man replied, his tone serious.
Kaelon sighs, he was still not believing the words of the old man, but he felt a strange pull towards the key.
He then reached out and picked it up from the old man's palm, turning it over in his hands. The key felt heavy and cold, yet something about it also feels warm.
Kaelon then looked at the old man while holding the key in his hand. "What's the catch?" he asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
The old man then smiled at Kaelon. "The only catch is your willingness to believe. You'll have to let go of this life temporarily to go to the other world. But remember, this key is very special, it will link you to two worlds, with such power you must take great responsibility."
Kaelon frowned at the old man's words. "I don't need a lecture from an old man, I just wanna forget."
"Then you will remain lost in life." the old man said gently. "But if you're willing to take a risk, this key can lead you to a new destiny."
Kaelon then looked around the bar, the laughter and chatter seeming to fade away. He felt a strange mix of emotions—hope, fear and confusion. Could there really be a way out of his miserable life? The old man's words lingered in his mind like a whisper of possibility.
While Kaelon was staring at the key on his palm, when he turned his head to his right side, the old man had already disappeared, leaving no trace of where the old man had just gone off.
He looked around in the bar, still a bit tipsy, then he looked down at the key in his hand, its surface glinting under the dim lights. It was just a key—nothing more, nothing less.
With a sigh, Kaelon downed another shot, the liquid burning away all his struggles. He still does not believe the old man's words, so Kaelon drinks another shot.
For tonight, he would let the alcohol numb his thoughts and drown out the noise of his failures.
As the hours passed and the bar began to empty, Kaelon remained seated, lost in his thoughts. His eyes were getting heavier with each second, and eventually, he rose from his seat, swaying slightly as he stumbled out into the cool night air.
The streets were now empty, the moon casting a pale light on the empty sidewalks.
His eyes grew heavy from tiredness and sleepiness as he walked towards his apartment.
When Kaelon reached his building, standing in front of the door to his apartment, he fumbled with his keys, trying to find the right one, but his eyes were too heavy and his vision were blurry, unknowingly, he hold the key that the old man gives to him, thinking it was the key to his apartment.
Kaelon then inserted the key into his apartment door and surprisingly enough, the key morphed and it shaped into the size of the key hole in Kaelon's apartment door without him noticing it. He then turned the key and the door swung open.
Kaelon stumbled inside, his eyes closed when he entered inside, going straight to the bed to sleep. He was too tired to notice his surroundings had changed, too tired that he didn't know he had entered another world. He was so tired that he didn't know that his journey had just begun.