[Contest Entry] An Otaku's Christmas Carol
1
It's really been too long since I've created a story. Well, whether it's crap or not, I'm pretty much doing this for the fun of it. Truthfully, I'm going over the word count, cause I really want to finish this story properly(I'm gonna continue later), which is why I'm specifying the end of the 1000 word count limit(or at least what microsoft word counts as words). Well, whatever. Enjoy.
*on a side note, the first spirit that warns ebenezer scrooge is called Jacob Marley.
It was Christmas Eve, day before Christmas, the holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus, 8.30 pm. Festive cheer was in the air outside, friends and family coming together to celebrate and exchange presents.
And I the great loser, the ultimate pervert, Ukato Toidi, continued to rot in my stuffy and messy room, isolated from those happy bastards, watching pornographic anime on my crappy computer.
I wanted to announce that I hated them for all their good cheer, their happy moods and that most relationships are so damn fragile, with friends that don't even bother to sms a damn merry Christmas. I wanted to scream that I'm perfectly content being alone.
Mostly due to how I was so bloody jealous.
I needed new material to distract myself, so I went onto Fakku! for some really good hentai manga. Or at least tried.
"Fakku’s servers are temporarily down!"
It was the last straw and I felt like I had lost everything. Pissed off with everything and yet nothing, I resorted to my last form of escape from cruel reality.
I collapsed onto my bed, hugging my C.C pillow and tried to fall asleep.
I don't even know when I fell asleep, but the next thing I knew I was woken by a low murmuring that scared the shit out of me.
"Ukato...."
"Ukato Toidi....."
Wind blew violently against my window and escaped through a small gap with a whirling sound. I hugged my pillow closer to me for the small comfort it granted me, trembling like an animal cornered.
Then I saw him.
A pale specter floating in the air, I would have been more afraid of him if not the fact that I recognised who he was.
"Jacob? Is that you?" I asked uneasily.
Wait a minute, Jacob's dead. I mean seriously, I went to his funeral. A pretty nice guy, unless you began an argument with him on his anime waifus. From there on, matters could easily get ugly. He apparently died while celebrating one of their birthdays(I'm not saying who, besides that she's a member of a light music club), choking on the cake.
Wearing his customary horse head (don't ask) and wrapped in chains, he spoke in an eerily scratchy voice, "Ukato...Like me you have spent countless hours on anime and manga, cutting yourself from mainstream society...
“I am here ...*cough* cough*… to warn you of..*cough*."
"You know, I would appreciate you stop that bloody attempt at trying to sound scary, Jacob. Is this some sort of Charles Dickies thing? Cause I really don't believe in that sort of thing." I raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Sorry, part of the job description. It's Dickens by the way. I’m supposed to give the customary warning of the incoming three spirits of Christmas to make you change your ways and realise the true spirit of Christmas."
"Haiz....Great, more people who don't understand, lecturing me. What's with the chains anyway? Are they supposed to signify the actions of your past life or something?"
"In a way. If you remember my tastes...."
I suddenly remembered the amount of bondage and guro hentai in his hard drive and nodded with a soft "Ah."
“Goodbye, Ukato. See you in the future.”
Then he disappeared without warning, like a gust of wind.
I was beginning to rationalise what had happened as a hallucination when a foot suddenly smashed the side of my head and flung me off my bed onto the floor face up. I gripped the assaulted area as if it could mute the pain.
“Apologise, scum, for dirtying my feet.” An incredibly indignant, feminine voice commanded, as if I had done a great wrong to her.
“Huh?” I was still dazed and blinking away tears of pain.
“Apologise!” I felt a distressingly strong pressure against my genitals.
“What the fuck?” I said, looking up at my tormentor.
Incredibly gorgeous, with long sweeping purple hair that swept all the way down to her pale slim thighs, she looked strangely familiar, like a character in an anime.
“I am SenjÅga… I mean the Spirit of Christmas Past. I am here to show your transition from an innocent young child into the disgusting, perverted beast that dirties my feet.” She introduced herself without having been asked, which I would have pointed out if not for the fact I was too busy moaning and groaning, reveling in my masochism.
