Sunday, March 27, 2011

Chapter 7


The bus ride seemed to last about the same amount of time as the first. There were only a few people who joined me this time. A couple sitting in the back and a man about my age sitting across the aisle from me.
          “How long have you been here?” I asked to the man across from me.
          “Not that long, sir, I’m really not feeling comfortable anywhere I go.”
          “Yeah, tell me about it,” I chuckled. “You obviously have been to Gula, where else have you been?”
          “Only Luxuria-Fornicatio and Gula,” he said, “It has been really weird. Each place is full of things I feel uncomfortable doing.”
          “Well you sound just like me, man. I’ve been to the same places, and every person here seems comfortable with things I’m obviously not comfortable with. Did you get yourself a name?”
          “No, I was kind of afraid to jump right into the culture. You?”
          “I didn’t get a name either. Well I’ll just call you Bro then,” I laughed.
          “Sounds good, man; that’s what I’ll call you.”
          “Ok, you want to travel around for a while with me?” I asked; finally glad to have a companion with similar thoughts.
          “Yeah definitely,” he said very excitingly. We both shook hands, and before we knew it, the bus was at Acedia. When we got out of the bus, I noticed a fog that kind of hovered over the city. Just by appeal, this city looked the worst of the three. We still decided to venture into the front gate. If we were going to end up stuck on the island, we would have to find some place suitable for us.
          Yet again, the first thing I noticed walking inside the gate was the name and job table. My new friend ventured over there, and I was kind of wondering what he would be doing. I went over next to him, to find that he decided to give himself a name. Bro was what he wrote down on the paper; no last name or anything. It made me smile and laugh to know I had some sort of an impact on someone here. I knew that we would make a good team. I didn’t get my name changed to Man because I was still clinging to finding my real name; luckily Bro didn’t mind. After spending some time at the job table, we started walking down the main road. Not many people were outside. There was a couple corner speakers like the other cities, but the ones at this city made me laugh. They weren’t very enthusiastic. One wasn’t even speaking. He was just sitting on his box with his hands covering his lowered head. No one was around either of them. At that moment, I was thinking either people were getting tired of hearing these people or there was some kind of gathering going on that made the streets look desolate.
          While we were still walking, we heard a guitar and a man singing inside a building. When we made it inside there was a large amount of people. The place looked like a bar or pub. The guy singing was on a stage, but he looked more drunk than anyone in the room. He was still playing guitar very well but his singing was just mumbling. It didn’t seem very appealing to me, and Bro gave me a look of no assurance. Because that was the only place we had seen with people, we sat down and ordered some food. The man taking or order seemed relaxed and welcoming.
          “What would you guys like to order?” he said very politely.
          “Cheeseburger and water please.” I said. Then Bro ended up ordering the exact same thing.
          “Is that it?” the waiter asked. “You don’t want the special or anything? That is what most people come to this place for.”
          “What is the special?” I asked not seeing it on the menu.
          “Your choice of two shots or a couple hits of weed.”
          “Oh no, we don’t want that. Is weed even legal here?”
          “Oh wow,” the waiter chuckled, “Anything goes around these parts. You remember the two rules? That is the only thing that will be ever considered for a rule here.”
          “Ok well we still wouldn’t like it,” I said as I looked at Bro for some confirmation. He looked and me and nodded in affirmation.
          “Alright then, we will have your food ready soon.” The waiter said still laughing at us. I guess I didn’t really pay much attention to the people around but everyone seemed to be drinking or smoking. I guess the waiter was right when he said that is why most people go here. I had already assumed it wasn’t for the mumbling musician in the corner who was almost passed out by now but still playing guitar. It was kind of sad to see so many people all looking sad or down though. Bro and I decided that we would try to find some people to talk with about Acedia after we ate.
