THE LAST ONE STANDING

DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME?

My stomach grumbled to remind me of my hunger. When you have no money, even the friendliest streets seem threatening. When I was younger, my father used to take us out to dinner once in a while. Now that I am walking these streets on my own, I miss every moment of those days.

Ruminating over the past never served anyone with a solution. Hence, I understood that it would only make me further lonely to lament and cry over the deceased ones.

Like a stray dog, I began wandering on the streets while examining the nightclubs. From the vulgar crowd to the stomach-churning smell of the alcohol, everything was off-putting about those places.

While peeking inside to grasp an understanding of the place, I ended up observing a woman who was being dragged by some men against her will. That scenario made me question if I wanted to work there.

“Eight million dollars. I bet I wouldn’t get them even if I sold myself away like an animal that’s sold for consumption,” I complained.

While complaining about the scarcity of options, I walked further away from the hospital in the search of work. The more I walked, the further I realized that there was no possible method of employment that could provide me with that huge sum.

“What do I do? I can’t give up. I need that money. I can afford to lose my sister,” I let out my anxiousness while wiping the tears that trickled down my cheeks.

Around that moment, my gaze fell on the prosperous side of the town. The place where casinos and bars were the tourist attractions. By gulping a lump down my throat, I observed the endless opportunities that lie there, “Maybe I should snatch a ring. Or, I should steal someone’s wallet.”

Precisely then, I saw a stout woman walking into the casino. From the manner through which she walked, I could perceive that she was quite vulnerable in taking control of her body. Then, my gaze fell on the diamond ring on her index finger.

“This is as good as it gets. If I can get that ring, I could instantly get some cash,” I could finally believe that I would be able to save my sister.

The temptation of stealing lured me into the luxurious structure. From the inside, it seemed as if the whole place was carved out of gold. The very ambience made me admit that if anybody was to catch sight of me, they’d throw me out. They all were excessively intoxicated to care about something as meagre as this.

“Before someone kicks me out, I need to procure the ring from that lady,” I reminded myself.

The woman was sitting on one of the couches that were set for the people of higher social class. I surveyed through the whole place, sneaked into the staff room, and quickly changed into the hostess's clothes.

Thereafter, I took hold of the serving tray and briskly prepared several glasses of wine.

While seamlessly merging myself into the ambience, I paced towards the effervescent woman. She seemed to be enthralled by the company of the young men around her.

Purposefully, I approached her. After pretending to stumble on something, I ended up spilling the drink over her. With the tray in my hand, I bowed my head to apologise to the lady.

"I am going to get you fired! How dare you? You ruined my million dollar fur coat?" complained the haughty women.

Although I was startled by the threatening tone in which she addressed me, the requirement for her ring aided me in calming my tense nerves. Thus, I nonchalantly apologised and offered to help her by politely asking her to follow me to the loo.

“No matter how you'd try to compensate, I will discuss this with your manager,” declared the woman.

While keeping my head down, I walk towards the loo with the tray in my hands. The moment the woman entered, I took a few steps back and got behind her. As she headed towards the basin, I hit her hard on her head.

Although she didn’t lose her consciousness, she became vulnerable to the head injury. By grasping the opportunity, I removed the ring from her finger and rushed out of the loo as soon as I could.

As I was about to exit the casino, my steps were halted by the injured woman’s wail. She screamed with all her might, “Thief! She stole my ring away! Catch her!”

Nobody would’ve suspected me if I would have pretended to be calm about it. However, I grew intolerably fearful of the staff around me and believed that they would hurt me. That gave me away. Furthermore, when I made a run for it, the guards followed me out of the building.

Even though the weather seemed to be cruel to my cause as it poured heavily that day, I didn’t grow vulnerable to my circumstances. My body, however, couldn’t take it. I should blame it on my inability to feed myself. Without subsequent water and food, I was bound to fall apart. It happened before I could even escape the guards.

I tripped and fell upon one of the puddles. My mistake was looking behind me to catch a view of the people following me, which only seemed to amass.

The guards took hold of me, cursed me and then delivered a harsh blow on my nose. Blood soon ensued. Then, they retrieved the ring from my hand and threw me back into that pool of puddle. The battering I received made it harder to move. Just when I was about to give in to the pain, I recalled my sister's words. In the morning, she had declared that she loved me and wished for me to take better care of myself. The recollection forced me to escape the crowd.

Like a filthy rat, I crawled back into a mucky street. Precisely, I had my back against a foul-smelling dumpster. Since no one walked in or out of that street, I was assured that I wouldn't get caught.

"That was a close call. If I hadn't escaped, I wouldn't be alive," I commented on the horror that I lived.

While narrowing my gaze to look at the main street, I realised that the crowd chasing me had dispersed. I was finally safe.

Safe, but humiliated and battered. It was the first time I got to view such an unsightly face of human society. For a piece of jewellery, they were prepared to kill me. It was a truly petrifying experience. I didn't regret what I had done though. However, I did lament over the futility of my actions. I still had no money. I felt useless.

"My sister's already in the mouth of danger, what good can I do by staying alive?" I grumbled as the hopelessness wrapped its cold arms around me.

I was just sixteen. Neither I had sufficient knowledge nor did I have any adequate skills to arrange for eight million dollars. I began scratching my head while trying to come up with any possible solutions.

"What should I do? Is there no other way?" I wondered to myself.

That's when a horrifying idea came to my mind. If I were to sell each organ, I might be able to save my sister's life. That was the only way. What else could I do?

"I should talk to the kind nurse if she'd be willing to take care of my sister after I'm gone," I suggested to myself.

While speculating death, I felt a shiver down my spine. I hadn't even bloomed into an adult, yet I was perceiving death as an option.

"What could I hardly do by being alive? It's better to die than witness my sister's dead body. I'll talk about this proposition with the kind nurse at the hospital," I had made up my mind about the source concerning the money.

It would be a lie if I said I wasn't afraid, but I also realised that dwelling on that fear wouldn't get me out of my situation. Henceforth, I decided to pick myself up and head back to the hospital.

When I attempted to stand on my feet, a terrible pain pulled me back. The pain necessitated that I stay put.

"I can't. I need to reach the hospital as early as possible," I tried to crawl, but I couldn't do that.

Consequential muscle ache from being battered made it impossible to breathe without flinching. If I were to head out with that pain, I might end up dead on the very street.

Hence, I settled back behind the same dumpster. While concentrating on the water droplets that dripped from the roof of the building beside the dumpster, I dozed off while wishing for a more practical method to save my sister.

Around the dawn, I woke up to the turbulence of the car horns and cursing drivers. While I tried to straighten my legs to rest my tense muscles, my gaze fell on an envelope that was resting on my lap.

On the receiver's end, I found my name. Thus, I surveyed the whole street to look for the person who could've delivered it. I found no one.

On the sender's end, I found the mention of an anonymous company, WIC. I took a few seconds to concentrate on the name so that I could recall something related to it. I couldn't.

To be honest, I just paid no mind to it as I believed that it could be some foreign establishment. Thereafter, I opened the letter only to be greeted by big bold letters that read, "DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

AUTHOR'S NOTE

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Show your love to the author by adding this book to your library. I need your support more than ever.