Read The Unreaper :: A spark of hope...

The old man shook my hand with a grip that made my knuckles crack and then invited me to sit and make myself comfortable while he prepared the last things he needed for the interview. I took this time to study the place I would maybe call work in more detail. The backstore was nothing more than a small room just big enough to store the surplus needed to keep the store running and the stuff to clean it. Furthermore, the dust had been piling up where the man couldn't reach it. With one last groan, my senior sat in the chair in front of me and began speaking. "So... boy, could you tell me your name again?"

"My name is Blake Saunders sir and I am currently unemployed sir!" I answered with an unwanted break in my voice.

"Sheesh, you don't need to be this stressed boy I am only asking you little questions."

The proprietor of the store had smirked at my reaction which made me feel a little stupid at first, but as he continued to take notes, I quickly took back the rein over my emotions. After a few seconds, he started to speak again. "And what made you want to work here boy."

The fact that he was still calling me boy even after I had given him my name was slowly starting to get on my nerves, but I kept my composure and answered, "Well I had always wanted to work in a bookstore before since I really like literature and reading, but I never had the opportunity before."

"Oh really?" the old man simply answered while still taking notes. "And what do you want to do later in life exactly?"

That question took me by and I took quite a little while to come up with an answer but just as I was about to answer, the old man said, "Nevermind, I don't really need to know that. Anyway, you're hired. You can come tomorrow at 7 am. that is all"

The old man then got up and almost instantly made his way to the door of the store while I stood there speechless and baffled by what had just happened.

"Well... You coming?"The man's voice brought me back to reality and I saw that he was holding the door ready to lock it behind me.

"Yes sir!" I only managed to blurt out still seated in my cheap plastic chair.

***

A few weeks had passed since I started to work at old man Obu's shop and things were finally starting to look better for little old me. I could pay my rent, buy myself real food and I even started cleaning up my apartment. Even if I had to wake up early for this job, it was all worth it in the end. As I turned the corner into the street of the bookstore, I saw big gray clouds slowly making their way toward here and I internally hoped that the rain would quietly pass by.

The day passed without a hitch like usual and soon Mr.Obu and I started to prepare for the shop to close for the day. "Good work young man and see you tomorrow." The old man said before exiting the shop an umbrella in hand.

"Thank you, sir." I only managed to say before the door closed leaving me alone in the now-closed shop. As I watched the man get farther and farther, I could only curse myself for not bringing an umbrella. A few minutes later, I was running as fast as I could through the mass of people and rain to get to my apartment as soon as physically possible to avoid getting sooked and rinsed thoroughly by the unfathomable amount of water falling from the sky.

Suddenly, I heard some sort of detonation far of in the distance, then another and another. I slowed down my pace while the noise kept getting louder and louder and I started to turn in all directions to try and find its source. Other people around me also started to look increasingly worried when someone shouted and, turning to face the shouts, I saw that what I thought was thunder was in fact accompanied by a ball of fire and that they were not getting louder, they were getting closer.