Story Cover

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[1] Imagine being stuck in this dead end routine. Your day starts at 5AM, you can’t sleep for even one second more because you sold your soul to some evil corporation and have to wake up early to please your masters. The only thing you like about your job is that it puts food on the table and pays the bills. The food isn’t even that great because you’re still hang up on your ex and you are very much single. You go back to an empty home from the shitty job with shitty coworkers that don’t even like you except for an annoying person that no one wants to be around. Everyday you pray for the sweet relief of death but life isn’t so kind as to even grant you that mercy. You can’t kill yourself because you’re still hoping that maybe one day, just one day your life will turn around. But that only happens in fairy tales. That’s a day in the life of Tony. The working day is done and there’s no one to tell me, ‘hey I’ll see you tomorrow.’ All I can do is exit the building and walk to my car under the cold moonless night, alone. The drive is long, not because my house is on the other side of the world but because of traffic. A drive that is supposed to take fifteen minutes max usually ends up taking close to two hours. I work from Monday to Friday. Fridays are good because I leave work at 16:00 but since today is a Thursday I left work at around 19 hours. Two hours later. I just parked my car in the garage and here I am standing in front of my door wondering how this happened. “Oh shit, did I forget to lock up? No I’m sure I did.” I’m sure I locked the door before I left this morning, after all who in their right mind would leave the front door open and be away from his house for hours?. ‘Could it be a thief?’ I know I’m not the bravest human being on the planet but I have to go in at some point. I’ve been standing out here for twenty minutes, I’m wondering whether I should call the police or not. Even if I call them what am I going to say,’Oh hello I think someone broke into my house but I’m too scared to see who’s inside?’ What if they get here then I find out that I just forgot to lock the door instead? Ok so I’ll just take a peek, once I see someone I’m calling for help. I force myself to move but my legs feel a little stiff, they don’t want to move. The thought of, ‘Where am I going to sleep?’ is the only thing giving me the courage to put one leg in front of the other and I somehow manage to walk while shaking in my shoes with my heart pounding really fast. On my gray couch, I notice a young girl sitting carelessly in her school uniform, the first thing I notice is her pink underwear. I force my eyes to look away but I’m a little flustered. She notices me staring and quickly sits properly, ‘Oh shit she saw me staring, what should I do now? And now my other member is starting to betray me by giving away his position.’ “Oh hi,” she says with a smile on her face, looking like she’s glad I’m here. So this is the thief that broke into my house. “Does that mean you’re on a break from school?” Whenever schools go on a break I receive a guest against my will, this sort of thing started happening last year, she came over twice and stayed with me for about three weeks. “Yes, so can I stay here uncle Tony? Please, please?” She says with her hands clasped together, she’s so cute that I can’t even say no to her. I don’t know why she’s asking when she’s already in here. Her staying with me isn’t a problem, that’s if she’ll behave. Man this is such a bother, now I have to call Him and let him know that his daughter is here. He’s the last person I want to talk to. Actually I don’t have to talk to him. I can just call Joyce instead. “How did you get in? I am sure I locked the door.” I don’t really know how signs of forced entry look like but I am sure my door doesn’t look like someone tampered with it and I know that I locked it so how did she get in? “I still have the key you gave me last time. See?” She takes out a key and proudly shows it to me. “I don’t remember giving you a key.” I seriously don’t remember giving her a key to my house. “Yes you did. It was when daddy came to get me, you gave me one and told me to come back whenever I wanted.” -liar! “Never mind. Have you already told your mom that you are here?” “Yes, she said it’s okay so you don’t have to call her.” I don’t see her luggage anywhere. This house only has one bedroom so her stuff would stick out like a sore thumb in my living room but I can only see her school bag. So she came straight from school, which means Joyce has no idea that she’s here. “You are supposed to tell your parents that you are coming here. Now I have to start calling Joyce and let her know that you are here.” “N-No please don’t tell... mama.” She wraps her hands around her legs exposing her thighs again, I see something pink and laced. I can’t take my eyes off it. But why does it look like she really doesn’t want to tell Joyce? It’s almost like she’s scared of what will happen if I tell her. “What? Why, your parents are supposed to know where you are otherwise they’ll be worried.” It’s hard to think with what’s in front of me. The time is close to 22 but neither Joyce nor Prince have called me to ask if she’s here. “I just don’t want you to call mama. Please call daddy instead.” She’s making things hard for me on two fronts. I don’t really want to talk to her father. Calling Joyce would be way more convenient for me but why doesn’t she want me to call her? “Why do you want me to call Prince instead of Joyce?” “If you call mama she’ll come get me and I don’t want to go back home, so please call daddy instead.” She’s right, the last time she came here without informing anyone I called Joyce and she showed up an hour later to get her daughter, she just might do the same again. Ritar wanted to stay with me immediately schools closed in November last year but Joyce wouldn’t have it. She said that her daughter was behaving badly by not informing her. “But you didn’t bring your clothes, you just can’t keep wearing the same uniform everyday.” “I left some clothes here, I can just wear those.” The problem with the school system is that pupils learn for three months and take a break for about a month, in that month I involuntarily become a baby sitter. “Alright I’ll call Prince. Start cooking while I take a bath.” I leave her in the living room and head upstairs to my room, there’s a shower in there so I don’t have to come down to bath, two bathrooms are super convenient. I’m still shaken by the fact that she has a key to my house. I quickly take my shower and head downstairs but something is strange. I don’t smell anything related to food, I don’t even hear the boiling of food on the stove. ‘It can’t be?! She’s not cooking?’ I find her sleeping on the couch with a phone in her hands. I wasn’t gone for more than thirty minutes and she’s already asleep. I guess it’s bread and juice again tonight. I head over to the kitchen and pour some orange juice in a cup, I want to use it to wash down the crusty dried up bread in my fridge. I take my seat at the dining table and start chewing, just then my phone starts vibrating, ‘Prince!’ “Tony, is Ritar with you?” Prince and I have never started a conversation with a greeting, it’s always straight to the point. I wouldn’t want it any other way. “She’s here.” “Alright.” The call cuts and I put my phone down, that’s how my conversations with Prince have been for as long as I can remember. At least her parents know that their daughter is safe, but for him to call at 22:48, does Prince even care? He should have started panicking around 18 hours when he noticed that his daughter wasn’t around. After finishing my crusty bread I headed to my room to grab a blanket for my guest, she’ll freeze to death if I let her sleep like this. I find her sleeping with her underwear on public display, I trace the length of her legs until I reach her maturing little ass. I’m tempted to- ‘And she’s drooling all over my couch. She looks so much like her. I really miss her.’ I look at the bulge in my sweatpant, that’s not good. I cover her before I do something I might regret and retire to bed.

