Don't start what you can't finish!

It was two weeks before the entrance ceremony and the start of the new semester of my first year in high school when my dreams were suddenly and abruptly shattered by my parents' announcement.

“We have to go on a business trip abroad,” my mother said.

Just like that.
Plain and straightforward.
Like making casual conversation.

“We don’t know how long we will be staying there yet, but it won’t be less than a year,” my father said.

It’s alright.
I can live on my own.
I’m old enough now.
I’m starting high school soon.

“We’ll send you to live with your aunt, my younger sister, for a while,” mother continued.

In a godforsaken village that doesn’t even show up on any map, out in the boonies, in the countryside, right at the edge of the universe.
Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. I'll rephrase it a bit.
In a godforsaken village that doesn’t even show up on any map, out in the boonies, in the countryside, right at the edge of the currently known universe.

Apparently, I've been to that place before. Way back when I was still little, seven or eight if I remember correctly. We spent a couple of summer vacations there. And also, I had a cousin on the female side as well, but I cannot recall her name or even her face.

I've got to be honest. The story smells a lot like a harem.
I know what you’re thinking right about now: Aunt’s house in the countryside? Is it going to be another cliché story?

Well, if you think that’s a big cliché, much like stories of reincarnation in another world or parallel world pharmacies or villainesses in games, etc., that appear at a rate of hundreds or thousands a day, sadly, I'll have to be the first one to agree on that myself. If you don’t like the subject of this book, tell that to the author with the “brilliant” and “fresh” ideas overflowing from their head, call the police and ask them to make a special law to prevent them from writing ever again, or just dispose of this book by any means necessary, like burning it to a crisp or ripping it into small pieces of paper, making it unable to be read any more, or even using it as a foothold in place of the broken back leg of your living room’s couch.

Broken dreams and promises, hopes of a new start with me not being an introvert anymore, meeting new people, enjoying my high school years, being part of a club, having my first romance, hanging out at a karaoke place, going with my friend to a summer festival, and all those commonplace stories that have already been told millions upon millions of times in every anime, manga, or light novel ever made, have just been casually thrown out the window and at the readers’ faces.
I guess I didn’t mention visiting or staying at a hot spring inn and traveling all the way across Japan to spend a day at the sea. And of course, there’s the school trip as well, the cultural festival, and don’t forget sports day.

As you can imagine, every attempt to fight back or effort to try changing their minds got shot down instantly. And with the day of moving out of here and onto a new life closing in on me by the minute, I had to give my best effort to escape fate’s clutches.

Every attempt...

“There is absolutely no way that we are going to let you live here on your own,” mother said.

...failed...

“You are still too young for that,” father stated.

...miserably...

“Staying at a new place can be a good thing,” mother followed suit.

… as expected...

I can’t give up just yet.
There must be something I can do to avoid this punishment.
I haven’t thought of it just yet.

You see, starting high school was a big step for me. It was my one and only chance to start anew, with a clean slate, giving up my pathetic and miserable lifestyle, turning from an anti-social otaku to someone who actually would have friends and a partner and live the high school life to the limit.

‘Oh, cruel fate, thy claws I can’t escape,’ and other famous and old quotes that people use to make their life sound more dramatic.

Author-sensei-san, at least try to make this one an interesting story, not like every other book you've written so far that ended up being used as kindling in your fireplace to warm your lonely self on cold winter nights.

I don’t know. Maybe give it a supernatural twist? Or a fantasy setting? Or even a sci-fi topic? Is it too much to ask for or is it too hard for you?
You know, use your ‘imagination’?!
If you still have or remember what that is, I guess.

I also see that you typed "Don't start what you can't finish!" at the top of the page. Is that the title of the chapter or a warning to all readers here, which I doubt anyone is actually reading it, that this is going to be just another prologue without a continuation of the story ever, like all the others you've posted here so far, and no one will be looking forward to the next chapter that will never be released?

I can help you with that if you want. But first, I need you to give me superpowers, or else there’s nothing saving you or this book from becoming a new home for spiders in your bookcase.

I might need to hold back on trashing the author-sensei-san at this point. My life and existence depend on their hand, and if I don’t want to be the protagonist of a book left unwritten like so many others so far due to the many and different ideas they had, making them leave aside the book they started, only to start a new one in its stead, I need to toughen myself up and go along with their story.

There’s only one week left to prepare, mentally above all else. Most of my stuff has already been packed in boxes, leaving only my bed and a couple of changes of clothes for the enjoyment of the last days of being a free man. Not that I had any friends or anywhere to go, being an introvert and all. No one is preparing a big farewell party for me or coming to the train station to wave goodbye to me or even telling me they’re going to miss me and that their life won’t be the same anymore without me.

Life sucks, more than author-sensei-san.

"I know that I am short, fat, and ugly, and I'll never get a girlfriend, even if I was the last person on Earth. I have a face that could make any monster in horror movies start crying from fear the moment they take a glimpse of me. But I can lock myself in a room forever, where not even the sun’s rays will be able to reach, or better yet, hide in a cave or a hole in the ground, never to go out again so that humanity will be saved, at last, from the pain and suffering of having to look at me."

…

Author-sensei-san, that was a real cheap shot there. Fine, I'll retract my previous statements, and from now on, I'll try to avoid speaking the trut... talking down on you.

"I’m also an idiot who failed every subject at school, and the only reason I wasn't get held back was that the teachers didn’t want to put up with me for another year..."

Okay, okay, I got it. I'll zip it...

You are a real tsundere, author-sensei-san, you know that?

"The truth is that my parents wouldn’t actually go on a business trip. They never wanted me to begin with, so in order to get rid of me, they devised a plan to send me to my aunt’s house for a year, that would actually last forever, so they could enjoy their lives in happiness without me."

…
…
…

I see...
It’s a stalemate...

Let’s leave everything behind us, shall we? I promise I'll behave myself from now on, so let’s keep up with the story.

Sitting on the bed in my room and looking out the window, at the same scenery I had been gazing at for the past sixteen years – unchanged, just like my way of life – reminded me that I had no attachments to this place or this town whatsoever. I didn’t have any meaningful memories or something to anticipate returning to.
Maybe it's a good thing, this new life. Perhaps there's a new world waiting for me, full of adventures and new experiences, new people to meet. Maybe that's the fresh start I had been dreaming of.

And just like that, the last week passed by, leading to the day of my departure.

I slung my bag over my shoulders – everything else had been packed into boxes to be sent at a later date. I only took the essentials with me and headed to the exit door of my house. I had to take two buses to reach the train station – the final barrier to my previous life and the gateway to a new one. Then, I would travel for several hours to reach my destination.

As expected, no one came to the train station to wave goodbye. Probably nobody knew I was leaving – possibly forever – or to be more precise, I think nobody knew me at all to even care. I was a ‘nobody’ after all.

I don’t blame them. The only thing I can blame is the way of life I chose to pursue up until now.

Goodbye, old life.
Goodbye, old me.
Goodbye, my youth.

Little did I know back then that I also had to bid farewell to one more thing along with the others. So, I'd better say it now lest I regret it forever.
Goodbye, plain and ordinary life...

And with that, I boarded the train, embarking towards an unfamiliar and unknown destination...
To the beginning of the end...
At the end of the beginning...

                                                                      The End.

I’m joking...