Riftwalk *OLD*

Boring Planet

                                                                       Chapter 1

     Lan woke up to the ring of his alarm in the morning, feeling the chill that was brought about by the onset of autumn. All through the summer he had gotten up and biked to work, now he was regretting the choice to get a bike instead of a car. He pulled the blanket over his head to incubate before he hatched out of bed. After debating just lying there all day and deciding he didn't want to lose his job he got out of his egg.

     Getting out of the shower was always a difficult thing to do because he knew it would be cold as hell every time he stepped out. He wondered why the world didn't have a set heat. Things would be much better that way. Grumbling wouldn't do anything though, and he was far too lazy to become a scientist and find a way to make that happen.

     He put on layers and left his home. It was a one floor old style Japanese house. The only residents were him and his grandmother, who was sleeping. It was 6 AM and the sun had just rose over the mountains. The sky was a canvas of light blue and wispy clouds. The full moon had not yet sunk behind the horizon. The mountain was a shadow in front of the sun. There was only the sound of nature.

     Lan grabbed his bike and rode with the eastward wind down the long stretch of road that led to the city. The town always getting closer and closer.The ride was easy and the wheels did most of the work. He eventually got too numb to feel the wind on his face anymore. The cars mocked him as they drove by. It took an hour and a half to bike to work.

     The only time Lan listened to music was at home on his computer. On the way to work he just listened to the vehicles and wind. He didn't buy any portable devices, not even a cellphone. It really annoyed all of his friends, not to mention his mother, but he lived as cheaply as possible. He wasn't held to any contracts or the need to fill up a tank with gas... even though he wasted a lot of his money online.

     The city was a small one. There was one big supermarket and a lot of small businesses. Most were owned by a family. The bulk of the town was the houses, spaced out in in rows. Most of them looked the same. The monotony made it feel like he was going through an endless loop. But the supermarket got bigger so he knew he was getting closer to his destination.

    Lan locked his bike up and went in for work. The day went on like any normal day. Scanning items and putting them in bags was almost a reflex to him after working for as a cashier for 3 months.

   The day was uneventful until around 8 PM, into the store walked a girl. She was really pretty but that's not why everyone whispered about her. She was a well known nut. She claimed she had travelled to another dimension some months ago. When she tried to prove it however, she would not go anywhere and just start talking about some place she had been. She gathered some items and came to Lan's checkout counter. He decided to make some small talk, as cashiers sometimes do.

   "You're the slider?" Lan asked. 

   "Yeah," the girl said, "I haven't been here for awhile, I had a craving for earth food. It really is quite good".

   "You're pretty surreal," Lan smirked while putting her items into her bags.

   "You haven't seen surreal," the girl muttered under her breath. She grabbed her bags and started to leave.

     Lan started to scan the items of the next costumer, as he did he realized the girl's purse had been dropped on the floor. It must've fallen when she picked up the grocery bags. Lan turned to the guy who was working behind him, he told him he had to go return the bag to the girl. The co-worker finished bagging the items of Lan's costumer and closed his lane while Lan chased after the woman.