“So, what do you have to say for yourself before we leave?”
“*Moans* Could you rub up and down with your foot?”
“….”
My room was replaced by a scene of my childhood. We were back in my old house, and I barely recognized it. A little boy of ten years old, or me, was sitting in a corner of my parents' room, back facing us.
Wanking off.
At that time, I discovered my father’s collection of Japanese porn and was looking feverishly and wide-eyed at the scenes of carnal indulgence, involving big breasted adult video stars and pretend rapists.
The Spirit of Christmas Past melodramatically feigned as if she had been hit, pressing one hand against her chest, gasping, while using her other hand to shield her eyes
She turned to me, face full of sympathetic shock at having seen some lowly and pathetic creature.
I smiled sheepishly, shrugged and enjoyed the view of her heaving chest.
Still shielding her eyes from the sight of my perverted younger self, she spoke, “I underestimated you… *Gasp* Scum like you….Even at such a young age…Seems like I’m hard pressed to find a point in time when you were innocent. Looks like my job is done.”
My surroundings abruptly melted away before I could tsukkomi.
“Is that the best you can do?!” I protested to my ceiling fan.
I was back in my room. Was everything all just a dream? Did none of it ever happen? It all seemed so real.
I sat up, scratching my balls.
I swore I could still feel the pressure of her foot upon them
(1000 words point)
Continuation
"That bitch sure took her time." A voice came from beside the bed. I swung my head towards the source and was greeted by the noxious smell of cigarette smoke.
A young blond man wearing a bartender's outfit was leaning against the wall beside my bed, smoking a cigarette casually.
He wore a pair of shades despite it being night.
"Why are you wearing a pair of shades at this time of the day?" I asked curiously.
He didn't bother to answer my question, replying, "I'm the Spirit of Christmas Present. Here to do my job and get over with this crap. Follow me if you know what's good for you."
Not appreciating his tone of voice (and that he was a guy), I replied, " Make me."
It was definitely not one of my brightest ideas. I knew subconsciously that I would regret ever saying that.
He unceremoniously thrust the cigarette upon my bedroom floor and stamped on it.
Then he held me by the wrist with his vice like grip, and easily threw me out of the bed and through my window like I was some baseball. I would have been killed if not for the fact that my body had miraculously become non-materially solid, passing throught the window without collision. Flung out through the air, momentum carried my ghostly self through multiple buildings with insane speed. I kept going without stopping or slowing down, images passing by in a blur.
Then it all came to a complete stop, with his palm serving as a brake to head. He had reached the destination before me.
We were floating up in the air, facing an apartment building. From the looks of it, we were at least 7 floors up in the air.
"As the spirit of Christmas present, it's my unfortunate but required duty to show you how others you know are celebrating Christmas with actual companionship, fun and good cheer." He spoke as if he really disliked his job, like he had something better to do. I could hear him murmuring something about "even working for debt collectors paying more."
I began to take in the surrounding details and discovered, much to my surprise, that I recognised the apartment building.
Revol Laer, another otaku I knew lived here. He was a pretty decent guy and a good friend. In the past I used to visit his dwelling to play a few games. Or at least used to.
Then one day, he went and got himself a girlfriend.
No one expected it to happen, but it did. Many of the otakus in our circle spurned him, saying he had betrayed the ideal. We still occasionally met up for an outing or two, but he never hesitated to bring her along. Despite being a tad bit annoyed and uncomfortable whenever he did that, we just kept quiet.
Mostly cause she was a sight for sore eyes, and a damn good cosplayer to boot.
Did I mention that no one expected it to happen?
Anyway, the Spirit of Christmas Present beckoned me to a window of one of the apartments. I looked through the glass pane and damn, was I astonished.
Looks like Revol was being very naughty this year, and wasn't giving a damn about Santa, mostly cause he was already indulging in his favorite little present.
He was on the bed ramming his girlfriend with his dick, intensely, vigorously, like a fucking rabbit. Literally. I could hear their moans and groans through the glass pane and caught some of their dirty talk.
