My conversation with him.
He just showed up out of nowhere, like an uninvited guest.
Not sure if this belongs here but then again, just like me, it doesn’t really belong anywhere in particular.

He didn’t knock.
He didn’t announce himself.
He just sat across from me like he’d always been there.
And then he started talking.

ou want to be something. Somebody. Whatever that even means. Doesn’t matter, because sooner or later, you’ll end up in the dirt like everyone else. Every year you lose just a bit more of your spark. Your friends don’t call. Nobody looks twice when you walk by. You’re just like the rest of them, scraping around for whatever pieces of yourself are left.

You watch. You scroll. Because that’s all there is now.
No, you can’t have the world. You can’t have your dreams.
But you can hold the illusion of it all in the palm of your hand.

How long until your head just rots away?

You couldn’t make it. I’m sorry. Even out of a couple hundred nobodies, they didn’t want you. Your vibe? Not cool. You’re too down. And maybe, if you had the chances others had, you wouldn’t be so broken. But you didn’t. So the doors stay closed. The grind wears you to dust, until you’re nothing but a ghost. A walking shell.

Someone else is always luckier.
So come back to me.
Give up control.
Tell me to take over.

You’re going to die anyway. So what’s the point of hustling for scraps?
Hand over what you hold so dear and you’ll never worry again.
I’ll take you somewhere you can have anything you’ve ever wanted.

Dreaming is easy. But you won’t even need to dream.
You can have skills and talents beyond your wildest imagination.
Be anyone.
Be anything.
Just give up your life
and it will all come easy.

That’s what he told me. That… thing. I never caught his name. I couldn’t even catch a good look at him. But his voice was sharp and smooth, like a man who wears a tailored suit every Sunday.

“Interesting… So did you take the offer?”

“Why would I? Sounds too good to be true.”

“He did say you’d suffer for nothing, and even if you suffered for something, it still wouldn’t work out.”

“Right. And I’m just supposed to trust a stranger with a convincing argument? Might as well give up entirely if anyone with a nice speech can talk me out of anything.”

“But… he’s not wrong. You are locked out of everything. And luck has never been your friend.”

“So what? I’ve worked for everything I’ve got.”

“You’re like that guy from The Simpsons. There was this workaholic prodigy with a perfect resume and insane credentials, but nobody cared. And Homer, the lazy idiot, ends up getting everything while the prodigy gets fired.”

“…I get it. I’m not a people person.”

“Exactly. There’s your problem.”

“That’s not it. People pleasers are just doormats. Everyone steps on them.”

“Your mind really loves to overcomplicate things.”

“So I should just turn it off and coast through life? Be no better than the dude shooting up heroin at the closest street corner.”

“If your mind can create this whole scenario, this guy, this doom, where no matter what you do you fail… then couldn’t it also construct the opposite? Or at least a middle ground?”

“That would just be a delusion. Pretending I can do anything when I obviously can’t and there are roadblocks everywhere.”

“That belief is also just your mind.”

“So what, I should just be happy with what I’ve got? Sure. Until life keeps taking more and more. Then what? We bend over and say, more please?”

“I mean… look around. Everyone cares more about the new iPhone than their rising rent or losing control of their own life. Prices go up, freedoms go down, and people just accept it. Because anything else requires either a collision or beating the competition.”

“…Honestly? Beating the competition sounds easier.”

“Then go do it.”

“…What about you?”

“…”

“Don’t tell me…”

“I’m thinking about taking his offer.”