《Oracle》


 Home...?

    The city lights grew fainter, and quickly his vision had been inked black, as the city and all its noises began to fade into the night. He felt nothing.


    It was sometime into the morning when he arrived at his destination, an old house in the middle of nowhere. The door was neatly padded with a rusty American lock, and nature had enveloped the house in vines and monstreas that had climbed their way close to the roof. The house didn¡¯t have much to it, and the road didn¡¯t even lead into the small garage.


    "Sorry but this is the best I could do in such short time." An older fellow spoke, exiting his aging Ford Thunderbird. "I honestly forgot I owned this property." he continued. The older fellow walked to the other side of the car, grabbing the remaining luggage from the passenger seat, and showed him into the house. Once the door was opened a breath of air entered the house, picking up swafts of dust along with it. The entire house was lined with a thick coat of dust, and it smelled odd. There was no musty smell of mold nor the fresh smell of chemicals either, it just was. So too were the rooms of the house devoid of anything, they all sat empty for years.


    "No one''s been in here for at least ten years" The old man commented, dropping the suitcase by the door. "I fixed it up for my son to live here but," the old man paused for a second. "But he won''t be needing it." They continued throughout the house into the kitchen, where the old man turned on the faucet. "Working water," he said.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "The utilities are all covered for you won''t need to worry for those." The old man continued throughout the house, inspecting every room. "But it does get cold in the winters so you''ll want to buy a heater. Oh and there is no internet. If you''re going to want it you''ll need to have it installed yourself. I''ll pay for it naturally but I don''t do too well with technology." He joked to no response.


    ¡°Will you be alright?¡± He asked, but his question fell on deaf years. ¡°Sean,¡± he called, which finally elicited a response. Sean turned to him almost dumbstruck, as if awakened from a long dream. ¡°Will you be alright?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, yeah.¡± Sean responded, and the old man worriedly accepted his reply.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you furnish tomorrow, but you¡¯ll have to sleep on the floor tonight.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Sean replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to need to go to school tomorrow, I¡¯ll pick you up from there. Do you remember where it was?¡± Sean didn¡¯t recall, despite not sleeping the entire trip he didn¡¯t remember any of it, it just seemed like a faint blur. ¡°It¡¯s down this road here, just take a left on Clover.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± The old man smiled and walked towards the door, but before exiting he turned to Sean and said, ¡°You¡¯ll be fine, kid.¡±


    Sean simply smiled, ¡°Thanks.¡±

 Dull Expression

    The old man had left, and Sean now stood in this empty house. Nothing dared to interrupt the lingering silence the old man had left, not even Sean. He gathered his belongings from the entrance of the house and made his way to the master bedroom. There he laid out the suitcase he had prepared. It only contained some items of clothes, a laptop, and money. A stack of one-thousand hundreds laid at the very top, ten thousand dollars in total. Sean held no expression upon seeing the money and simply hid it beneath his clothes.


    He continued to explore the house and indeed every room was empty. Although he believed the old man he thought it was best to check for himself. He combed every room, making sure to enter everyone. He noticed the wall were all painted white, and the floors were made of some cheap fake wood. He finally reached the last door he had not ventured behind and opened it. It lead to the small single car garage, as empty as the rest of the house. Sean took the small steps down, his bare feet making contact with the cold concrete. The garage, like the rest of the house, was eerily still. Sean was not the superstitious type, but he still found the house¡¯s silence weird, yet he found some comfort in it. He didn¡¯t mind it here.


    His thoughts were interrupted by the growl of his stomach. He simply looked down at his stomach and stared at it for a bit.


    ¡°I have to buy food.¡± He spoke to himself. He vaguely remembered the old man saying to him that he would need to buy his food today and of a  market on the corner of a street. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go exploring.¡±


    He changed into a jacket and some boots and grabbed a single bill from his stack. He left the through the front door, locking it behind him.


    He walked down the old street, well it was more of a highway, but it was seldom used. Connecting to a stretch of road no longer in use. His house was the only one on the road, surrounded by a field of grass. A lonely house it was.


    Down the street east laid the corner of a neighborhood. A small residential area that seemed almost lost in time. Every house seemed idyllic, a serene and picture-ess scene. The sun had begun to set, and very few people were outside of their homes. The ones that were out seemed too occupied in their own worlds to pay attention to him, and the ones that did notice him simply remained in silence. But that¡¯s how he enjoyed it, that¡¯s what he¡¯s used to.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The silence of the town continued into the main street, where cars were few and far between. Sean continued his journey down the main street, noticing the many closed-down shops and buildings. It seems this town was once prosperous, but its glory days have passed, leaving only grim reminders on the street.


    Finally, Sean came upon a small convenience store at the corner of a street, the neon sign at the front reading ¡°The Mart¡± leaving the rest of the word dark. He entered the dimly lit store, noticing the cashier placed at the left of the building. She appeared around his age, freckles placed between her eyes and her hair messily parted. They stared at each other briefly, a look of confusion on her face. Sean awkwardly broke eye contact and hurried off the back of the store, quickly grabbing a cold sandwich and a drink. He made his way back to the counter, his head looking down as he placed the items upon the counter.


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t good.¡± She spoke, startling Sean a bit.


    ¡°What?¡± Sean replied.


    ¡°The sandwich.¡± She pointed to, ¡°They don¡¯t taste any good.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Sean sheepishly replied.


    ¡°Here,¡± the girl made her way from the back of the counter and disappeared into an aisle, before returning with a different sandwich.


    ¡°These ones are better.¡± She handed the sandwich to Sean who placed it upon the counter, a bit confused.


    ¡°Will that be all?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    She made her way back behind the counter input the items into the register. ¡°That¡¯s four dollars and ninety-nine cents.¡± Sean handed over his hundred-dollar bill. The girl now looking at the bill and back up at him.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a smaller bill?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Sean replied, a bit embarrassed.


    ¡°Ok.¡± She took the bill and took all her twenty¡¯s and tens from the register, having to take some from the small stash of bills hidden under as well.


    ¡°Here you go.¡± She said, placing a single penny atop the change.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Sean muttered and hurriedly walked off.


    ¡°No problem.¡± She said, watching him leave. Her coworker arriving at that moment from the back.


    ¡°Who was that?¡± She asked.


    ¡°No clue.¡± The freckled girl spoke. ¡°He had kind of a dull expression though.¡±