Kelly Everhart. The one who's in front of me right now is my best friend. Childhood best friend, in fact. If I could describe him as an animal, he'd most likely be a brain eating amoeba, if that even is an animal…? Be sure to be aware when you're around him because he might eat your common sense and digest it like it's melted marshmallow for smores. He has brown hair that glistens hazel when struck by the sun. His eyes are brown but turn gold when hit with light. His skin is fair, tannish, yet quite rough at touch. And his physique is quite built, but I'm nearing the same level as him, I exercise too you know?
"I found something!"
My eyes were suddenly filled with excitement. He held up his hand, holding a toy… A fucking toy. I stood up, ready to slap him in the face again, but before I got to his seat, something was completely different. The black blazer he had, the blue neck tie, and the ID he was wearing for work suddenly changed into something more… bizarre.
"Why are you in green pajamas?" I ask him,
"What are you on about?"
"Take a look at yourself! You're wearing pajamas this early in the morning? And how are you even wearing pajamas? It's not like you actually changed your outfit when you're underneath the table!"
He looks at himself, then looks at me with despair in his eyes, "What the fuck is happening right now?"
"I don't know! You tell me?!"
"Uhh, umm… Why am I suddenly wearing pajamas?!"
"Why the fuck are you asking me that?! What even is that emotion you're wearing on your eyes?!"
"I-I don't know but…" He blinks once, "but… why are you wearing pajamas too?"
"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm wearing my—"
As I look down to see my suit, I notice the itchy yet soft surface of the blue pajamas I'm now wearing. Suddenly, I heard a loud thud in front of me. I quickly raised my head to check, only to find that Kelly was nowhere to be found. All that was left was ceramic shards from some kind of green toy. I walked over towards his seat, but all that remained was a paper folded twice. Curiosity got the best of me, so I reached out to it and opened it.
"The beginning: A Simple note for beginners
Dear journeyers. Welcome to the official start of your journey towards Destiny! Your first destination is…
Friendship
Memories will be relived with you in it. Beware, for your actions are not your actions but the actions of your past. You may live out the best of your experience, for this simulation is truly reality warping.
Thank you, and goodluck!
From: Vita"
Did you read it? Well congratulations, because I dropped it after it called me a beginner. What did it say? Oh right, you're just a reader, not a character inside this story. Anyways, after it called me a beginner, I crumpled it up and tossed it to the side. I don't care what it said, I'm just gonna figure it out on my own!
As I walked around to find the missing Kelly, the train suddenly turned a corner. I stumbled down on the ground, but as I stood up, something definitely changed. My point of view suddenly decreased to a shorter height, and my innocence somehow turned high.
"What the actual @#%^ just happened, that hurts!... what? What's wrong with the word #%@^... HUH?!!"
I try to speak out the word #&@*, but everytime I say so, it's somehow #*@%=# censored! Ugh! What the heck? Not even letting me use my favorite cuss word? I got distracted by this weird #*%=#@ phenomena that I totally forgot that Kelly went missing.
Where could he even go? I ask myself. As I was about to go back to my seat, suddenly, the train entered a tunnel again, this time, everything was dark. I can't see anything, so I try to feel the table in my palm, but while I was touching it, the table suddenly vanished from my touch, almost as if it was never there. There were no lights, only darkness everywhere.
As the train continued to move forward to its path, I saw light. White light that's enough to illuminate everything inside the train. As the train moves towards this light, I realize that it was the end of the tunnel. When the train left the tunnel, everything changed.
**********
I opened my eyes, my eyes still blurred. Once it cleared, the blinding lights met me, then I saw that I was sitting on the floor, with a grey couch beside me. The TV playing some 90's shows for kids. The carpet that's somewhat familiar to see. And the overall feeling of the surroundings. Am I… still on the train? Am I just dreaming? As thoughts of confusion filled my head, I heard a faint female voice in the distance, calling out to my name.
I dash towards the front door to open it, but it took longer than expected. It was Kelly's mother, with Kelly by her side. But Kelly was small, like a child, holding his toy in his right arm, cradling it like a baby.
"Come inside Kelly!" I said, inviting him inside the house.
Mom was cooking dinner, while we lay on the floor in the living room playing with the toys from the toy box. I specifically picked the blue dinosaur since it would match with the green dinosaur he had. Somehow, his toy was large, big enough to even need 3 of Kelly's hands to grab it.
"Why's your toy so big Kelly?" I ask him, chuckling over the obesity of the toy dinosaur.