Revol: "*Huff**Ohhhh* Take my present baby, take it..."
Girlfriend: "*Ah*..*ahh*... ahh*.....Gi...give it to me baby... give your Christmas present to your naughty little girl."
Revol: "*Oof *... *huff**...Yeah,*huff* take it, take it....I'm comi...!"
I couldn't bear it anymore, and looked away, trying my best to shut out the noise from my mind(and stop feeling incredibly turned on). That asshole, he was screwing her while she was wearing a santa costume....
I was pissed off. Like seriously furious. How dare he betray his 2d waifus! How dare he go and screw his really pretty real girlfriend who didn't mind weird fetishes!
How dare he not ask me to join him!
I looked back towards where the Spirit of Christmas Present should have been, yet he was gone already. For a while there, I actually believed that I had been abandoned.
Then I heard someone snap their fingers and everything changed around me once more.
Continuation
Here's a little information tidbit.
The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, as described in Charles Dicken's original "A Christmas Carol" appeared to Scrooge as a figure dressed in a black hooded robe very much like the grim reaper, with the being inside the cloak relatively unseen.
Well, this Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come was definitely dressed in black, but I never expected her to be this small. Or to be so damn cute.
A gothic lolita stood before me. Her blond hair was done up in twin-tails, her hair ties pointing upwards, making her look like a rabbit, albeit a really cute rabbit. She carried a large umbrella that was shaped like a cat's face. A red bat hovered beside her, miraculously staying in flight despite being too fat for it's small wings.
I'm not tall, but I towered over her.
"What will you show me?" I asked.
Not even bothering to speak, she just pointed her umbrella towards her side.
Scratching my head, I looked around me.
I appeared to be in a chapel. There were rows of pews in which a small group of people sat, mostly in the front rows. I recognised most of their faces, as they stared towards where I stood.
Otakus in my circle, school mates, distant cousins and my mum. Friends and family. Revol Laer sat in the second row from the front with his girl-friend. His usually pleasant and happy demeanour was replaced with a sombreness that did suit him. His girl-friend looked like she was trying to comfort him,but to no avail.
Mum sat in the front row. I could barely recognise her, her face buried in her hands.
I wanted to jump in and ask "What's up folks? Why so serious?" Which was what I did, but no one noticed my presence.
The situation was far too tense, far too serious for my tastes. Unease slowly gripped me as I turned around, to see what they were really staring at.
Only to face myself.
Or to be exact, a portrait or photograph of my face. At the head of a large wooden coffin.
Horror spread through my mind, as realisation gradually dawned upon me.
There was so much I wanted to say, yet no words could express what I needed to speak. Literally at a loss of words.
I just followed as the ceremony carried on.
Till the point the coffin was sent for the cremation. Into the flames my body went.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
I watched as my mother broke down into tears. Revol was blinking his bloodshot eyes rapidly, as if he was holding something inside them back.
Just stood there staring, unable to question what had happened, perhaps too afraid to ask anyway.
I heard a snap of fingers, and my surroundings were again replaced.
I was back in my room, yet it wasn't my room.
Everything was gone, save the furniture. My normally typhoon struck room, flooded with manga, eroge games and anime figurines, had been stipped bare.
3 enormously full black trashbags sat inside the room. Filled presumably with all the treasures I had collected thoughout my short life. I noticed the door to my room open. Mum entered and began lugging one of the bags out, with great difficulty.
Sweat bled from her forehead and stained her blouse. She strained to drag the first bag out, grunting with annoyance.
My first reaction was to say that the things inside were collector's items and to be more careful with my stuff. Then looking closer at her face, I shut myself up.
Deathly pale with blood shot eyes, her face had become gaunt. As if all the life in her had been driven out, she looked so damn tired. She wore the same black blouse as the one at the ceremony.
After dealing with the first 2 bags, her overexerted body turned towards the last bag. Struggling to pull it out of the room, the trash bag ripped open, causing her to fall backwards . The objects within spewed out onto the floor, manga, figurines and compact disks scattered across the floor. I rushed to her and tried to grab hold of her hand before she hit the ground, but my currently non-material hand passed through her. I gaped as she collided with the floor tiles. She moaned in pain and slowly picked herself up.
