*This was supposed to be uploaded tomorrow, January 27 but I just can't help myself...
ENJOY and please leave me a comment and a vote if you enjoyed this :)
***
EPISODE 1
PART 1/4
***
The illumination from the carnival lit up the whole block; rivaling even the majestic stars that filled the night sky. There was music; fast, comical and joyful that it gave even the most senior among those around a reason to remember childhood, cotton candy and balloons.
Seen from above, it looked like a fairyland.There was a giant Ferris wheel on the west side and innumerable bulbs of electric illumination strung over the heads of the milling people, all moving to and fro, none standing far too long in one place.
Except for one young man.
He was standing in front of the merry-go-round, a confused look on his face.
Zon, as he was called, looked around him in a daze. He did not know how he ended there, but he was right smack in the middle of the flurry of feverish amusement.
"Shit, what is this place?" he thought to himself, looking from right to left; the sound of footsteps on the cobbled streets confusing him further. The unknown faces that passed across his vision was mind boggling.
He glanced at the Ferris wheel, to the distant lights of the sky scrapers, to the flashing lights of the carnival, to the people around him that seemed to peer at him with curious and meddling glances.
"Why are the people here so weird?" his thoughts echoed in his mind. He was too preoccupied with everything that was happening around that he did not notice a taller young man approach.
"Hi Zon," came a voice to his left.
"Ai Tor!" Zon exclaimed. Finally someone familiar! Tutor, his friend was standing beside him, a smile on his face.
"Hey, there are a lot of weird things happening around us, don't you think?" Tutor stated, he appeared relaxed, that in itself confused Zon even more.
"Yes," he replied, unsure.
"I think so too," his friend said with a nod.
"Hmmm," Zon muttered, "Something was not right," he thought.
He couldn't remember getting there, and he did not know any of these people except for Tutor who was also not quite himself.
"Err, I have a feeling we are in a dream," Zon said, looking intently at his friend, "For sure!"
Tutor just looked at him with a smirk. Zon could not understand what was happening, it felt all too real, yet, things were somehow not right. He could even hear a loud ticking of a clock, like time was running out; or that time was standing still.
He looked around for the nth time, taking his eyes away from Tutor and gasped.
"Huh?" Zon exclaimed, "Sai Fah?" pointing at a very tall familiar figure that was walking towards him. It was another familiar face, someone he really didn't care to see.
Zon turned back to face Tutor, only to find his friend gone.
He scratched his head, he could have sworn that Tutor was beside him just a few seconds ago.
He frantically searched the crowd and in a distant, he could see the familiar blue sweater that Tutor was wearing. But that young man was holding hands with a taller man.
"Tutor," Zon called out and the pair paused and turned their heads. He knew the other guy, but why would he be holding hands with Tutor? Things were getting a lot weirder by the second.
"What is happening?" Zon asked audibly at nobody in particular before looking back towards Sai Fah. The tall young man was so near, too near for Zon that he cried out. He never wanted to see Sai Fah. From what he could remember, they could not stand each other. But the tall young man was strolling purposely towards him, a smile on his face.
"Zon," he called out, and winked.
Winked!
Zon was aghast. He wanted to know what was happening but things were a little too fuzzy. His head was about to burst with all the weirdness that he tore at his hair and screamed.
"Arrrgghhhh!"
But nobody paid attention to him. Everyone around just went on walking and laughing and went about their agendas as if he was not there. The ticking sound in his head intensified and became faster. He did not know what was happening but it seemed for a moment that time when circling back, the footstep sounds from those around him sped up but backwards. Everything became blurred and fast paced that he was feeling lightheaded. Someone bumped him and the world spun.
Zon fell to his knees, the backpack that was slung across one shoulder fell to the ground with a thud. He felt like he was a character in an anime.
"This is just a dream," he tried to convince himself, grabbed the fallen bag and stood up, looked at everything around him; more confused than ever.
"But why does it look so real?"
He looked at the brightly lit merry-go-round and thought, "If what I'm seeing is the future, does it mean this will happen?" He glanced back towards the direction where he last saw Tutor and the other guy, Fighter and they were still there, holding hands. As if sensing that they were being observed, both guys turned and Tutor waved at Zon, a bright smile on his face.
