The Beginning
A blaring alarm tore through the silence.
A sharp, metallic ringing drilled straight into my skull. I opened my eyes with difficulty. Ugh… damn that alarm. Damn my life.
Why am I still alive anyway?
Why didn't I just disappear yesterday…?
Ah, right. Because I'm scared.
How pathetic — wanting to vanish but terrified of the idea. Damn me.
The clock read six-oh-five.
I checked my notifications. Nothing.
I threw myself back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling without a single thought, without any spark for life. Nothing. Just empty — like a dead, barren desert with no living thing. Just like me. A walking corpse… but I still had to drag myself to that miserable school.
I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection.
Why am I like this?
Why is my life like this?
Different… messed up… alone… ugly? Maybe.
But I'm not "different" the way they think. I don't really know. All I know is that I feel stuck. Heavy. Tired. My eyelids were dark even though I slept thirteen straight hours. Too much sleep, maybe.
I got dressed slowly, not caring about anything. Scratched my hand on purpose because… I don't even know. Grabbed my bag and chatted a bit with my little brother until we arrived.
I entered the classroom and sat in my usual spot, observing everyone, judging every tiny movement like I was somehow above them. Even the teacher wasn't safe from the silent commentary in my head. I never said anything out loud — arguing with these people would drain me. I felt like I existed among them yet wasn't really with them at all. What a messed-up mind.
While I was drowning in my thoughts, the teacher called out:
"Ian, how do we form a sentence in the present continuous?"
I stood to answer, but nothing came out. Silence.
Someone who called themselves my "classmate" snickered. When the teacher told me to sit down again, I flipped him off. He returned the gesture, so I raised two fingers. The teacher caught him and kicked him out. I went back to the same boring cycle — that annoying, pathetic teacher. Whatever. Even he acted weird sometimes… probably weak, insecure, something like that — not that I cared.
Time felt like it was stretching endlessly. I glanced through the small window beside me. The sky was thick with clouds. Looked like it would rain.
Maybe this was my last day alive.
Heroes always disappear when the sky is gloomy…
"Ugh… I'm bored. I just want everything to stop. Damn it. Damn all of them. Halfwits. Do they eat donkey brains or what?"
There was something I was supposed to do… but what?
A strange numbness spread through my limbs.
Was this it? Was everything ending this fast? Didn't I want things to stop…?
Then why was I scared?
Suddenly, the floor trembled slightly.
No, wait… am I imagining things?
But no — everyone noticed.
So it wasn't in my head. I wasn't that far gone. The shaking grew stronger.
Maybe it really was my last day.
The teacher rushed to the door to see what was happening while those idiots in class started babbling about the end of the world. Some denied it, but the sun hadn't risen from the west, so… what was this?
And why did my head feel so heavy?
Was I going to pass out?
What was happening to me?
To be continued…