          Before we knew it, our food was there. It was definitely not as good as Gula’s steak; that was for sure. It was still great though. We got the bill and I insisted to pay because I had received so much from my weekend job in Gula. It was only ten Coin anyway. That was only one hour of my weekend. After I paid the check and tipped the waiter, we left to find someone to talk to. We both decided that someone drunk or high would not be the best choice.
          Continuing down the road, I saw some men around a fire in one of the alleys. They didn’t look like they were under any influence so Bro and I decided to walk down the alley and visit them.
          “What are you boys doing here?” One of the men said in a grumpy voice.
          “Well, we thought we would visit with all of you for a while. We are kind of new to this city.” Bro responded.
          “Alright, whatever,” the man said, “There isn’t much to hear. Take a seat.” The man then pointed to a few pieces of cardboard. “What do you guys want to hear?”
          “Since we are new here, we just wanted to know about this city.” I said.
          “Ah, well this city isn’t much in itself,” The man started, “Me and some these guys have been here for over 30 years. There isn’t anything on this dumb island that will satisfy you.”
          “I remember for my first five years I visited each city and dove right into its culture.” Another man added, “Every time I did all that I could do in that city I just wanted more. If I could give you any advice, it would be to not waste your time.”
          “What do you mean?” I asked, “By not looking at the other cities?”
          “No,” the first man replied, “Look all you want, but once your involved you will lose sight of everything else. Once you lose that thing, you will feel like you’ve lost it all.”
          “Is that what happened to you, sir?”
          “It happened to all of us. We found ourselves here because this place is best described as apathetic. We lie around and don’t care about anything anymore. May sound dull to you but it’s a whole lot better than seeking for something you will never find.”
          “What is that you are seeking for?” I asked.
          “Joy,” the man paused as if he thought of something that he had forgotten. “I feel like I had it in my past. Before I came here, I’m sure I did.” The man next to him comforted him.
          “Here is my last beer man,” he said as he gave it to the other. The man took it and sunk off into a nonsocial state. From what I understood, the people who have been on the island the longest end up here. The men seemed very wise, but they still seemed to find themselves trapped.
          “Well thank you sirs,” I said. Then Bro and I headed back to the main street.
          “That was encouraging,” Bro said sarcastically.
          “Yeah tell me about it. That really gives me a…” I was interrupted by a loud bang from a balcony above us. “…Bad feeling.” Only a second later a young man fell from the balcony and landed right next to us. His face was disfigured from the fall, but it looked like he was shot through the mouth. It wasn’t a moment later that a handgun fell down as well. When it landed it shot off and scared Bro and I. By this time a couple large men turned the corner. They looked like police.
          “Let’s see what happened here.” One of them said nonchalantly.
          “Probably another suicide.” The other responded.
          “Yep,” the first commented, “He has a one of them sad notes here. Well let’s get him out of here.” Then the two large men resumed picking the dead man up and taking him around the corner. I assumed that they must have an emergency vehicle around there.
          “Wow, that is really sad.” I said to Bro.
          “Yeah, I don’t understand why.” Bro said. Then we looked over and noticed that the officers had left the note on the ground. Bro picked it up and started reading it. “I feel so alone. No one cares about what I do in life. I pretty much gave up all that I am to the people around me trying to find purpose in it. No one gave anything back. They didn’t even notice me. If I am just going to be alone on this Island, why can’t I just know my purpose it here? It is so empty in meaning. I’ve been everywhere I can. I’ve talked to everyone, striving to be noticed or accepted by something or someone. But nothing is satisfying. I’m leaving now. Whatever is beyond this is better than lying in my waste. If anyone is reading this, my only advice is to quit caring. Use people because they only use you, and quit hoping for whatever is beyond this . . . it’s useless.”
          “Oh man,” I couldn’t even say anything else. I was so overwhelmed with sadness that I just stared at the paper in Bro’s hands.
          “I think we should leave this city.” Bro said disgusted. “There has to be something better. I’m still hoping.”