She began to gather up the stray objects once more, getting down on her knees. Tears were streaming down her face, splattering the wooden floor tiles.
My own vision was beginning to blur too, my tears blinding me.
I wanted to cry out that I was sorry for everything. For being an ungrateful son. For being a useless, selfish piece of trash. For being someone without any accomplishments. For not being there to help her up when she fell, despite her having done so many times for me
For her to waste tears on someone as unworthy as me.
However, nothing I said could ever reach her.
Strength left my legs and I sank to my knees, tears and snot leaking. Curled up into a small ball, almost as if to isolate myself from the sad, harsh world outside.
Feel so tired, so spent...
The gothic lolita stared at me unkindly, emotionless like a doll. Or a figurine.
A bright, blinding light began to envelope the room. I didn't care, did not even bother to watch what was happening. Just continued to cry.
The light faded away, leaving the room changed. Empty and a complete plain white. All 6 identical sides a pure snow white and me trembling in a corner like an ugly stain.
I heard heavy footsteps coming closer to me, than stopping.
"Stand, boy." A man's voice echoed.
Don't want to. Too tired, too broken.
"Stand, child. Your stronger than this." His words were calm, gentle and reassuring...
Don't wanna...
I felt his large callused palm on my shoulder. It was warm and inviting.
Slowly, painfully, I picked myself up.
"That's it, kid. Get up."
I finally got back up onto my feet.
"Feeling better, young man?"
I looked at the man who stood before me and rasped, "Yeah."
Slightly taller than me, with stubble on his chin, wearing a white t-shirt and a black pair of jeans, he was a man so simple and so completely normal. He had a face that one could easily see and forget in a crowd. Yet there was something important about this man, something I could not quite place my finger on.
He stared at me and smiled, his face a mix of emotions. Some happiness. A tinge of sadness.
"You've grown so much..." He murmured sofly.
Then his eyes opened slightly wider with some realisation, as if he remembered something.
He cleared his throat and spoke with a louder voice," I don't have much time. I've got to go soon."
I don't understand. Why and where?
"I understand life can be hard at times, I know. I've experienced many difficulties too, in my time..."
"I understand that sometimes we need a form of escape. To just be away from the bloody reality that seemingly hates us." he continued.
"However, you must understand this.
There are precious things in real life we must treasure, and some of these things that can be gained by only trying. Life can be cruel, but at the end of the day, you can only face reality. While making the most of it, protecting these truly important things.
It's very hard for me to explain. Friendships, family, love, that sort of things. Not necessarily in that order.
Go out there. Socialise. Good mates are rare and few, but try.
Hell, you may even get lucky and land yourself a girl-friend."
"Don't forget to take care of your mother." The sadness in his smile suddenly became more obvious.
"It's not like what your doing now, like wasting money on otaku goods, is completely bad or anything. Whatever you enjoy is entirely up to you, and I have no business to interfere with your likes or dislikes.
Unless it's cigarettes and drugs."
"Just don't forget.
Dont forget that there is more to life."
His hand left my shoulder and he turned.
The bright shining light began to blaze in front of him once more and he headed towards it. Slowly and reluctantly.
His back facing me, I heard him mutter, "...and seriously, you need to get laid."
He turned his head around slightly to look at me one last time and said 2 words before he disappeared.
"Goodbye son."
I woke up with teary eyes.
Morning sunlight crept into my room.
I looked around me. My room was in the normal state of chaos I leave it in. My cluttered objects still there. Nothing different from the normal except for what I swear is a stamped on cigarette on the floor, ew.
I took a bathe and shaved.
Then headed to the phone. Called up a few friends(those also celebrating alone)and asked if they wanted to hang out. Even asked Revol, who sounded surprised over the phone, not having heard from me for some time. He said he wouldn't mind cause he did not have anything specific planned for the day(He's bringing his girl-friend along, no surprise there). I asked him to ask her to bring some of her own friends if possible.