[1]

[1]

[1] Imagine being stuck in this dead end routine. Your day starts at 5AM, you can’t sleep for even one second more because you sold your soul to some evil corporation and have to wake up early to please your masters. The only thing you like about your job is that it puts food on the table and pays the bills. The food isn’t even that great because you’re still hang up on your ex and you are very much single. You go back to an empty home from the shitty job with shitty coworkers that don’t even like you except for an annoying person that no one wants to be around. Everyday you pray for the sweet relief of death but life isn’t so kind as to even grant you that mercy. You can’t kill yourself because you’re still hoping that maybe one day, just one day your life will turn around. But that only happens in fairy tales. That’s a day in the life of Tony. The working day is done and there’s no one to tell me, ‘hey I’ll see you tomorrow.’ All I can do is exit the building and walk to my car under the cold moonless night, alone. The drive is long, not because my house is on the other side of the world but because of traffic. A drive that is supposed to take fifteen minutes max usually ends up taking close to two hours. I work from Monday to Friday. Fridays are good because I leave work at 16:00 but since today is a Thursday I left work at around 19 hours. Two hours later. I just parked my car in the garage and here I am standing in front of my door wondering how this happened. “Oh shit, did I forget to lock up? No I’m sure I did.” I’m sure I locked the door before I left this morning, after all who in their right mind would leave the front door open and be away from his house for hours?. ‘Could it be a thief?’ I know I’m not the bravest human being on the planet but I have to go in at some point. I’ve been standing out here for twenty minutes, I’m wondering whether I should call the police or not. Even if I call them what am I going to say,’Oh hello I think someone broke into my house but I’m too scared to see who’s inside?’ What if they get here then I find out that I just forgot to lock the door instead? Ok so I’ll just take a peek, once I see someone I’m calling for help. I force myself to move but my legs feel a little stiff, they don’t want to move. The thought of, ‘Where am I going to sleep?’ is the only thing giving me the courage to put one leg in front of the other and I somehow manage to walk while shaking in my shoes with my heart pounding really fast. On my gray couch, I notice a young girl sitting carelessly in her school uniform, the first thing I notice is her pink underwear. I force my eyes to look away but I’m a little flustered. She notices me staring and quickly sits properly, ‘Oh shit she saw me staring, what should I do now? And now my other member is starting to betray me by giving away his position.’ “Oh hi,” she says with a smile on her face, looking like she’s glad I’m here. So this is the thief that broke into my house. “Does that mean you’re on a break from school?” Whenever schools go on a break I receive a guest against my will, this sort of thing started happening last year, she came over twice and stayed with me for about three weeks. “Yes, so can I stay here uncle Tony? Please, please?” She says with her hands clasped together, she’s so cute that I can’t even say no to her. I don’t know why she’s asking when she’s already in here. Her staying with me isn’t a problem, that’s if she’ll behave. Man this is such a bother, now I have to call Him and let him know that his daughter is here. He’s the last person I want to talk to. Actually I don’t have to talk to him. I can just call Joyce instead. “How did you get in? I am sure I locked the door.” I don’t really know how signs of forced entry look like but I am sure my door doesn’t look like someone tampered with it and I know that I locked it so how did she get in? “I still have the key you gave me last time. See?” She takes out a key and proudly shows it to me. “I don’t remember giving you a key.” I seriously don’t remember giving her a key to my house. “Yes you