“Me too,” I said, “Let’s see what else is out there.” We then began to walk towards the opposite side of the city that we came in from. As we walked down the road we started to see a large crowd near the bus station. Bro and I both looked at each other in agreement to approaching the crowd, especially because we were so close to leaving. When we got close enough a young lady at least five years younger than me approached us. She then insisted on giving us a couple bags as she started to speak.
          “I’m sorry it is so difficult here sirs. Please take these as a gift from LOAVES. It stands for Loving Others and Vanquishing Environmental Sadness.”
          “That sounds intense,” said Bro, “Why is your group doing this?”
          “Can you not tell the overwhelming sadness here?” she replied. “We just want to minimize that. Inside your bags are two separate meals and 20 Coin. We feel like it is bringing a small amount of hope to these desperate people.” As she was talking she was gesturing we look in our bags, and so we did. She continued, “How are you guys feeling? What has been the most wearing on you?”
          “I’ve only been here a few days, but I feel like nothing is satisfying,” I mentioned, “It seems like most people are able to quickly find their place. Either here or the other two cities we have gone to. We haven’t found a place for us, but I am at least glad that I am not in sadness like I have seen here.” Then I had an inclination to ask her the same question, or maybe something similar. “Have you found anything to be satisfying either?”
          “I’ve been here all my life,” she explained, “It seems that everywhere is almost just as you explained it. A guy I greatly respect started LOAVES up to try to bring joy and satisfaction to others through meeting needs. I think that is where I am most satisfied. Helping others brings me joy. I am able to see people make it one more day, or see people continue to have hope in a better future. These deep conversations and the smiles on others faces has brought me enough joy. I know this is what I am supposed to do.”
          “I’m glad you have found something,” I said, “With no disrespect to your organization, which I think is a great idea, I feel like there is something more out there. My heart keeps telling me there is a deeper satisfaction out there.”
          “So in search for it, we are headed to Ira,” Bro said, “thank you for your kind gifts!” then we walked past the group and got on the bus toward Ira-Invidia.


I'll be posting Chapter 8 around April 17th

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Chapter 6


          Upon walking into Gula, one thing I immediately noticed was the magnificent smell throughout the city. I couldn’t pinpoint what it really smelled like, it was just like one of those moments where I wanted to just close my eyes and take it all in. After hearing those ladies talk about food so much, I was getting kind of hungry. I walked past the name and job table again towards the closest restaurant. There was no line to order food so I immediately went to the front. A lady greeted me at the register.
          “Hello sir, you are new here aren’t you?
          “Yeah, how did you know?”
          “Just the way you hesitated when you walked in,” she said. “Most people want their food immediately.” I looked around for a menu and there wasn’t one to be found.
          “Where is your menu at?” I asked as I kept looking around.
          “Oh, I’m sorry; we have you scan for your meal.”
          “What?” I got so confused from such a random statement.
          “Yeah, we have scanners that take your cravings and favorite foods from your thoughts.” My mouth dropped. That sounded awesome because by this time I was craving some steak “The scanner goes on your head for five seconds like a baseball cap.”
          “Alright, sweet, let’s do this!” she then gave me one of the caps and I placed it on my head. It immediately started scanning. Sure enough, it said that I wanted steak and potatoes!
          “That will be ten Coin please,” the lady said, “All of our dishes are all you can eat and ten Coin.”
          “Thank you very much,” I said handing over ten Coin. Now I had run out of the first bag of Coin and only had fifteen left from the older man. I sat down and started eating the steak. It was pretty much the best steak ever; but I guess having amnesia blocked my memory of what it used to taste like so who knows. Nonetheless, it was wonderful and juicy, cooked to perfection. After I finished, I was still slightly hungry and since it was all you can eat, I went back up for seconds. The quality of the steak was just as superb as the first. Then I was about to leave and the lady at the register yelled for my attention.
