One-off short stories

Stories, a Person, and a Game

Ryan had always loved stories. All types of them. He loved heroes and villains and adventures and friendships, and love, and everything in them. He took inspiration from them, saw what they told and believed in them. It was the only reason he was still living even something of a normal life. He even liked sad stories. As long as it meant something, he could accept a sad ending, and definitely terrible parts. If anything, Ryan had read too many stories. It was no surprise that the boy was separated from reality. He'd spent years hiding in his room, after all. But still, it would come as a shock to some people. Just how lost he was, in a sense. Most people never noticed or saw it. After all, Ryan was a kind person, who put others before himself. He would seem like one of the best people around, when you first got to know him. Heck, even if you knew him for a while, that may be what you'd think. But that wasn't all Ryan held within him. No, he had grabbed onto a lot more. Over the course of those four years he spend in his room, he was only able to leave because he changed from the boy who'd hid in it in the first place. But who came out, was in a sense, a completely different person. When he was younger, Ryan had been more shy, and depended on others. It was only thanks to having a friend like Sky back then that allowed him to be normal. That's why he was so broken. So he tried to put himself together from stories. He saw and learned plenty in his room. He saw heroes. They inspired him. They gave him another path. So he took pieces. Like a jigsaw puzzle. He'd be cool like that one hero, and helpful like that'd other one. He'd be willing to do anything for the sake of everyone, unless it would kill someone. He'd be able to save everyone eventually, if he just found a way. He could become the person he wanted to be, as long as he worked towards it and with others. Those ideals, those characters, reforged Ryan Endo. He managed to use those things to move on, to start a new life. And if he was like so many heroes, he would be perfect, wouldn't he? That's what he wanted to be. Of course, there was one thing he didn't account for. That undeniably, he was still Ryan Endo somewhere. And because of that, he still needed to depend on someone. Luckily, he found somebody. And thanks to that, he found a way to spring up. He would do anything for the friends who would help him. That was what he decided. And it worked out for a time. He was able to help people, be happy, and he had those helping him to. It was nothing grand, but it sustained Ryan's need to be like the stories. He did always want an adventure, though. Always hoped someday some magic would show up, something would change. He'd get the chance to be something big. That maybe someday somebody would actually look at him and call him a "hero". That was what he wanted. And yet, he believed he could do it. Perhaps he even could do it, and he would definitely try. Ryan believed he could be a hero. Because everyone could. If they tried hard enough, everybody could. Of course he knew that. So when he finally got the chance, of course he chose to go. Even if it was dangerous, he would be helping a friend and being a hero. It felt like a chapter out of the stories he loved so. But of course it wasn't. He was traveling between realities. It wasn't a story that he could take his place in. That was what he learned. Instead, other people had already took all the places. All the important pieces on the board were taking already. The king and queen were there, along with his rooks, and his bishops. At best, Ryan could consider himself a knight. And half the time their weird movements didn't even go anywhere useful. But he didn't even feel like a knight, they were worth three points. He felt like a pawn. He was a pawn. One measly point. The ones that were sacrificed so another pawn could kill an enemy. He wouldn't accept that. No, Ryan is a hero, isn't he? He didn't learn so much and get over so much to end up as a pawn, did he? No, that wasn't it. So he had to try the one thing a pawn could do, and he certainly would. The one possibility that a pawn had. Their one chance to grow, to improve. If he could reach the end before any other pawn, before the game was over, after the battles had already toppled the queen, he could take her place. That was it. After all, it was his rightful place, wasn't it? Queens were the heroes of the battlefield. And he would be a hero, no matter what. And there was no way the spot of the hero, the queen belonged to HER. So Ryan would take her place. It was that simple. That is the only option he has, if he wants to be the hero. So he would play the part that he desperately wanted to play. I love games, don't you? You can never know the next move, can you? But that's what makes it so exciting! And even better, is that your strategies can change at a moments notice. All you needed was to reach that one goal. And each part just had to play something of a part to win. Which is exactly why Ryan is a perfect player. Because he would try desperately to play a bigger part. And that is just what is necessary, sometimes.
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Woah. What I was writing changed at some point there. That's what happens sometimes when you're writing as an omniscient narrator over a character you control, I guess.