"Well… I liked it so I picked it when we were at the mall…" He said, holding tight on the toy, "T-they say that it can talk so I asked mom to buy it, and she did, so I was very happy. This is my favorite toy so far."
"How can this toy be your favorite when you had it for only a few days?" I genuinely asked him.
"I-I… This became my favorite because it looks cool, and also it can talk… just like they said…"
"Talk?"
"Yeah, talk."
"You mean roar, right? You do know that dragons roar."
"Dragon? Do you mean dinosaur?"
"So you did know that dinosaurs roar. Are you kidding me?" I stare at him.
"N-no?! I-I thought that…"
I immediately grabbed the toy dinosaur in his hands. His hands were soft enough to be able to get something from him. He was shocked, and tried to get his toy back.
"Hey! It's mine! Give it back!" He pushes through.
"How does this even roar?" I try to pierce everything, pressing every inch of its body and shaking it to find some kind of hidden mechanism.
"You're gonna destroy it! Give it back, Alan!" He insisted.
"Nuh-uh! Not until I figured out how this works—" Suddenly, I lost grip of the toy. It fell to the ground as high as three feet. Though a small height, due to its large body, it shattered into almost every piece you could think of. The carpet was stained with its plastic shards, dangerous to even step on.
Kelly froze. Shocked by what he was looking at. His favorite toy, the one he got only a few days ago, was shattered into pieces by his best friend. He walks over towards the broken pieces. Seeing the head of the toy he once loved, decapitated by just a simple fall of three feet, who wouldn't be angry at that?
I pick up a mini speaker on the ground, "Oh… guess it really does roar." I pressed the button connected to it, and it created a sound I wasn't expecting.
"Hi! My name is Viola the Dinosaur! Press me more to make me talk!"
"... so it can actually talk." I mumble, looking at the thing I created, a disaster.
Kelly, still frozen at the sight of his toy being broken, turned slightly towards me, while holding a gaze on the floor. "You broke it…" He says,
"Hey hey hey! I-I was only trying to figure out how it works!" I hold up both my arms, trying to find a reason to get out of this mess, "T-technically speaking, it was the floor and your toy's fault! Why? Because the floor is just being the floor, and the toy is just freaking huge, that's why it broke!" I say in a rush.
"..." He remained quiet, then turned back towards the broken pieces of the toy, "No amount of reason can ever take back what you've done, Alan. No matter who did it, the one who had it always had done it." He says coldly.
"Woah, what's with the vibe right now? Is this seriously the Kelly I know? Why're you so cold?" I say, chuckling nervously as I try to communicate with Kelly.
"Alan, Kelly, dinner is at the table!" Mom says.
Kelly walked first towards the kitchen table. I followed him, still trying to find a reason to get out of the things I've caused, "It's just a toy, Kelly. You can buy another one…?" I said to him,
He paused, "Do you even know what sentimental value even is?" He asks, looking back at me while facing the kitchen.
"Umm… No? I'm still a child, I don't know any vocabulary."
"Then shut up." And he continues to walk to the kitchen table.
His statement made me completely frozen, he had never said anything like that to me before. It's like he really does despise me just because of a stupid toy that I broke. I shrugged it off and sat on the chair where I always sit. Kelly always sits beside me, but now he sat on the other side of the table, far from me. He stares at his plate, with nothing but a blank stare. Mom looks at me, and taps my arm.
"What have you done, Alan?" She says
"I broke his toy, but they can just buy new ones, right?" I say to her,
"Oh, Alan… I—" Suddenly, a vibration was heard from her pocket, someone was calling her, "Sorry, I just need to take this. I'll be back, Alan, so just continue eating, okay?" She said to me, then she left. I turned curious as to what she would say to me earlier about what I did, but coincidence really got the better of me, huh?
Kelly's mother was in the backyard, tending to the flowers my Mom and Aunt planted together. Me and Kelly both sat in an awkward silence. The longest that we didn't speak to each other in the entire 7 years of my child life. My mom cooked steak, the smell was perfect, but somehow the steak was kind of dry. You see, my mom wasn't always the best cook in the world, she always had these kinds of things where you'd expect her to be good at cooking, but she sucks most of the time. That's why we sometimes buy deliveries, or just go with my dad's cooking.
When Kelly was finished with his food, he immediately left. I rushed to complete my eating and followed him to the porch. When we got there, he just stared at the road, like an old man sightseeing. "What are you looking at, Kelly?" I asked him, yet there was no response. What am I supposed to do? I ask myself.
