1 1. Prologue

"Here is your change sir. Have a lovely day," said a pale-faced young man with a bright smile. The dark bags beneath the young man's eyes didn't hinder the bright expression he wore on his face and friendly aura.

"Thank you, young man. You have a wonderful day too," replied the middle-aged male customer. He returned the young man's smile with a small grin of his own before walking away with his bag of items.

After the customer left the store, one of the young man's coworkers shook his head and turned away from the shelf to look at him.

"I honestly don't know how you do it man. You've managed to get the grumpiest asshole regular customer to actually be nice for once. I don't think he's ever yelled at you before like he has the rest of us."

The young man manning the counter glanced up and chuckled.

"You shouldn't call Mr. McKinley that. He's just a little rough around the edges but everyone knows he's a big softy at heart."

The coworker snorted, "Softy my ass. Besides, he's only ever nice to you."

"Not true," stated the young man. Running a hand through his hair, he replied, "I've seen him feed kittens in an alleyway. He takes care of the street animals."

The coworker rolled his eyes turning back to place the new stock of items on the shelf, "Okay fine. He's only nice to you and animals."

The young man didn't bother responding knowing full well that whatever he said wouldn't change his coworker's mind. Still, he didn't think he was the only person grumpy Mr. McKingly was nice too. He was well aware of the older man's personality but he knew it wasn't something from the heart. Besides, Mr. McKingly was just rude. He wasn't a bad person as some, like his coworker, might assume.

No, Ronald knew what a bad person was and Mr. McKingly was far from being one.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Ronald realized his shift was ending in a few minutes. Seeing as there was no other customer left in the shop, he decided to start preparing to leave. The one who would take over his shift was already in the locker room so there was no need to wait around.

Ronald opened the door in the back which led to the locker room and slipped inside, turning on the lights.

Immediately, his coworker on the table snapped awake and rubbed his eyes.

"Ah, is it time already?"

"Almost but I figured I'd leave early since I'll be doing your shift tomorrow," Ronald said. He limped over to his staff locker and opened it before pulling off his uniform polo shirt and placing it on a hanger. As he dug around in his backpack for his spare t-shirt, his coworker stared at the scars lining his back.

When Ronald turned around, his coworker immediately looked away, pretending to have seen nothing and stood up. The scars on Ronald's back were hardly a secret but there was a hidden agreement amongst the staff not to ask about it. Despite their curiosity, they respected Ronald's privacy and never pried.

"I'll head out first. Has Nick finished up in the aisles?"

Ronald slipped on a clean white t-shirt before shaking his head, "No. He has one more aisle left."

His coworker clicked his tongue, "Let me guess, he was slacking off again?"

Ronald didn't give a verbal reply but the look on his face said enough. He watched as his coworker huffed and stomped out of the room, no doubt getting ready to deliver a hefty lecture to the third staff member.

Hearing the voices from outside, Ronald released an exasperated chuckle and picked up his backpack, slinging it on his shoulder. He slammed his locker shut and walked out of the locker room, not forgetting to turn off the lights as he did so.

"I'll see you tomorrow Nick. Bye, Mike and all the best for your date."

Ronald waved at his two coworkers who responded with their own separate farewells before continuing their heated conversation that Ron took no interest in listening to.

A vibration from his pocket prompted him to fish out his phone and tap on the notification that popped up.

[Transfer from #### Store: $150]

[Total Savings: $1250]

Ronald couldn't help but sigh at the meagre amount of cash in his bank account. Despite going to work every single day, he still only earned the bare minimum and couldn't afford to live a comfortable lifestyle. There were bills to pay, food to purchase, and a debt that seemed to be forever growing.

That last one was definitely not his fault though. It was the result of his gambling uncle who borrowed from loan sharks and couldn't pay them back. After running away out of fear, the burden of repaying the large debt fell on the closest family member who was none other than Ronald.

Ronald, who already had close to nothing, had no choice but to repay the debt if he wanted to live. The casino his uncle used to gamble at was an underground one that the cops couldn't touch due to the owner's far-reaching connections. Therefore, law enforcement wouldn't be of any help meaning Ron was left with only one choice. Either repay the debt or lose his life.

Although his life had been miserable since the day he was born, Ron still had the will to live.

Walking to the nearest ATM, he pulled out his card from his wallet and slid it into the slot to withdraw $700.

Grabbing the cash, he shoved it into an envelope and sealed it tightly before placing it in his backpack. The loan sharks would be waiting at his front door once he reached his apartment so he wanted to give them the money as quickly as possible before they caused unnecessary trouble to the neighbours.

Zipping up his bag, he wore the straps on his shoulders and continued walking down the street, limping with every step.

The weather was humid so his right knee was playing up more than usual making every step he took twice more painful than it normally was. Some people shot him a glance, eyeing his leg out of curiosity without shame, but he ignored them altogether. He was used to the stares, having lived with them for years.

He came to a stop in front of the road where the zebra crossing was. Standing amongst the other pedestrians, Ronald glanced ahead at the road, watching the cars carefully.

Suddenly, he noticed the tiny figure of a kitten in the middle of the two lanes.

Cars zoomed past it causing the creature to tense up in fear and hop around the road in an attempt to avoid them.

The other pedestrians who also noticed the kitten let out various gasps and held their breath, praying the poor thing didn't get hit. As much as some of them wanted to run out and pick it up, it was too dangerous with how fast the cars were going.

A woman shrieked when the kitten stumbled into the middle of the right lane, directly in the path of a car that was going above the speed limit. Everyone instinctively knew that the kitten couldn't avoid it and some of them closed their eyes, unwilling to witness its death.

However, there was one person who sprang into action.

Ronald, who loved animals, acted on pure instinct. Despite having a limp on one leg, he forced himself to move as fast as he could across the road. He managed to reach the kitten just in time to cover it with his body, shielding it before the car slammed into him knocking him into the air and shattering his bones.

Screams of horror echoed around him but Ron couldn't hear them.

His final thought before darkness overtook his vision was;

'I hope the kitten made it out alive...'

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Word Count: 1330