"Ai Tor and P'Fight," Zon muttered to himself, "Does this mean they're good for each other?" he asked himself, totally unsure because he knew those guys hated each other.
"If that were true," he hesitantly thought, "Then..." he turned his head back towards where the other guy was earlier.
"Sai Fai..." Zon squealed, the tall young man was almost in front of him, his gaze all too serious, "Ei, why are you looking at me like that? That's scary," as he hastily turned his back and walked away. But Sai Fah followed him, with strides all too long for him to really get too far ahead even though he walked with a much faster gait.
"Why are you following me?" Zon repeatedly asked in his head until he could not take it anymore, "I am going to count from 1, 2, 3," and he ran.
But Sai Fah ran after him. With each 3 strides of Zon's shorter legs, it only took 1 of the taller young man to get closer. It was a cat running after a midget rat.
Zon could not escape, everything and everywhere was too brightly lit for him to hide and Sai Fah was getting closer. But as luck would have it he saw an alleyway further on, "I'm there," he prayed and immediately turned into the dark side street.
"Oh, shit."
It was a dead-end
Luck was not on his side , apparently.
And Sai Fah was right at his heels.
Zon backed further into the dimness of the shadowed alley, not really knowing where to go until he felt his back hit solid wall. Sai Fah was getting nearer, closing off all means of escape.
"Why are you coming closer to me?" Zon's quivering voice asked, beads of sweat profusely dotting his forehead and neck in anxiety, "What do you want from me?"
Sai Fah just gave him a brilliant smile in reply.
"Sai, why are you smiling like that?" Zon stupidly asked, he could not complete this thoughts coherently especially when he saw Sai Fah's huge hands reach out and cradle his cheeks.
Zon felt hot. He knew his face was red from embarrassment. For some reason, he knew he was blushing.
"Please, don't tease me like this," the shorter man's voice quivered like a mouse about to be devoured while the cat still played with the food that was in front of it.
"Oh no, please, NOOOOOOO!"
***
And he woke up.
He was back on his bed, and the only stars that glistened were the printed ones on his pillowcase.
The glare from the opened desktop lit Zon's face with an eerie glow. His anti-glare glasses completed his look, complimenting the over-all atmosphere that his room exuded.
He was a nerd. His pajamas, covered in stars in a field of cobalt blue blended him with his environment.
There were collectibles on almost all available surface; some unboxed and displayed, still others were still in their original boxes: a half sized replica of R2D2 sat like a sentinel on one of the side tables, a miniature C3PO gleamed golden below it and a limited edition BB-8. There were jedis, a standee of Darth Vader, a huge box of yet un-assembled LEGO® Star Fighter and other stuff including a life-sized storm trooper helmet that was prominently displayed on the rack beside the computer table. It was Sci-Fi heaven and the room of a guy that was obviously a geek; never mind the football that was stuffed under the table.
Zon was reading. As he flipped the last page of the novel, he frowned, thought to himself and grabbed at a bunch of print outs. He reached for the pen beside his keyboard, and read through the first page, his hand poised to make a note. Then he frowned again, crumpled the paper in front of him and threw it behind him.
The crumpled ball of paper landed on the floor beside dozen of others.
He made a quick glance at the next page and promptly set it beside him.
He bit on the pen that he was holding, read what was written on the screen in front of him, typed a few lines of text and stopped.
He reminded himself that he liked what he was doing and just like he usually did when he was alone - he talked to himself.
"I am Zon, and I dream to be a writer," he muttered like a mantra, alternately shoving his pen into his mouth and clicking on the keyboard as he continued to write the story that he was currently working on. "I only want to be read, that is my dream," he continued.
"I may not have been serious when i first started writing fiction," he said, "But things change, and all because of my lovely little sister." he mumbled sarcastically, glancing at a framed photograph of himself and his boisterous sister and a flash of memory played out in his head.
***
It was about a year ago. He could still vividly remember the sweet smell of the cookies and milk that was right in front of him. Both his hands were holding a piece of the cookies as he ceaselessly pushed one after the other in his mouth. He was comfortably sitting on the kitchen table, one of his leg bent and raised on the chair he was sitting on, his eyes glued to the mobile phone in his hand; crumbs of the cookies that was pressed to the side of the phone was distinctly visible.
