Better Than Almost Anything

The screaming caused Elliot to open his eyes and stare in all directions. He gazed at the ceiling, but found nothing. Then his eyes fell on the clock on the wall. It was only eight o’clock in the evening. He grumbled. It wasn’t even midnight yet, but the dream had already there.

It was all a dream. The crying was not real. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. His breath caught as the voice entered his mind again. Although he tried to ignore it, it had been echoing in his head for weeks. The nightmares kept coming. The same dream, every night. Ever since that night, he had recurring nightmares that disturbed his sleep.

Elliot rose to his feet. He sighed with relief when his legs moved down. At least he could still walk now. He walked to the table by the window. His hands shook as he reached for the cigarette case, then he lit a match and lit the tip. He enjoyed the sweet smoke that slowly entered his mouth. But a few cigarettes didn’t make him feel any calmer when the restlessness set in again. Those damn nightmares. They made him more and more anxious until his heart beat fast. This anxiety would make him sick.

As he smoked, his eyes wandered to the large envelope on the table. An envelope that contained disaster and bad news. All came out of the blue. He pushed the half-smoked butt into the glass ashtray. The envelope had changed his life in the last few hours. Everything he had done so far seemed meaningless, whether it was position or wealth. He had done everything he could to reach his position, then the envelope informed him he would be a cripple. Regret crept up inside him. What had he done?

Elliot looked down and stared at his hands. All the evil things he had done on purpose. He didn’t mind getting his hands dirty, either. It was a mistake.

But, wait. Was it really a mistake? It’s a human nature for the strong to oppress the weak. But then the man’s face came back to him. The way the man had pleaded with him then. A man who wept before him. The man was just one of the many people who had fallen victim to his evil actions.

He reached for the glass on the table. All the swear words came out. He threw the glass to the wall, causing a brief noise. The sound immediately disappeared as the shards of glass fell to the floor. He breathed heavily. This was his life now. Miserable, lonely, and desperate. All because of that white envelope.

Elliot grabbed his jacket from the hanger. On his way out, he took a quick glance at the front table. There was a newspaper. In a column on page eight, there was a story about a man begging outside the largest hotel in Weinssten City. It was just in the page’s corner, making the event seem invisible, but it was enough to make him restless.

He stepped out of the hotel lobby and took a deep breath. The cold fall air greeted him. He put up his jacket and walked away. His eyes glanced at the trees near the hotel where he was staying. He hadn’t noticed it before. The trees were lined up in a pattern, neat as the pattern in his life before all this misfortune happened to him.

Perhaps going for a walk was not a good idea. He should just go back to his room.

Elliot turned around. Then something bumped him. He looked down. A small head poked out from near his jacket. A little girl was standing in front of him. The girl smiled and her eyes sparkled, but all those could not hide her pale face.

“I’m sorry, sir.” The girl’s apologetic voice stuttered.

She was wearing a red jacket. It looked like the red hood at midnight.

Elliot pulled his lips up. He wanted to smile. A smile might look like this. Theoretically, a smile is formed by simply pulling the lips until the teeth show.

Geez. He had completely forgotten how to smile.

“Sir!”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to buy these cookies?” The little girl showed Elliot a box of cookies.

“Cookies?”

“Fortune cookies.” The girl opened the box, which contained small golden-brown, snail-shaped cookies.

“Fortune cookies?”

“Fortune cookies, for someone lucky.” The petite girl with curly black hair explained.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.” Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

“But I’m not a lucky person, little girl,” Elliot whispered. His tongue twitched as he said those words. He was rarely kind to anyone, certainly not to a child. He rarely saw this kind of creature.

The girl looked up and stared at him. “Maybe the fortune is just waiting for you somewhere, sir, and all you have to do is come and get it.”

“You think so? Who taught you that?”

The little girl just grinned.

Elliot looked at the box the girl was carrying. But he didn’t like candy. Sweetness was just the opposite of bitterness, the true taste of life. He thought the sweetness of life was false and a trick. Luck, too, was just a mass delusion designed to give the impression that the world wasn’t as bad as people think.

“I don’t like sweets.” Elliot declined again.

“Please.” The girl blinked a few times. “I beg you, sir.”

Hearing this plea, he cleared his throat. His eyes glanced alternately at the little girl and the box of cakes in her hand. He had nothing to lose by buying this strange cake. He had plenty of money, anyway. Elliot finally nodded.

“How much should I pay for the box?”

The girl’s face brightened. A smile broke out. “Are you sure you want to buy it, sir?”

“Of course.” Elliot pulled his wallet out. “How much?”

“Nine dollars and a hug, sir.”

“Huh? Nine dollars and a hug?”

Nine dollars was reasonable, but a hug? This little girl wanted a hug from a stranger?

This had to be a joke.