Then, I heard the car engine start to rumble in the garage. It was my mom, she seems to be rushing to go somewhere. I don't know where, but she drove off like it was some kind of emergency. My mom always drives fast even when she's just going somewhere where being late isn't even part of the rules. She just loves to drive fast. But this time, it was different, like she drove off like something happened.
"Did you see how mom drove off? It was as if she was in a hurry or something… Kelly?" I turned to my right, and Kelly was gone. I opened the door and checked for Kelly, but he was nowhere to be found in the house. "Kelly? Where did you go?" I opened the door to my room, yet he wasn't there. I opened the door to the restroom, he wasn't there either. Where could he have gone?
Suddenly, I heard a faint voice outside. It was coming from the backyard, where Kelly's mom is tending for the flowers both Mom and her planted. I rushed towards the backdoor to see Kelly talking with his mother. Kelly's mom looked at me, then looked back at Kelly. He patted Kelly in the back and walked towards my direction. My heart all of the sudden was beating fast, like she was about to confront me about what I did to his toy.
When she came to me, she froze, holding a smile on her face. "Come with me." She says, holding out her hand for me to grab. Of course I grabbed it, but the moment I lent my grip to her, she immediately dragged me towards Kelly. The ground started to leave out marks of my shoes as she continued to drag me towards him.
"What am I going to do?!" I say,
"Just follow me." She says.
She continues to drag me towards Kelly. The face that he had was somewhat sad, like he's expecting me to say something to him in order for him to feel better. But what am I going to say?! I closed my eyes, and before I knew it, I was in front of him. He stares at the ground blankly, while I stare at him filled with panic in my eyes. What should I say? What should I do? Is he going to hate me forever? What if that did happen? Thoughts completely filled my head.
Suddenly, his mom also grabbed his hand. She dragged both of us towards a table nearby. She sat us both down, facing each other, while she sat beside both of us. She smiled, then started to talk.
"You know…" She looks at me, "Your mom and I met in maternal care."
"What's that?" I ask.
"That's where mothers go when they are pregnant with a baby!"
"Oohh, so what happened?"
She chuckled slightly, then looked at both of us, holding each other's hand, "We fought."
"Wha—why did you both fight?" I ask her,
"That's because there was a… let's just say, a makeup that we both loved."
**********
Story - From the Perspective of Kelly's Mother
**********
I sat down on a grey sofa. Waiting for my name to get called. Suddenly, a woman sat down next to me. She was quite younger than me, maybe just 28 years old? Both of us sat quietly, awkwardly in fact. Suddenly, my eyes darted on something in the table in front of us. A magazine, featuring my all star crush, other than my husband of course. I stared at it, and looked around if anyone was looking. Why would they place this here? I mean, how could they~
When I reached my hand towards the magazine, someone slapped my hands off. I looked to my side, and there, the woman who sat next to me was glaring right at me. I wasn't sure what she was going on about, so I just shrugged it off and continued my quest on getting myself the hot man in the cover.
I grabbed it, but the moment I pulled it from the table, the lady next to me suddenly grabbed it too. "Didn't I already slap you on the hand? I was saying this is mine!" She says, holding on tight on the magazine.
She was strong, almost as if she trained for this moment. I wasn't going to give up that easily, so both of us put our efforts into getting the magazine. Both of us stood up, fighting each other's strength and going against each other's will on achieving this magazine. After a few moments, both of us took a deep breath, we were exhausted, we were pregnant remember?
"Let's just… haa… leave it on the table?" She says, gasping as she hangs tight on her stomach.
"Sure… haa… damn, all that effort for this?"
Both of us let go of the magazine. It landed on its back cover, and on the back was the same model, but this time, he was shirtless and more hot. As I sat back down on the couch, she grabbed it instantly. My instincts worked and I grabbed the magazine again, glaring at her because she broke the peace making.
"Let go…!" I tell her, grunting as I struggle to hold on to the magazine.
"No, you let go! Or I'll tell your husband that you're over here fighting over a man on a paper!" She says,
"We're both doing that right now!"
"Well did I say I was going to tell it to my husband?" She held a smirk.
"You—"
"Mrs. Richards, Mrs. Everhart, please enter room B-12. Thank you."
The secretary on the counter told us. When she was done announcing, she saw both of us fighting over the magazine on the table. She slowly put down the microphone, and sat back down on her seat, making us unable to be seen by her. The counter was tall, and at first you can't see if someone was actually tending to these counters, not until you got near.
I glared at her, and she glared back. We walked together, still holding onto the magazine. The feud was tight, and I expect it to last a little longer than this. As we were about to enter room B-12, an employee walking by suddenly walked straight at us, grabbing the magazine effortlessly out of our hands.