There was a knock on my door and I heard my mum from behind the door telling me to go down to eat breakfast. I replied with a fast, " Yes mum."
Then I left the the stuffy little room, to live life.
Merry Christmas people.
*on a side note, the first spirit that warns ebenezer scrooge is called Jacob Marley.
It was Christmas Eve, day before Christmas, the holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus, 8.30 pm. Festive cheer was in the air outside, friends and family coming together to celebrate and exchange presents.
And I the great loser, the ultimate pervert, Ukato Toidi, continued to rot in my stuffy and messy room, isolated from those happy bastards, watching pornographic anime on my crappy computer.
I wanted to announce that I hated them for all their good cheer, their happy moods and that most relationships are so damn fragile, with friends that don't even bother to sms a damn merry Christmas. I wanted to scream that I'm perfectly content being alone.
Mostly due to how I was so bloody jealous.
I needed new material to distract myself, so I went onto Fakku! for some really good hentai manga. Or at least tried.
"Fakku’s servers are temporarily down!"
It was the last straw and I felt like I had lost everything. Pissed off with everything and yet nothing, I resorted to my last form of escape from cruel reality.
I collapsed onto my bed, hugging my C.C pillow and tried to fall asleep.
I don't even know when I fell asleep, but the next thing I knew I was woken by a low murmuring that scared the shit out of me.
"Ukato...."
"Ukato Toidi....."
Wind blew violently against my window and escaped through a small gap with a whirling sound. I hugged my pillow closer to me for the small comfort it granted me, trembling like an animal cornered.
Then I saw him.
A pale specter floating in the air, I would have been more afraid of him if not the fact that I recognised who he was.
"Jacob? Is that you?" I asked uneasily.
Wait a minute, Jacob's dead. I mean seriously, I went to his funeral. A pretty nice guy, unless you began an argument with him on his anime waifus. From there on, matters could easily get ugly. He apparently died while celebrating one of their birthdays(I'm not saying who, besides that she's a member of a light music club), choking on the cake.
Wearing his customary horse head (don't ask) and wrapped in chains, he spoke in an eerily scratchy voice, "Ukato...Like me you have spent countless hours on anime and manga, cutting yourself from mainstream society...
“I am here ...*cough* cough*… to warn you of..*cough*."
"You know, I would appreciate you stop that bloody attempt at trying to sound scary, Jacob. Is this some sort of Charles Dickies thing? Cause I really don't believe in that sort of thing." I raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Sorry, part of the job description. It's Dickens by the way. I’m supposed to give the customary warning of the incoming three spirits of Christmas to make you change your ways and realise the true spirit of Christmas."
"Haiz....Great, more people who don't understand, lecturing me. What's with the chains anyway? Are they supposed to signify the actions of your past life or something?"
"In a way. If you remember my tastes...."
I suddenly remembered the amount of bondage and guro hentai in his hard drive and nodded with a soft "Ah."
“Goodbye, Ukato. See you in the future.”
Then he disappeared without warning, like a gust of wind.
I was beginning to rationalise what had happened as a hallucination when a foot suddenly smashed the side of my head and flung me off my bed onto the floor face up. I gripped the assaulted area as if it could mute the pain.
“Apologise, scum, for dirtying my feet.” An incredibly indignant, feminine voice commanded, as if I had done a great wrong to her.
“Huh?” I was still dazed and blinking away tears of pain.
“Apologise!” I felt a distressingly strong pressure against my genitals.
“What the fuck?” I said, looking up at my tormentor.
Incredibly gorgeous, with long sweeping purple hair that swept all the way down to her pale slim thighs, she looked strangely familiar, like a character in an anime.
“I am SenjÅga… I mean the Spirit of Christmas Past. I am here to show your transition from an innocent young child into the disgusting, perverted beast that dirties my feet.” She introduced herself without having been asked, which I would have pointed out if not for the fact I was too busy moaning and groaning, reveling in my masochism.
“So, what do you have to say for yourself before we leave?”
“*Moans* Could you rub up and down with your foot?”
“….”
