Avatar: Modern Day Bending

Honk! Honk! Honk! The blaring sound of car horns filled the bustling street.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" A man leaned out of his car window, his voice cutting through the chaos. He directed his frustration at a young man who was engrossed in his phone while standing on the zebra crossing.

Startled, the young man hurriedly crossed to the other side, a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry, sir. I apologize for the inconvenience," he muttered, his mouth still full of a hot donut.

His name was Las, an ordinary teenager with nothing particularly special about him. He lived in a place known as Republic Country, the most prosperous among the five main regions.

"Hey guys, have you seen that new movie yet?"

As Las made his way home, snippets of conversations floated through the air, catching his attention. He instinctively pulled his ear and listened.

"You mean that magical thing? Nah, it's so boring. Everyone in the movie has five different powers. It's predictable. I'd rather spend my money playing Nintendo."

"What a lame kid you are."

"Shut it."

Las caught snippets of these discussions as he reached his house.

"Mooom, I'm home!" Las slipped off his shoes and headed towards the kitchen, where a beautiful woman wearing an apron was cooking.

"How was school today, Las?" His mother smiled, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. She pulled a piping hot pie out of the oven and placed it on the table.

"Eh, it was the same as always, boring," Las replied nonchalantly, his eyes still fixated on his phone.

His mother shook her head, taking Las' phone from his grasp. "No phone, no pie, and no computer," she scolded playfully. Las's face twitched at the thought of being deprived of his digital entertainment, but he knew better than to challenge the authority of the almighty master of the house. He let out a sigh and quietly began eating the pie.

12 midnight.

"We need to help him," Las mumbled in his sleep, his body twitching involuntarily.

In his dream, he saw white silhouettes swirling around him.

"Las," one of them whispered.

"Las," another voice echoed.

"Las," a third figure called out.

"We need you."

"The world needs you, Las. Wake up—"

Before anything more could transpire, Las jolted awake, drenched in sweat. He peered at his bed, which was soaked through.

"Damn it. Who are they? Why am I having these strange dreams again?" he muttered to himself.

Las had experienced these bizarre dreams since childhood, and though they had faded for a while, they now returned with even greater intensity.

Sighing heavily, Las reached for a bottle of water from his fridge and gulped it down as if it were the first water he had ever tasted.

He grabbed a towel and stepped into the shower, losing track of time as the water cascaded over him. By the time he emerged, it was already 5 AM, and the sun was peeking over the horizon.

As Las gazed outside, contemplating playing some games, a sudden crack split the air, followed by an immense pressure that engulfed everyone. The ground trembled, but for Las, this earthquake held a different significance.

End Of Chapter.