          “Sir, there is free dessert!” By this time I was way full, but something about free food just got me. I ate a whole batch of cookies! After eating everything, I was completely bloated. It was definitely one of those moments that I regretted in eating so much.
          I decided to head out of the restaurant and walk down the street. I noticed that the people here didn’t worry about having a specific look. It was a lot more diverse. There were some more people on the street just like at Luxuria-Fornicatio that were on their soapboxes.
          “You are your own purpose, so make the most of it,” the man said. “Satisfaction is found in the fulfillment of your heart’s desire. Seek and you will find everything within yourself.” Yet again another nice speech. I wasn’t so settled in it even though the basics of it sounded pretty sweet. After the man had finished, I began walking down the street again. Then I saw a mall up ahead. I was pretty sure that there had to be some better clothes because the diverse style of apparel. As soon as I walked in, I saw so many stores that it would have taken me three days to visit all of them if I went to each store for twenty minutes, of course that was something I wasn’t interested in doing so I just went to one of the stores next to the entrance. The majority of the clothes were bundled in deals: Three t-shirts for five Coin and two pairs of jeans for ten Coin. The thing I didn’t like was that individual things cost almost the same as bulk. I decided to go ahead and get both deals. I needed some other clothes for sure; I was getting tired of wearing the same overalls all the time. After exiting the store I realized that I had used all my Coin that I had received. I may actually have to start earning Coin. I think that was one of the first moments on this island that I was legitimately worried. It kind of made me wonder why I was so at peace at first.
          It was starting to get dark now, and I hadn’t received any more Coin.
Then I remembered the first thing I saw at both cities; the name and job table. When I arrived, I was greeted with a smile from a well dressed lady, “Can I help you, sir?”
          “Yes,” I answered. “I don’t have any Coin left and I guess I need a job.”
          “You guess?!” she said as if I was unsure of myself. That was pretty good discernment on her part because I was unsure. “How about you know.” Then  she paused for a moment and looked straight into my eyes, which I’m not going to lie, I felt pretty awkward. “I guess I can host you for some work.”
          “You guess?” I said softly. No doubt I realized that I was flirting with this woman, “How about you know!”
          “Oh shut up, but for real, are you interested?”
“Well, it depends.” I said. I didn’t want to venture into another weird situation with a girl. No matter if I thought she was good looking or not. “What will you need done?”
          “I need a babysitter for the weekend. My husband is on a business trip and I’m going to be out and about most of the time. I’ll pay you ten Coin an hour.”
          “Alright great, I’ll do it.” I’m glad to hear that she was married because that would relieve some worries. Also, ten Coin an hour would really help me out, especially getting paid for the whole weekend.
          “By the way, I’m Sarah. I just got off work; follow me.” She gestured as we both started to walk. As we were walking she asked me, “What’s your name? Tell me a little about yourself.”
          “I don’t have a name yet, I feel like I’ll figure it out someday.”
          “You mean your real name?” she said quite seriously. “I’m sorry to say you probably won’t ever find out.”
          “We’ll see,” I said, still hanging on to the idea of figuring everything out. I went ahead and told her about everything I went through since I was conscious.
          “Oh, the same happened to me.” She said real plainly, “At least the unconscious thing.” It seemed to me that was real fake, but who am I to know her character, she is offering me a simple job for what I feel like is good pay. By this time, we had made it to her house because we were in the alley like streets and she started to head towards a door. When she opened the door, I was greeted by the two most chubby kids I have ever seen. “This is Charlie and Jane,” she said. Charlie looked about ten and Jane was around five or six. I was shocked that the kids didn’t resemble the mom in shape. It must have been all of the eating that is offered in Gula or something. “All you need to know is that you can have whatever you like, and keeping the kids happy will benefit you.” Sarah said as she walked out the door.
          “So kids, what do you want to do?” I offered.
          “I’m hungry.” said Charlie. I should have seen that coming.
