Prologue

The office door closed behind me with a soft click as, for the first time in days, I stepped into the light of day. I was instantly hit by a barrage of sounds that I had almost forgotten during my indoor tenure, sirens and car horns blaring, dogs barking, the noise of construction somewhere in the distance. The world was so loud! My head, already spinning after spending the last week staring at a computer screen, parsing through endless rows of data, of spreadsheets and presentations, began to pound like the beat of a drum.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the feeling of the warm sunlight on my face, the gentle summer breeze against my skin. After countless hours spent in the office fighting to meet the most important deadline of the year, sleeping in my mesh chair and having food brought to me – when I remembered to eat – this fleeting moment of freedom was my reward for a job well-done, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I had the rest of the day to myself.

At least the client was happy in the end, I thought with a sigh, and moved aside as I heard the door behind me open once again. Two men in wrinkled dark suits similar to my own appeared, idly chatting with each other, both smiling in spite of the bags beneath their eyes; a feature I probably also shared with them.

“Oh, hey, Eric!” The taller of the duo said, taking notice of me, “What a week, huh?”

Hey, Bill. Hey, Jerry,” I laughed nervously in response, “Yeah, that was one of the worst in a while, actually. I’m looking forward to sleeping in a bed for once.”

The other man, shorter, wider, and wearing glasses, chimed in, “I’ll bet! Hey, we’re actually headed down to the bar. You want to join us? I reckon a nice, cold beer would hit the spot right about now.”

“Ah,” I began, scratching my cheek, “Thanks for the offer, but my head’s really killing me right now. I think I’m just going to head home.”

“Hey, no worries!” Bill said, clapping my shoulder, “Maybe next time, yeah?”

“Next time,” I agreed, nodding. I waved as the two set off down the street, and I turned to head in the opposite direction.

As I walked, I kicked myself internally for turning them down. The truth was that I did want to go, and I knew that I needed to get out and socialize more. I’d never been a big fan of the bar scene, but here I was, thirty years old and single, with no prospects; opportunities to meet people were fleeting, and it felt like my time was running out. But my head really was pounding now, and the thought of going to a smelly, crowded, noisy bar? Yeah, no thanks.

So instead, I wound my way through the streets back to my tiny apartment, where I lived alone. I fumbled the key out of my pocket and entered, greeted by the smell of dusty, still air. When was the last time I had even been home? It had to have been five days? Maybe six? Every day felt like it melded into the next anymore in one long, mundane cycle.

I shut the door behind me and took my shoes off, shuffling into the living room. As I plopped down on the couch, it was only now that I even thought to check my phone. Huh, five days it is, then, I thought as I checked the date. Seeing no new messages, I let my hand fall into my lap and stared at the ceiling, just listening to the silence. After a stressful week it was equally as comforting as it was oppressive.

“Well, I have the rest of the day off. I might as well make the most of it,” I told the walls, and turned my gaze to the laptop sitting on the table beside me. When was the last time I had even turned it on? It had to have been nearly a month. After a few minutes of listening to the blood pumping in my ears, trying to will myself to reach out and pick it up, to work on something I wanted to for once, I finally sighed and mumbled defeatedly, “It’s no use, I couldn’t focus on it anyway.”

That was the sad reality of life. Five days living at the office, one night to myself, and I could not even enjoy it. I was drained, burned out. I had no energy left to pour into my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions; no, they had all died once I started working for a living. Dejectedly, I was reminded that things had been like this for nearly ten whole years already. Where had all that time gone, anyway?

Books, television, and games were my only solace, anything that could help me forget this world, if only for a short time. I laid down on the couch and found an anime that I had started watching weeks ago, and it was not long before I was immersed in that foreign, fantastical world.

Soon, my eyes began to grow heavy, my head bobbing as I struggled to stay awake, to follow the plot. But it was no use, and I quickly gave up and allowed my consciousness to fade. My last thoughts were of how exciting it would be to live in a world of fantasy, of magic and mystery, and as I drifted off to sleep, these thoughts also found their way into my dreams.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I groaned at the alarm’s incessant chime, blindly reaching for my phone. Finding it, I yawned and swiped it open, finally turning off the noise. I let my arm flop back to my side and stared at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity, trying to muster up the strength to rise and start the day.

At some point during the night, I had woken up just long enough to change out of my clothes and fall into bed, almost instantly returning to sleep. And I had to admit, after a shower and a cup of coffee, that I felt better. At least, my headache was gone.

A quick breakfast of eggs and buttered toast, and I was out the door. The sky looked like rain, but I ignored it, my mind elsewhere, still running wild with thoughts of being transported to some fantastical world, and the adventures I might have there.

I came to a crosswalk, and stopped to wait for it to turn. There was not much traffic this early in the day, but I also was in no hurry to get back to the office. As I stood there, lost in my own inner world, I idly noticed a young girl of maybe twelve or so, wandering about in the intersection, gawking as if it was her first time in the city. At first, the sight did not register to me, but after a second, I shook my head and actually focused on her for the first time.

There she was, wearing a simple white dress and flowers in her long, golden hair, her wide eyes scanning the cityscape in awe. She was oblivious to where she was, or to anything around her; so much so that she must not have noticed the light was red. I looked around at the sparse crowd around me, half of them on their phones and the rest staring ahead uninterestedly, but none of them seemed to take notice of the girl at all.

It was none of my business, I reasoned. No one else seemed to care, and there was no use in making a scene. She would move out of the way soon enough. But then, I saw the delivery truck barreling down on the intersection at a speed obviously faster than the limit. Even if the driver took notice of her now, there was no way they could stop in time! And the girl was still oblivious to her surroundings, her back to the imminent danger.

My body moved before I could think, and I sprinted into the street, lunging forward to push the girl out of the way of the oncoming truck. Time seemed to slow to a stop as I hung there in midair, the truck mere yards away, the girl’s eyes going wide with surprise as she half-turned to look at me. It was close, but I could definitely save her!

Then, she vanished without a trace, as if she had never actually been there at all.

Huh? I thought, and everything went dark.