"Zon," his mom, cleaning the sink exclaimed, "Get your leg off the chair," she commanded.
He smiled, embarrassed at being caught. He sat up straighter and reached for another cookie.
"And you really have to eat with both hands?" his mother's voice rang once more. Zon looked up and saw his mother's displeased expression. He looked at the cookie in his hand and almost hesitantly put it back on the plate, again, he smiled sheepishly and glanced back at his mobile. As soon as his mother turned her back, he snatched the cookie from the plate and made a face, imitating his mother's reaction.
From upstairs, he could hear the sound of running feet. Heavy feet that were loud on the wooden floors. His sister, Zol was running in the hallways - again!
"Mom, Zol is making a ruckus again," Zon said, trying to divert his mom's attention from himself.
"Mom...mom...MOM!!!" Zol rushed into the kitchen, her voice excitedly loud, her face aglow with exhilaration.
"Zol be quite and don't rush, you might fall down the stairs," their mother quipped, Zon almost smiled, finally, her eyes was not glued to his every action.
"Ma, I cant contain my excitement," Zol practically screamed, her pigtails bouncing in the air as she tried to compose herself, "My online fiction just reached 100,000 reads. And you know what?"
Zon froze, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Ma, a publisher contacted me and they are interested in publishing my book." Zol squealed.
Their mother suddenly became as excited as Zol. She was jumping up and down with her daughter, "Oh you get the crown, you are the queen, you are the winner!" she said, crying out loud like her school girl daughter.
Zon frowned, "Oh yeah, excited!" he said sarcastically.
"Son, don't say that about your sister. It's not her fault people read her work."
"I'm not blaming her, I just said excited, didn't I?"
"P'Zon, if you can't do it, might as well be quiet," Zol said sassily.
Zon dropped the cookie in his hand, stood up and said with conviction, "Who says I can't? You're just writing yaoi stories and everybody can write Y novels. It's a piece of cake."
Zol was unfazed.
"You're saying that to insult me aren't you?"
Zon shrugged his shoulders.
A brilliant idea sparked in Zol's head. You could almost literally see a lightbulb flash over her braided hair, "Ok, so, you continue writing your Sci-Fi fictions," she taunted, "Get 100,000 reads, well, you dont even have to be published. If you can achieve that, I will give you half of my allowance," a cunning glint lit her eyes as she gave her brother a wicked smile.
"Ohhhh, half of your allowance?" Zon said, trying his best to match his sister's exuberance, "No, thank you, you can keep your allowance to yourself."
A wide smile stretched Zol's face. She was looking at her brother and she couldn't help but tease him more about it. He was too obvious.
"Actually, you don't want to accept my bet because you're a coward," as she grinned like a Cheshire cat, "You just cant do it."
Blood rushed towards Zon's face, he could not say anything. He knew what his sister was saying had an ounce of truth to it but he was still trying to save face so he blew her a raspberry.
"Hey kids, stop it," their mom suddenly said, eyeing Zon who turned his back from the table and munched on a cookie. Zol was grinning like an idiot.
***
That was a year ago.
That was why Zon was trying hard to write his fiction, more so than he was before.
He clicked on his online page. Checked the numbers and his forehead furrowed into knots.
"Only a few reads," he muttered, "At least there are comments," as he clicked on the first comment on his most recently uploaded chapter.
"What kind of fiction is this? I couldn't even force myself to read it!" said the first comment.
Zon reread the whole post to make sure that he read it right, "My writing sucks? Who on earth are you? You just dont have class!" he growled at the computer screen.
He clicked on the next comment.
"This Sci-Fi story does not make any sense. It's totally improbable!"
Zon's eyes bulged.
"Of course its not probable, its science fiction! If you want believable stories, read the book by the drarma or philosophy!" the young man exclaimed in exasperation, not one positive comment, from the handful of people who even chose to read his work.
He sighed, sat back on his chair and cursed, "Shit, these people suck!"
And all he could do was look up to the ceiling and sulk.