          “Alright, let’s get you some food.” I opened the refrigerator and it was filled to the brim with all kinds of meals. Charlie seemed to know what he wanted because he grabbed a chicken nugget meal as soon as I opened the fridge. Then Jane and I grabbed our meals as well and headed to the living room where we all ate.
          Before I knew it, the weekend was flying by. It wasn’t too hard to take care of the kids. Jane would occasionally have a fit if she didn’t get what she wanted.
She was already so chubby that I didn’t worry about letting them eat too much. Sarah had also come in each night partially drunk, but sober enough to pay me. The last night was a big shift from the other though. Sarah came in completely wasted. She was rambling as well as being all up in my personal space.
          “You wanna have sex?” She asked very bluntly.
          “No, why are you saying this out of nowhere?” I asked, though I knew that it was because she was drunk.
          “I’d get a raise if I did it.”
          “What? That doesn’t even make sense.” I asked very suspiciously.
          “Well,” she said, “You are.” Then she passed out. So much for that making any sense.
          When morning came around, I started gathering my bag and coin that I had received and Sarah walked in the room.
          “Did you enjoy last night?”
          “What do you mean?” I asked.
          “Well, you know…the sex.”
          “Oh, we didn’t do that.” I said.
          “What? Ah, dang it! That is going to be bad. Well, go on, get out of here.” She said so quickly.
          “Alright…?” I said hesitantly. “Is everything okay?”
          “No, you just will get me in trouble if they know that I had the chance. You just need to leave.” She said as she was shoving me out the door. That left me with a lot of questions as I stood at the front door. Who are “they?” Why would she get a raise for seducing me? Gula was really scaring me at this point. Being kicked out of a home very randomly wasn’t what I expected, but it gave me a motivation to leave Gula. It was not long before I had made it to Gula’s North Gate and made it on a bus headed to Acedia.

i will post the next chapter on march 27th

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Chapter 5


When morning came it took me a while to get out of bed. It felt so nice. The older man had left so I took my plastic bag and money and walked back outside. I definitely looked out of place. The majority of people had on skimpy looking outfits or really fancy outfits. No one dressed for comfort. It’s always interesting to me that when you have nothing specific to do, your mind races more. That is what happened to me. I didn’t know what to do next. Maybe I could go to the next city but I didn’t know where that was.
          I decided just to start walking down one of the main streets again. I walked by another corner speaker, who appeared to be saying the same things as the other speaker was the day before. Maybe there were several people who had that as a job. I thought it wouldn’t be a fun one if it was, but I guess not all work is enjoyable. I continued walking noticing the people as I walked by. Many couples were around, and most of them were in some physical act. The thought of public didn’t seem to bother any couple from making out or anything else.
          Anyway, before I left the town I wanted to learn a little more about this place. I made it to what appeared to be the center of the city. There was a circular glass building that was the tallest in the entire city. When I walked up to the entrance, someone yelled from behind me.
          “Well it’s obvious you’re new here,” he said. I stopped walking and turned to find a bigger man. “Not only are you in weird clothes, you are trying to go in there.”
          “What is so wrong with going in?” I said in a very confused tone.
          “Wow, you really are new. Well, only those who are invited can go in.”
          “How do you know I wasn’t invited?”
          “Simple, the way you were dressed. You are invited when you become known in the city. If you were invited then you would have been acting differently than you are now or you would have been dressed nicer. But you’re obviously not. You’ll get used to this place; just give it some time. Why don’t you get yourself some new clothes and hit up a club or something?”
          “Well thanks for the offer, sir,” I said, “But I’m not too interested in this city. Do you know anything about transitioning to another city? Or which one is closest?”
          “Well, just go to any side of the city: north, east, south, and west. There is a bus that will take you to the city in that direction. Of course, each city on the outside will have one side with no bus because there is no reason to go to the coast. Each city is the same distance from the ones next to it. If you want to walk, you’re on your own, but it’s a free service to go via bus.”