She looked at both of us as she was walking away from us, "Yeah, this? This is mine ladies, so back off." She waves the magazine on her hand, leaving a grin on her face, as she walks like a sassy bi%#@ back towards the employee room. She opened the magazine as she was walking, and just like that, she left.
Both of us stood in the hallway, in front of the big door, with shock on our faces. I look at her, then she looks at me. I say to her, "Wow… what a bi#@%", in which she responds, "Yeah, I totally agree."
Both of us chuckled, as we both entered the room, completely unbothered by that incident. While inside, I learned that she was 4 months pregnant, while I told her that I was 6 months pregnant with my baby. I ask her, "What's going to be the name of your baby?" to which she replies, "I think I'm gonna name him… Alan."
I smile at her, then she asks me the same question, "What about you, what are you going to name your baby?" in which I replied almost instantly, "Kelly… Kelly's gonna be his name."
"Wow, what a wonderful name. I hope both of our babies become best friends, and get marri—"
**********
End of Story for the Magazine Feud
**********
"Wait, what was that about being married—" I say, until she shushes me and continues to talk.
"There's no need for that kind of information right now…"
"So, what's the lesson mom?" Kelly asks,
"Oh right. Just like Alan's mom and I both had a fight, it could actually lead to a bigger connection to each other. If we hadn't fought over that magazi—I mean makeup, we wouldn't have met each other, we wouldn't be friends, and you both wouldn't even had been like this right now if we hadn't meet." She says,
"So? What should we do?" Kelly asks,
"All that I'm saying is that, you're still a child. Both of you can gain more connections if you both learned how to communicate and know each other's likes and dislikes. Child feuds are always resolved in a matter of time, and it's best to solve it early than solve it a little later." She added, then she looked at me, with eyes filled with care, "Fights can be solved by the very first step…" She paused, then grabbed my hand and Kelly's hand, "Alan, you should apologize for what you've done."
"M-me?! but…" Kelly looks at me, "but…" I hesitate for a moment, then say "I'm sorry, Kelly. For breaking your toy…"
While Kelly's mom both held our hands tight, she pulled it together, and made us do a handshake, "Now Kelly, you should learn how to accept an apology." She says.
Kelly hesitates, then, "Apology accepted, Alan."
Kelly's mom lets go of both of our hands, then claps with joy in her eyes. She smiles happily. She stood up, then said, "And because of that, Kelly. I'm buying you another toy. While you, Alan, are getting a toy like his too."
"What?!" Both of us exclaimed.
"Hehe, I just got my extra pay right now, so I can afford most of the stuff you want." She chuckles.
Kelly, still with the sad look on his face, was showing signs of happiness in his eyes. I look at my hands, wondering if apologies were the only way to make every problem go away. That saying sorry to things you've done was the only solution to the problems the person has caused.
As I stood up to go back inside the house, the ground shook wildly. I heard a chuffing sound, together with the vibration on my feet. The next thing you know…
**********
"PWAH! Haa… Kelly! I'm so sorry! I'm so—" I woke up from my sleep, with the feeling of being drowned. It was hard to breathe at first, but after a while I can breathe properly again. I looked in front of me, and I was still on the train.
"What the fuck happened? W-was that… was that just a dream? But it felt too real to be a dream…" I mumble, trying to comprehend what had just happened earlier.
I looked at myself, and I was back in my original suit. The black blazer, the blue tie, my ID, everything. That's when I saw Kelly in front of me, asleep too. However, he was holding something weird.
"This… this is the toy from that dream…" I mumbled as I touched it.
In a sudden, Kelly woke up, gasping for air, "UGH! What the… wait wait wait…" He paused, looking at his hands, evaluating his surroundings, "That was just a dream?" He says.
"You dreamt it too?" I ask,
"Yeah… wait, ALAN?! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" He exclaims,
He pointed his finger at me, shocked by what he was witnessing. I stood up, leaned over him, and slapped him in the face.
"I'm real, you're real. This is real. Not a dream, and we'd already met before in this train you dumbass." I say,
He held his cheek as the pain took over. I leaned back on my seat, and looked outside the window. When I turned back towards the table, there was suddenly something on it. A colorful paper, folded three times. It was a brochure, and it was named.
"The Train of Destiny: Manual for Beginners"
Whatever is happening, or whoever is controlling these things… They really do want to taunt me, don't they? Well I just have 2 words to say to them, FUCK YOU!