Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence: A Novella
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Charlie’s first attempt at living a more adventurous life was spiraling downward fast. She wasn't completely certain, but perhaps the Japanese art of swordplay was a bit out of her league.
That morning while eating breakfast, Charlie tried in vain to figure out what exciting thing she should do first. But every bite of her toast only rewarded her with more empty thoughts. She had no idea of what she should do! She never left her apartment unless it was necessary, so she rarely exposed herself to different activities other than playing video games. Therefore, once again, that's exactly where she found herself – questing in her online reality.
The more she shot her virtual bow and took down bandits with her pixelated sword, the more frustrating it became to know that she was soul-bound to her online world. Every cut of her blade and puncture of arrows succeeded in only adding to the chasm of emptiness that had become her life.
That’s when it came to her.
As far as she was concerned, she was a master of combat; at least, through the skills of her video game character. So why not try to apply that skill to real life? Who knew what could happen? She could read the headlines already:
“Vigilante gone wild!”
“Samurai Master saves the day!”
“The Blade continues slashing costs to bring you everyday low prices!”
Once she thought about it, learning to wield a real sword made perfect sense.
That was until she nearly impaled her instructor.
It was her first session and everyone was supposed to use a practice sword to begin with. But during a short break, Charlie quietly slipped away to inspect a sharper, more deadly-looking blade. She was driven purely by curiosity to handle the sword. But once she held it in her hands and felt a rush of excitement wash over her to be actually wielding a real weapon, she lost all self-control and took a few practice swings for the fun of it.
She guessed the instructor must have really liked his beard if he had banned her from his dojo.
Charlie stood outside once again, staring into the endless sky, feeling like there was no place for her within the entire universe. She was nothing more than forced out gas that life burped up while forgetting its manners. At that moment, she felt certain she was destined to live a meaningless life.
“In my opinion, the beard had to go anyway.”
Charlie snapped out of her depressive state and noticed a man standing on the curb next to her. He was tall, with dark hair, fair skin, and a smile that instantly made her insides do a somersault. At first, she was so taken by his appearance that she forgot to reply and simply stared. The man laughed and smiled some more.
“Who cares about whatever lost honor you've shamed him with?” said the stranger. “If you ask me, you did him a favor.”
Charlie choked out a sound that was half gargle and half moan, coming nowhere close to sounding like the hello she intended it to be. But once again, the man simply smiled back at her.
“I'm Rowan,” he said.