Ordinary

Eloise

It was just another ordinary day in Eloise's ordinary life, she thought as she got dressed in front of her mirror. She was just another average girl living in the city of Plum.

Eloise had nothing remarkable about her, be it from her academics or her extracurriculars. Her older brother and sister were over-achievers and so were her parents, winning acclaimed awards and known by all— but she seemed to always fade into the background.

Not that she was a failure, she actually did fine in most aspects of her life, she just never really stood out like the rest of her family. Most of the time people would even forget that there was a third Finch child.

She really had nothing to complain about, she thought, she had a good life, always had food on the table, went to a good school, had a famous loving family, yet she always had a feeling that her life was lacking.

She never excessively excelled in anything, and she never really felt passionate about anything she was doing. She always just went along with whatever her parents enrolled her in or told her to do, or told her would probably fit her and her "personality."

Eloise heard her mother call her from downstairs and realized she had been staring at her reflection for a while and was almost late for her first class for the day. She ran down and saw her whole family having breakfast already looking complete without her.

"Eloise, there you are! It's almost 8 and you might get stuck in traffic on your way to school!" Eloise's mother exasperatedly told her as she handed her a plate full of eggs and bacon.

"Sorry, mom." Eloise mumbled as she took her place at the table. She chomped down her food as fast as she could, avoiding any questions at the breakfast table regarding her grades or how she was fairing in gymnastics.

Normally her parents could listen all day long to her siblings talk about their achievements, but lately the pressure on Eloise has been turned up given that it was her final year before she graduated from university.

Eloise focused on her food while her siblings and parents exchanged thoughts on whatever today's headline was, she was about to take her last few bites of breakfast when her attention was called, "What are your classes today Eloise?" Her mom asked from the other end of the table.

"Uhh you know just accounting, taxation and product marketing," She managed to say in between bites.

"And how are you doing in these classes?" Her dad asked sternly, "What rank are you so far in most of your classes this trimester?" He prodded.

Eloise gulped down her food, and a part of her pride, "I'm doing okay, I think I'll get a good grade, not sure what my rank is but I don't think I'm far off." She said, upon hearing that her dad immediately looked up from the newspaper that he was reading, both her parents were now staring intently at her.

"Not that far off? How could you not even bother to care about knowing this Eloise???" Her mother asked, already starting to get upset.

Her siblings were quietly eating their food pretending not to hear the interrogation going on. Eloise had been used to this, her parents have always been hard on her, but it didn't mean that she was no longer bothered by it.

Still, she knew what to do in this situation, "I'll ask today and let you guys know. Look at the time, I've gotta go to school, see you guys later!"

Eloise got up, kissed her parents goodbye and got into her car and drove off to school.

The drive to school was around thirty minutes with minimal traffic. Eloise had memorized the route so well because she's been taking it every day for the past four years, so would occasionally allow her mind to wander off.

She couldn't help shake off the feeling that she could be better. She had been trying over the past years to just come to terms that she'd always be in the background and not the main character of her own life and being okay with that, but it wasn't easy trying to unlearn what was ingrained in her through out her whole life, that she could be better, that she SHOULD be better.

She was deep in thought about what she could do to improve herself, to make herself seen, when she suddenly saw the truck that was right about to hit her.

Adam

Being a demon was no easy job.

Adam knew this and was always constantly reminded of it, he got up from his bed stretching, feeling the ache of his muscles from the day before.

He had to chase a man who was trying to avoid being dragged to hell. He couldn't blame him, when you hear the words "You're dead, and I'm a demon tasked to take you to the underworld" most humans would run.

Still, it was tiring to chase them down. He was one of Brim's top performers so most people he was assigned to were truly the worst of the worst, so normally they would put up a fight.

Brim, or what most humans knew as hell, the underworld, the netherworld's and what-not, is where Adam called home.

He walked over to his kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee, "A new day, a new soul to track down" he said to himself as he looked out of his penthouse window, looking at his prime view of Brim.

He loved his job, every day offered a new adventure, and even though he's been a demon for about 300 years he still got excited about each day.

He heard a light tap on his door which meant the details of his next assignment was waiting outside, he walked out and found the usual red folder sitting on his door mat, he picked it up and walked back into his apartment and read it as he drank his coffee.

A few seconds later he closed the folder, got up and got dressed. "See you in a minute, Eloise Finch" He said to himself as he vanished out of his apartment in Brim and onto earth.