My room was replaced by a scene of my childhood. We were back in my old house, and I barely recognized it. A little boy of ten years old, or me, was sitting in a corner of my parents' room, back facing us.
Wanking off.
At that time, I discovered my father’s collection of Japanese porn and was looking feverishly and wide-eyed at the scenes of carnal indulgence, involving big breasted adult video stars and pretend rapists.
The Spirit of Christmas Past melodramatically feigned as if she had been hit, pressing one hand against her chest, gasping, while using her other hand to shield her eyes
She turned to me, face full of sympathetic shock at having seen some lowly and pathetic creature.
I smiled sheepishly, shrugged and enjoyed the view of her heaving chest.
Still shielding her eyes from the sight of my perverted younger self, she spoke, “I underestimated you… *Gasp* Scum like you….Even at such a young age…Seems like I’m hard pressed to find a point in time when you were innocent. Looks like my job is done.”
My surroundings abruptly melted away before I could tsukkomi.
“Is that the best you can do?!” I protested to my ceiling fan.
I was back in my room. Was everything all just a dream? Did none of it ever happen? It all seemed so real.
I sat up, scratching my balls.
I swore I could still feel the pressure of her foot upon them
(1000 words point)
Continuation
"That bitch sure took her time." A voice came from beside the bed. I swung my head towards the source and was greeted by the noxious smell of cigarette smoke.
A young blond man wearing a bartender's outfit was leaning against the wall beside my bed, smoking a cigarette casually.
He wore a pair of shades despite it being night.
"Why are you wearing a pair of shades at this time of the day?" I asked curiously.
He didn't bother to answer my question, replying, "I'm the Spirit of Christmas Present. Here to do my job and get over with this crap. Follow me if you know what's good for you."
Not appreciating his tone of voice (and that he was a guy), I replied, " Make me."
It was definitely not one of my brightest ideas. I knew subconsciously that I would regret ever saying that.
He unceremoniously thrust the cigarette upon my bedroom floor and stamped on it.
Then he held me by the wrist with his vice like grip, and easily threw me out of the bed and through my window like I was some baseball. I would have been killed if not for the fact that my body had miraculously become non-materially solid, passing throught the window without collision. Flung out through the air, momentum carried my ghostly self through multiple buildings with insane speed. I kept going without stopping or slowing down, images passing by in a blur.
Then it all came to a complete stop, with his palm serving as a brake to head. He had reached the destination before me.
We were floating up in the air, facing an apartment building. From the looks of it, we were at least 7 floors up in the air.
"As the spirit of Christmas present, it's my unfortunate but required duty to show you how others you know are celebrating Christmas with actual companionship, fun and good cheer." He spoke as if he really disliked his job, like he had something better to do. I could hear him murmuring something about "even working for debt collectors paying more."
I began to take in the surrounding details and discovered, much to my surprise, that I recognised the apartment building.
Revol Laer, another otaku I knew lived here. He was a pretty decent guy and a good friend. In the past I used to visit his dwelling to play a few games. Or at least used to.
Then one day, he went and got himself a girlfriend.
No one expected it to happen, but it did. Many of the otakus in our circle spurned him, saying he had betrayed the ideal. We still occasionally met up for an outing or two, but he never hesitated to bring her along. Despite being a tad bit annoyed and uncomfortable whenever he did that, we just kept quiet.
Mostly cause she was a sight for sore eyes, and a damn good cosplayer to boot.
Did I mention that no one expected it to happen?
Anyway, the Spirit of Christmas Present beckoned me to a window of one of the apartments. I looked through the glass pane and damn, was I astonished.
Looks like Revol was being very naughty this year, and wasn't giving a damn about Santa, mostly cause he was already indulging in his favorite little present.
He was on the bed ramming his girlfriend with his dick, intensely, vigorously, like a fucking rabbit. Literally. I could hear their moans and groans through the glass pane and caught some of their dirty talk.
Revol: "*Huff**Ohhhh* Take my present baby, take it..."
Girlfriend: "*Ah*..*ahh*... ahh*.....Gi...give it to me baby... give your Christmas present to your naughty little girl."
