Ego Rock

Chapter 1 - The Job Offer

Hey, listen, I just wanted to have a normal life. I don't know how or why I ended up falling this high above the upper city, but I guess we're doing this now.

How many meters do you think I will fall? Will there be anything left of me to tell the story? Will I dream? God, I...

I just hope mom doesn't see this. See what I'll become, I mean. It will certainly make her cry.

Well, since I'm pretty much about to die, I might as well do one of those flashback thingies that people use to do in these types of situations. In fact, my day started pretty normal, just like the others. I woke up, ate some bread and delved deep into depression like I always do.

Yeah, things have not been great these last two years, to be honest. I ended my relationship, got fired, tried to become some sort of freelance artist but haven't got a stable income since then. It's hard, but I'm not hopeless. When you're back at the rocks, it means you've been to the top, right? Right?

Look, I'm trying to be positive, okay? Motivation has not been present in my life for a while. Everything I did just seems to have become irrelevant in the grand scheme of things and, consequentially, everything that I will or will not do just loses all significance.

So yeah, I've been unemployed and living off of my friends and family help. At least I've got an apartment in the lower city. It's a bit cramped, but I make do. Better than living on the streets. Today, I was going to get out there and find a new job, but something weird happened.

Oh, my name is Leon, by the way. Not that it's important, but it's good to know.

Anyway, I received an automated message on my phone offering a job opportunity on the high city. Just had to pass on an initial interview of sorts. I got pretty pumped. Seemed like a golden ticket had fallen right into my lap. I mean, I'm not desperate, but I'll take literally anything I can.

Ok, granted, I am desperate. So desperate, in fact, that I didn't realize the obvious trap in that message. No information was given besides my own name. That was a red flag, but, in my defense, I guess I realized that they knew what I could do just from that. If you know who a person is, then you know what they can do, right? It's the century of information, for God's sake. They probably knew my academic skills.

Or lack thereof.

At that moment, my mind started to burst. I needed to clean myself, get some pretty clothes, turn myself into something more... presentable, instead of this walking mess of a person that I normally am. And so, I did, although limited by the time restraints. There was no time to find someone that could give me a haircut, so the long hair was going to stay. I had to brush it then. As for my clothes, the best I could find was a white satin shirt, black trousers and some old shoes that my father had left me. There was this absolute unit of a purple tie that I kept in the wardrobe for occasions like these, but, as I got older, it just seemed like such a screamer. Don't get me wrong, I love it and think it's beautiful, but it's just... I don't know. Too dramatic? Someone could get the wrong idea just by looking at it. I don't want to look like a posh bastard. Still, it's the only one I got, so I guessed I'd roll with it. I looked everywhere for a coat or something of the sort, but I guess I was out of luck. Still, getting a job interview was lucky enough for me, I figured.

In a hurry, I left. "Onward, until destiny!" I thought silently to myself as I unlocked the front door. I generally don't say these types of things out loud because I want to, at least, look like someone that got their shit together.

I wish I had my shit together.

Look, I'm terribly sorry if this seems like some self-deprecating clown behavior, but I'm just trying to state the events how they happened and how I felt, and feel, about them. These are probably my last moments so, please, bear with me for just a bit.