"Mr. Schmidt, we have yet to receive payment for the last 2 months and as such, we are now disconnecting your internet service for the foreseeable future. Have a nice day."
Mr. Schmidt, or Mike as he prefers to go by, groggily raised his head up from the safety of his soft pillow and directed his melancholic gaze at the phone that sat atop his dresser.
I know I'm way behind on my bills and I deserve to have no internet for that, but that 'Have a nice day' part sounds like a genuine kick the dog line.
He sighed, lazily turning his entire body over so he could stare at his ceiling.
Good thing I don't usually use the internet... except for games, watching videos, getting updates for those games, not to mention researching background information of my favorite things, solitaire, making purchases if I have the money...
I'm really not helping myself.
His thoughts were soon interrupted by the familiar sound of a small, thin envelope sliding under his door. Without bothering to look, Mike simply stated, "That's probably the gas bill..."
He heard the familiar sound again. "Water..."
A third time, "Telephone..."
By the sixth bill, Mike already had his head buried under his pillow.
It wouldn't be long before he would be out in the streets with even less of a chance of getting by. He was never really one to get passionate in any of his pursuits but he knew that if he had to be determined, it had to be now.
"I need to find a job," he flatly declared.
With everything on the line, Mike slowly crawled out of bed, slipped into his best casual clothing and made his way into town.
"Alright, my first objective should be to find somewhere for job listings," Mike looked up and down and all around as he searched for something that could point him in the right direction. "Jobs... Jobs... Girl Scout cookies?"
His eyes were immediately drawn to a bright pink table with a variety of cookie boxes spread across on top. The table itself was managed by a small girl and her mother, the usual cookie selling team.
Unfortunately for him, Mike found that he stared for too long as the girl's eyes soon locked onto his.
No... A sharp chill crawled down his spine as the Girl Scout approached him.
"Would you like some cookies, mister?" she asked.
"Uhm..." Out of pure instinct, Mike quickly reached for his wallet, but just as quickly stopped himself. He had to remember that he needed to save the little money he had left.
"Each box I sell helps support my troop's goal of going to Hawaii," she continued.
"That sounds nice..."
"Which has always been a dream of mine since I was littler."
Though Mike was sure her cutesy way of pronouncing "littler" was on purpose, the intended effects still got under his skin.
"...I'll take 5," he said, trying his hardest to hide his feelings of defeat.
Moments later, Mike mindlessly carried several boxes of cookies through the city, stuffing cookie after cookie into his mouth until he finally found several newspaper clippings plastered over each other on a nearby telephone pole. It was like a physical representation of the competitive nature in the race to find employees.
As he scoured through the various jobs presented before him, Mike started to have his doubts as to wonder whether or not he could actually do what was available.
YOU ARE READING
FNIA: Soul
Science FictionMike is a down on his luck young man with no prospect in life. With no family to rely on and on the verge of losing his home, Mike goes out and takes up a job as a night guard at a local anime convention. But just as Mike may have found a way to get...