Revol: "*Oof *... *huff**...Yeah,*huff* take it, take it....I'm comi...!"
I couldn't bear it anymore, and looked away, trying my best to shut out the noise from my mind(and stop feeling incredibly turned on). That asshole, he was screwing her while she was wearing a santa costume....
I was pissed off. Like seriously furious. How dare he betray his 2d waifus! How dare he go and screw his really pretty real girlfriend who didn't mind weird fetishes!
How dare he not ask me to join him!
I looked back towards where the Spirit of Christmas Present should have been, yet he was gone already. For a while there, I actually believed that I had been abandoned.
Then I heard someone snap their fingers and everything changed around me once more.
Continuation
Here's a little information tidbit.
The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, as described in Charles Dicken's original "A Christmas Carol" appeared to Scrooge as a figure dressed in a black hooded robe very much like the grim reaper, with the being inside the cloak relatively unseen.
Well, this Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come was definitely dressed in black, but I never expected her to be this small. Or to be so damn cute.
A gothic lolita stood before me. Her blond hair was done up in twin-tails, her hair ties pointing upwards, making her look like a rabbit, albeit a really cute rabbit. She carried a large umbrella that was shaped like a cat's face. A red bat hovered beside her, miraculously staying in flight despite being too fat for it's small wings.
I'm not tall, but I towered over her.
"What will you show me?" I asked.
Not even bothering to speak, she just pointed her umbrella towards her side.
Scratching my head, I looked around me.
I appeared to be in a chapel. There were rows of pews in which a small group of people sat, mostly in the front rows. I recognised most of their faces, as they stared towards where I stood.
Otakus in my circle, school mates, distant cousins and my mum. Friends and family. Revol Laer sat in the second row from the front with his girl-friend. His usually pleasant and happy demeanour was replaced with a sombreness that did suit him. His girl-friend looked like she was trying to comfort him,but to no avail.
Mum sat in the front row. I could barely recognise her, her face buried in her hands.
I wanted to jump in and ask "What's up folks? Why so serious?" Which was what I did, but no one noticed my presence.
The situation was far too tense, far too serious for my tastes. Unease slowly gripped me as I turned around, to see what they were really staring at.
Only to face myself.
Or to be exact, a portrait or photograph of my face. At the head of a large wooden coffin.
Horror spread through my mind, as realisation gradually dawned upon me.
There was so much I wanted to say, yet no words could express what I needed to speak. Literally at a loss of words.
I just followed as the ceremony carried on.
Till the point the coffin was sent for the cremation. Into the flames my body went.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
I watched as my mother broke down into tears. Revol was blinking his bloodshot eyes rapidly, as if he was holding something inside them back.
Just stood there staring, unable to question what had happened, perhaps too afraid to ask anyway.
I heard a snap of fingers, and my surroundings were again replaced.
I was back in my room, yet it wasn't my room.
Everything was gone, save the furniture. My normally typhoon struck room, flooded with manga, eroge games and anime figurines, had been stipped bare.
3 enormously full black trashbags sat inside the room. Filled presumably with all the treasures I had collected thoughout my short life. I noticed the door to my room open. Mum entered and began lugging one of the bags out, with great difficulty.
Sweat bled from her forehead and stained her blouse. She strained to drag the first bag out, grunting with annoyance.
My first reaction was to say that the things inside were collector's items and to be more careful with my stuff. Then looking closer at her face, I shut myself up.
Deathly pale with blood shot eyes, her face had become gaunt. As if all the life in her had been driven out, she looked so damn tired. She wore the same black blouse as the one at the ceremony.
After dealing with the first 2 bags, her overexerted body turned towards the last bag. Struggling to pull it out of the room, the trash bag ripped open, causing her to fall backwards . The objects within spewed out onto the floor, manga, figurines and compact disks scattered across the floor. I rushed to her and tried to grab hold of her hand before she hit the ground, but my currently non-material hand passed through her. I gaped as she collided with the floor tiles. She moaned in pain and slowly picked herself up.
