chapter 1 - defeat

8/10/2019 Chapter 1 - Defeat

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Chapter 1: Defeat

Wilbur Ashton went back to bed after lunch. There was no reason for him not to; he had no plans after

all.

The rain made it easier for Wilbur to sleep in. Normally the weather would be too hot for him to get a

proper nap; and he would toss and turn for hours, on the brink of sleep and yet surreally aware of his

surroundings.

Contemplating deeply about things would always lull Wilbur quickly to sleep; he would try to figure how

the universe was formed, or draw out different scenarios on how the world would end. After all, these

questions had no real answers, and he could go circles in his head before sleep would overcome him.

Today was not such a day however; Wilbur had difficulty falling asleep. For some strange reason, he felt

unusually fired up – the usual lethargy he had was now replaced with a strong desire to get on his feet

and do something. He did not know what to do; only that he didn’t want to just aimlessly lie in bed.

Aimlessly. The word struck a particular chord with him.

How long had it been since he had went out and met someone new? He couldn’t remember doing

anything significant in his life either. Time flies when you’re cooped up in a spacious box, napping and

playing video games.

He put on his spectacles and walked to his closet, clumsily kicking down a stack of books. “How to Live a

Productive Life in 28 Days”, Wilbur chuckled when he saw the title amongst the pile. Rummaging

through the hand-me-downs and clothes that he had outgrown was depressing; he only now realized

how unfashionable he was.

Wilbur settled for an old grey hoodie and beige sweat shorts – an unusually sporty combination for

someone as unathletic as him.



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Wilbur hated it when he was out without earphones; he had forgotten about it after having not gone

outdoors for a month. He felt particularly naked without the isolation that music brought. He didn’t

mind that the same songs that played on repeat would become senseless background noise after a

while; he just wanted to feel lost in his personal bubble.

The train was pretty vacant, an unusual sight for a Saturday morning. A pleasant old lady whom wasseated, smiled at him - an act Wilbur reciprocated by instinctively fiddling with his smartphone; avoiding

the gaze of two other commuters, a tired looking man with oily hair, and a tall girl with fiery red hair

who had just turned around to look at him.

“Fucking gorgeous” was about the only two words Wilbur could mutter in his head when he saw the

girl’s face. She was Asian – but that was not the point. He never had a predilection for Asian girls but she

was simply captivating. Her skin was rosy and flawless; made more amazing by the fact that she didn’t

appear to be wearing heavy make-up. She flashed a smile at Wilbur, tucking a stray strand of her long

crimson hair. Wilbur instinctively looked away; he found it difficult to look someone in the eye for too

long, especially attractive people. The train finally reached Sterlington, and Wilbur noticed that the girl

had alighted as well.

Sterlington was a town that looked as grey as it sounded. There were mostly strange old people here,

and the younger population was equally as weird. The last time Wilbur went to a county fair in

Sterlington, two boy scouts tried to sell him used panties. He saw the pastor’s son bought a few pairs

and was convinced that the town was evil. There was one thing the odd town had to offer though, and it

was the spacious Shoten bookstore. Why there was a Shoten bookstore in godforsaken Sterlington,

remained a mystery to Wilbur. The lack of customers even during weekends was a testament to the

town’s lack of interest in intellectual pursuits.

When Wilbur arrived at the bookstore, he noticed that the shop was playing music different from theusual. The once peaceful and silent atmosphere of Shoten was now warped into an annoying cacophony

of Brittany Spears singles. Then he noticed that the usual old man wasn’t around – a boy with unruly

golden hair and dark skin was manning the counter instead. ‘LATHIF’, the name on his tag read.

Sterlington was not only evil – its people had horrible taste.

“How’s it going?” Lathif suddenly spoke, jolting Wilbur out of his thoughts.

“Er…. Great, I guess?” Wilbur replied with mild hesitation.

“I guess?” Lathif chuckled, “You’re either doing great or not, there’s nothing to guess about.”

“Whatever man,” Wilbur couldn’t be bothered to waste another breath on him.

Wilbur made his way to the comic’s section. He was dying to read the weekly release of ‘The End Days’,

a Japanese manga series that he had been fervently following for the past two years. The series wasn’t

largely popular, but Wilbur particularly liked Keigo, the story’s protagonist. Keigo was a bored high

school student who constantly gets bullied by his classmates, and has no place he feels he belong to.



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Then comes a day when he discovers his strange ability to concentrate and experience the world in slow

motion, that he gets embroiled in an adventure to prevent the apocalypse.

Wilbur saw much of Keigo in himself; they were bored, bullied and severely underappreciated. Knowing

that a miracle of any sort would never happen only made him depressed most of the time. He would not

wake up one day and find out that he was different. He was like everyone else – confined to the samereality and trudging through life trying to make sense from senseless things.

“Sorry, I’ve already reserved that last issue” a fruity voice came from behind – it was the Asian redhead.

“What? No... But this one only got released today!” Wilbur’s yes-man tendency was causing him much

distress; he wanted very much to hand it over to Redhead, but the series was nearing its finale, and he

could not bear to miss out on any chapters.

“You can check with Lathif, I’ve already paid for it” her face a matter-of-fact expression; Lathif popped

up from below the counter and gave a wink.

“Shit.” Wilbur muttered under his breath. He passed the book to her, unaware that he looked like a

sorry dog.

“You can always try the Shoten at Whitfield, it’s just three stations away” her suggestion was

accompanied by cocked eyebrows and a smirk, making her seem almost gleeful.

Wilbur would have normally found it cute when a girl did that, but it was plain annoying this time.

“I live in Whitfield, and the only Shoten relocated two bloody years ago,” Wilbur convinced himself that

he would have told Redhead that, but first, he had to properly look her in the eye.

Wilbur looked as if he wanted to say something, but only a sigh of defeat escaped his mouth.

Fifteen bucks on Instant Assertiveness was wasted, he made sure never to buy another self-help book

again. Wilbur turned and strode out of the store, his face unable to decide whether he was angry or

miserable.

“You were being a prick, Jude.” Lathif exclaimed, still underneath the counter.

“Not really.” Redhead coolly put the comic back onto its shelf.

“Nothing I haven’t seen coming,” she moved hurriedly out of the store, an unusual look of

determination on her face.



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Chapter 2 – Bewilderment

“What the hell just happened? You look like shit!” Isaac always had been able to tell when Wilbur had a

bad day. It was either that, or he just had a really easy-to-read face.

Wilbur didn’t bother to reply - he was sorely disappointed in himself for handing over the comic so

easily. The last time he checked, Shoten didn’t allow reservations of books; it was strictly ‘first come first

serve’.

“Who was it again this time? Alex? Ryan?” Isaac could only remember these two names from the top of

his head. They gave Wilbur hell in school, and were often the cause for his bouts of depression.

Wilbur remained silent and continued to Isaac’s bedroom. He wanted to say something, but Isaac wasn’t

the sort of person who could give great advice. Listening and agreeing was mostly what he did, and he

would much rather talk to a wall. Isaac was a friend whom he deeply appreciated from the bottom of his

heart though. He knew himself that he wasn’t the type of person that people would clamor to be friends

with, but still, Isaac was there for him each time.

“You come up to my house and ignore me when I’m talking to you. So that’s how you want to play

huh?” he hated feeling ignored, and Wilbur seemed to make him feel that way most of the time.

“Only thing I want to play right now is Graveyard Heroes, you bought a new controller already?”

“Yeah,” he replied curtly. “You’re such an asshole sometimes, Wilbur. I swear I might just kill you

someday.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean it” Wilbur’s sudden despondency made Isaac feel awful.

chapter 1 - defeat

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