did. It was when daddy came to get me, you gave me one and told me to come back whenever I wanted.” -liar! “Never mind. Have you already told your mom that you are here?” “Yes, she said it’s okay so you don’t have to call her.” I don’t see her luggage anywhere. This house only has one bedroom so her stuff would stick out like a sore thumb in my living room but I can only see her school bag. So she came straight from school, which means Joyce has no idea that she’s here. “You are supposed to tell your parents that you are coming here. Now I have to start calling Joyce and let her know that you are here.” “N-No please don’t tell... mama.” She wraps her hands around her legs exposing her thighs again, I see something pink and laced. I can’t take my eyes off it. But why does it look like she really doesn’t want to tell Joyce? It’s almost like she’s scared of what will happen if I tell her. “What? Why, your parents are supposed to know where you are otherwise they’ll be worried.” It’s hard to think with what’s in front of me. The time is close to 22 but neither Joyce nor Prince have called me to ask if she’s here. “I just don’t want you to call mama. Please call daddy instead.” She’s making things hard for me on two fronts. I don’t really want to talk to her father. Calling Joyce would be way more convenient for me but why doesn’t she want me to call her? “Why do you want me to call Prince instead of Joyce?” “If you call mama she’ll come get me and I don’t want to go back home, so please call daddy instead.” She’s right, the last time she came here without informing anyone I called Joyce and she showed up an hour later to get her daughter, she just might do the same again. Ritar wanted to stay with me immediately schools closed in November last year but Joyce wouldn’t have it. She said that her daughter was behaving badly by not informing her. “But you didn’t bring your clothes, you just can’t keep wearing the same uniform everyday.” “I left some clothes here, I can just wear those.” The problem with the school system is that pupils learn for three months and take a break for about a month, in that month I involuntarily become a baby sitter. “Alright I’ll call Prince. Start cooking while I take a bath.” I leave her in the living room and head upstairs to my room, there’s a shower in there so I don’t have to come down to bath, two bathrooms are super convenient. I’m still shaken by the fact that she has a key to my house. I quickly take my shower and head downstairs but something is strange. I don’t smell anything related to food, I don’t even hear the boiling of food on the stove. ‘It can’t be?! She’s not cooking?’ I find her sleeping on the couch with a phone in her hands. I wasn’t gone for more than thirty minutes and she’s already asleep. I guess it’s bread and juice again tonight. I head over to the kitchen and pour some orange juice in a cup, I want to use it to wash down the crusty dried up bread in my fridge. I take my seat at the dining table and start chewing, just then my phone starts vibrating, ‘Prince!’ “Tony, is Ritar with you?” Prince and I have never started a conversation with a greeting, it’s always straight to the point. I wouldn’t want it any other way. “She’s here.” “Alright.” The call cuts and I put my phone down, that’s how my conversations with Prince have been for as long as I can remember. At least her parents know that their daughter is safe, but for him to call at 22:48, does Prince even care? He should have started panicking around 18 hours when he noticed that his daughter wasn’t around. After finishing my crusty bread I headed to my room to grab a blanket for my guest, she’ll freeze to death if I let her sleep like this. I find her sleeping with her underwear on public display, I trace the length of her legs until I reach her maturing little ass. I’m tempted to- ‘And she’s drooling all over my couch. She looks so much like her. I really miss her.’ I look at the bulge in my sweatpant, that’s not good. I cover her before I do something I might regret and retire to bed.

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