          “Alright, well thanks man,” I said politely. I knew this wasn’t the place where I wanted to be, so I was definitely going to head a direction. I just decided to head back to the gate I came through. When I got to the gate there was no bus system. So I knew that I was at the very edge on the south side. I don’t think I was ready to head out on my own so I went the east gate where I was met by a woman.
          “Are you wanting to head to Gula?” She asked as she pointed at the bus. I nodded yes and she gave me a ticket. When I got on the bus, I sat near the back. After about ten minutes the bus started its journey.  I started to listen to a couple older ladies sitting in front of me.
          “Why are you going to Gula?” one lady asked another.
          “Well, I eat lunch there every day with my husband. The food there is to die for. Not literally, of course though,” she laughed.
          “Oh that is great. I am going to stay for a couple weeks. I always like to have a party week before I go on my diet.” I started to feel weird for listening in so I just sat back and closed my eyes. Only an hour passed and we were at Gula.


Lets go with my next post being two weeks from now: March 5th

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Chapter 4

There was a large building across from the speaker. The building looked like a hotel and I guess that by the name “Relaxation Station.” I always laughed at the names of these places. Everyone seemed really blunt in their speech and of course the titles of businesses. I walked in the building and immediately saw a sign reading “5 Coin a night.” I didn’t really want to look around for a place to stay; especially since I had no idea where I was. So I went to the front desk and asked for a five Coin night.
          “Enjoy your night of fun,” He said as he gave me my room key. I wonder what he meant by fun. I was just planning to sleep unless there was a bunch of free games to play in my room. My room number was “333” which I was glad because it was easy to remember. I decided to take the elevator since it was closer to the front desk. Only men were inside. Each one had a sort of guilty look on his face. I shrugged it off not knowing the characters each one had. I didn’t feel like I had the right to judge them. I got off the elevator on the third floor and went to my room. Once I entered a robotical voice came from a panel on my door.
          “Thank you for choosing relaxation station, please enjoy your night!” I had no understanding why everything here seemed to be about enjoyment. I had a funny feeling from it though; being in a new place in general could have been the cause of it though. Before I decided to sleep I went into the bathroom to shower. The water was nice and warm and as I stood there I began to think. What lies ahead of me? How am I supposed to go about life here? I didn’t know anything about myself. Then I thought on a smaller scale. I didn’t even have anything clean to wear. That’s always a bad feeling. I got out of the shower and after drying myself off I wrapped up in a towel instead of putting back on my dirty clothes. I walked outside of the bathroom and was immediately shocked. A woman was lying on my bed almost completely undressed.
          “Hey, big boy, you ready to have some fun tonight?” she said in a seductive tone.
          “Who are you? And why are you in my room?” I announced as I kind of backed up towards the main door. “How did you get in here?”
          “Didn’t you know what this place is?” she said, “I’m your prostitute. When you check into ‘Relaxation Station’ it’s assumed.”
          “U-u-um, well I didn’t know that.”
          “That’s fine,” she said, “is that going to stop us from having some fun tonight?” She was looking at me with such a seductive face. I was beginning to be tempted in going through with it, but something deep inside me kept telling me that’s not who I was.
          “Yes, I’m afraid it does. Will you please leave?” I said in a weak but intentional tone.
          “But it’s my job to be here all night. If I leave I will get fired. You don’t want that do you? Come on, just a little fun?” she mentioned yet again seductively. Then she started walking over to me and tried to place her body against mine.
          “Quit that,” I said as she started to do it more. She then started rubbing her fingers on my shoulders. I twitched backwards then she spoke again.
          “Quit struggling, it will be more pleasurable.”
          “I don’t want it to be,” I pleaded. Then she grabbed the edge of my towel, “I can’t take this.”
          “Oh yes,” she squealed as she ripped my towel off and started to bring her body closer.