She began to gather up the stray objects once more, getting down on her knees. Tears were streaming down her face, splattering the wooden floor tiles.
My own vision was beginning to blur too, my tears blinding me.
I wanted to cry out that I was sorry for everything. For being an ungrateful son. For being a useless, selfish piece of trash. For being someone without any accomplishments. For not being there to help her up when she fell, despite her having done so many times for me
For her to waste tears on someone as unworthy as me.
However, nothing I said could ever reach her.
Strength left my legs and I sank to my knees, tears and snot leaking. Curled up into a small ball, almost as if to isolate myself from the sad, harsh world outside.
Feel so tired, so spent...
The gothic lolita stared at me unkindly, emotionless like a doll. Or a figurine.
A bright, blinding light began to envelope the room. I didn't care, did not even bother to watch what was happening. Just continued to cry.
The light faded away, leaving the room changed. Empty and a complete plain white. All 6 identical sides a pure snow white and me trembling in a corner like an ugly stain.
I heard heavy footsteps coming closer to me, than stopping.
"Stand, boy." A man's voice echoed.
Don't want to. Too tired, too broken.
"Stand, child. Your stronger than this." His words were calm, gentle and reassuring...
Don't wanna...
I felt his large callused palm on my shoulder. It was warm and inviting.
Slowly, painfully, I picked myself up.
"That's it, kid. Get up."
I finally got back up onto my feet.
"Feeling better, young man?"
I looked at the man who stood before me and rasped, "Yeah."
Slightly taller than me, with stubble on his chin, wearing a white t-shirt and a black pair of jeans, he was a man so simple and so completely normal. He had a face that one could easily see and forget in a crowd. Yet there was something important about this man, something I could not quite place my finger on.
He stared at me and smiled, his face a mix of emotions. Some happiness. A tinge of sadness.
"You've grown so much..." He murmured sofly.
Then his eyes opened slightly wider with some realisation, as if he remembered something.
He cleared his throat and spoke with a louder voice," I don't have much time. I've got to go soon."
I don't understand. Why and where?
"I understand life can be hard at times, I know. I've experienced many difficulties too, in my time..."
"I understand that sometimes we need a form of escape. To just be away from the bloody reality that seemingly hates us." he continued.
"However, you must understand this.
There are precious things in real life we must treasure, and some of these things that can be gained by only trying. Life can be cruel, but at the end of the day, you can only face reality. While making the most of it, protecting these truly important things.
It's very hard for me to explain. Friendships, family, love, that sort of things. Not necessarily in that order.
Go out there. Socialise. Good mates are rare and few, but try.
Hell, you may even get lucky and land yourself a girl-friend."
"Don't forget to take care of your mother." The sadness in his smile suddenly became more obvious.
"It's not like what your doing now, like wasting money on otaku goods, is completely bad or anything. Whatever you enjoy is entirely up to you, and I have no business to interfere with your likes or dislikes.
Unless it's cigarettes and drugs."
"Just don't forget.
Dont forget that there is more to life."
His hand left my shoulder and he turned.
The bright shining light began to blaze in front of him once more and he headed towards it. Slowly and reluctantly.
His back facing me, I heard him mutter, "...and seriously, you need to get laid."
He turned his head around slightly to look at me one last time and said 2 words before he disappeared.
"Goodbye son."
I woke up with teary eyes.
Morning sunlight crept into my room.
I looked around me. My room was in the normal state of chaos I leave it in. My cluttered objects still there. Nothing different from the normal except for what I swear is a stamped on cigarette on the floor, ew.
I took a bathe and shaved.
Then headed to the phone. Called up a few friends(those also celebrating alone)and asked if they wanted to hang out. Even asked Revol, who sounded surprised over the phone, not having heard from me for some time. He said he wouldn't mind cause he did not have anything specific planned for the day(He's bringing his girl-friend along, no surprise there). I asked him to ask her to bring some of her own friends if possible.
There was a knock on my door and I heard my mum from behind the door telling me to go down to eat breakfast. I replied with a fast, " Yes mum."
Then I left the the stuffy little room, to live life.
Merry Christmas people.
