His story

Michael Forrester

Here is a guy who thinks the world revolves around him. Who thinks all the girls worship his stunning face and ripped abs. Who thinks all men should lay low and envy his smoldering sex appeal. He's overly infatuated with himself. He felt he's the only star in this world full of ugly devils.

In his previous school, they call him the " prince of music ". He excels in electro-acoustic guitar. Forming a band of his own, he sings pretty well. His voice has the same range as Pierre Bouvier, the lead singer of Simple Plan.

In three years, he and his bandmates performed live concerts and participate band contests. He may be a singer but not a composer. None of his bandmates are. But they make a name of their own. You can say he lives like a celebrity. His schoolmates treat him one. His teachers think highly of him. He's rich, handsome, and gifted with talents. Girls flocked around him like ducks. Boys look up to him. Seriously, he can't ask for more.

But everything changed when he graduated high school. One after another, his bandmates abandon him. Worse, his parents send him off to another city and migrate to another country, leaving him penniless. No friends nor girlfriends to turn to, he can only sink in misery. He tried contacting his parents but they changed their number. Which means he's all alone in the world and he must make a living of his own. No money, no girls. No girls, no sex. No sex.... dude, what's the meaning of life?

He can only curse his own fate in his current situation. The handsomest man alive became a nobody. His branded clothes, complete guitar set, album collections... everything was confiscated. His parents spared him nothing. One month after coming to this city, the landowner of his apartment drove him out. Reason? He can't pay the rent. That's all.

For days, he roams the street and sleeps in parks. Sometimes abandon buildings. Careful not to get caught by other homeless like him. His sleek brunet hair degraded. Mushed, it turned to stone. No combs can penetrate its strand anymore. His sparkling dark gray eyes dulled. His face we're covered in dirt and smudged. He stinks a 1-month worth of rotten animal corpse.

Yeah, his life sucks. To make it suckier all his belongings were stolen by other homeless guys. How he sunk so low, he doesn't know. Devastated by his current situation, he collapsed to a dumpster. He is sure it’s located right behind that high rise condo he saw a while ago.

Thoughts like what should he do run across his mind, like firing bullets, endless possibilities surfaced and disappears. He wants to blame someone. He wants to blame his parents for leaving him like this. His bandmates for abandoning him. His classmates for filling his mind with infinite praises and flatteries. Now, where are they? Just right when he needed them, they’re gone. Like poof.

But what good does blaming them do? After all, it can’t change his current situation. He’s now nothing but a homeless 19-year-old kid who loses everything except his pathetic, miserable and useless self.

He inhaled a deep breath. He can’t breathe through his nose. The stench of rat corpses, rotten leftovers, stinking diapers, and anything else in between clogged his nostrils. All the way to the area between his forehead. It punches his brain hard, leaving him feeling wobbly and weak because of all this trash.

He heard soft footsteps coming to his right. The old him would have hide, scared his pathetic self will be seen. But right now, what’s the use of pride? When you’ve lost everything? It would be nice if this person will take pity and drop some coins. Maybe he can buy some coffee.

Months ago, he tried to live off scraps. But his stomach collapses on him and barf all the food he consumed with maggots inside.

“ Are you alright? “ someone emerged at his right. A soft concerned voice of a woman. He gets the feeling it’s the same person with the soft footsteps earlier. He didn’t respond. He continued to close his eyes. If his nose is struggling to breathe. He’ll just stop inhaling air then. That will do him good. It will end his life. And everyone who left him will be happy eternally.

In his cheek, he felt the soft pitter-patter of small droplets. Rain. It’s raining. If he stays holed up in this dumpster, the rain will come down on him in a strong and rapid flow. Then he’ll get sick with fever. When left alone, it will worsen. Until he died. Hooray for a happy ending.

But the girl who approached him thinks otherwise. In her soft small arms, she helps him up. The dirty, disgusting him was helped by a rich beautiful woman. He can’t imagine why, she got no reason to help him. And yet, there she is, dragging him to his feet. Inside the high rise condo, into the elevator and she let him sit on her soft velvet sofa.

With her soft translucent hand, she touches his forehead. Checking if he has a fever. She told him to take a shower. She said she will prepare food to fill their stomach. A sob choked on his throat. The feeling of her room greatly reminded him of the life he lost. The life of a living prince. It’s so far away now. Like a distant memory from a past life, even if he pictures it in his head, he still can’t reach it with his outstretched hand.

He took the girl’s offer of towels and fresh new clothes. Twisting the doorknob, he got in and saw the image of his homeless pathetic self. Directly opposite the door, is a full-sized mirror. Reflecting his own grimy self. The soiled, full of holes, baggy clothes. The sooty blackened hair, the greasy unshaven face, the smelly him.

Looking in the mirror did not make him feel any good. He felt useless more than ever. Self-pity and self-shaming mixed in, he collapsed on the tiled floor and sobbed.