          “No for the last time!” I yelled completely sternly. I pushed her back slightly and I ran into the hall and down the steps. I got out of the building and let out a sigh of relief. Then I noticed I had no clothes on. Two or three women walked by and whistled. I covered myself all I could with my hands and ran into an empty alley. Or I thought it was empty. I was pulled inside a doorway by someone within seconds.
          “What are you doing like that?” an older man asked. I was pretty much speechless. When all of that happened, it was so fast my brain could have exploded. I just stared at him with a confusing look hoping that he would talk again. I didn’t want to speak until my thoughts were together. “Well let’s get some clothes on ya at least,” he said as he started walking out of the room. He left for just a couple seconds and then walked back in with a plain white T-shirt and some overalls. He also had a plastic bag he handed me full of underwear. “Now put these on son, and we will have a little chit chat afterwards.” He said as he handed me everything. I could still only say thank you as I took the clothes and tried them on. They were a little big but at least I wasn’t naked anymore. “I’m guessing you’re new here?”
          “Yeah, I got here this morning.” Words were finally starting to come back to me.
          “Ah, that explains it,” the old man laughed. “I’ve been here for thirty years. My name is Arthur, what is yours?”
          “I don’t know,” I said, “I didn’t really feel like making one up.”
          “Ah, so you didn’t even get yourself a job? Well maybe this city isn’t for you.”
          “There are other cities?”
          “Oh yeah, there are seven total: Luxuria-Fornicatio, Gula, Acedia, Ira-Invidia, Socordia, Avaritia, and Superbia. All of them form a circle on this Island, with Superbia being in the middle of the island.” I didn’t even know this was an island; yet alone more cities. I remember not having much of a choice. But then I remembered, I had followed the large group into the city right after the bigger man mentioned going.
          “What’s outside of the cities? I asked.
          “Not sure, a lot of rumors say it’s dangerous. It’s like living on your own. There are no jobs or houses.”
          “Can we ever leave the island?”
          “Boy, you ask so many questions. Sit down, we’ve been standing here for quite some time,” he said as he showed me into the living area. We both sat in our own recliner. “Now what was your question? Oh yeah, leaving the island. Well, as you can see, I’m old and still here. But I just haven’t chosen to leave. I like it here. Don’t see what could be better.” He said as he leaned back in his recliner and smiled.
          “So you can choose to leave?”
          “Yeah in a way, right where you came outside, you can go back in. But they make you do a lot of tests.
          “What kind of tests?”
          “Boy, I don’t know, I haven’t tried to leave. If ya fail the test they send ya back out with amnesia again.”
          “Oh so everyone had amnesia? And who are these people anyway?”
          “Correct son. And no one knows anything about them. They are so forceful it makes me wonder if the rest of their world has just as much rules.”
          “There are only two rules though.” I laughed.
          “One too many if ya ask me boy. Well it’s time for me to get some sleep. I’ll show you to the guest room.” He said as he stood up. Then he led me down a small hall into his guest room. The place was huge for just a guest room. I have work in the morning, what are your plans?”
          “Well I was thinking about visiting the other cities.”
          “Oh you don’t want to do that just yet. There are so many things you haven’t got to do yet. Go to a club and meet some ladies. If you are a rule keeper and all you can go multiply or something.” He chuckled, “It’s pretty easy here. Everyone is open for fun.”
          “Well I’m not sure if that’s what I want to do. I feel like I was married or loyal to something before I had amnesia. I don’t want to be disloyal if so.”
          “Ah, the past is past kid. Just live up life!”
          “Well thank you for everything sir but I think I will leave tomorrow.” I insisted.
          “Ok, sure sure, well here is some money for your travels.” He said as he handed me another bag of Coin.
          “Thank you. Goodnight.” I said taking the bag.
          “Good luck kid.” He said. He left the room and went on down the hall. It had already been a long night so I got in the bed which was the most comfortable bed I’ve ever felt. Then I fell asleep not long after. 


Next post will be a couple weeks from this date. prob 2/19 or something