3. New World

The next day I woke up thinking that I no longer had any purpose. I no longer knew what to do next. I was happy to get to the coast, watch the beautiful sunset, feel the warm sand between my legs and the tide of the waves, but then what?

That's what I didn't think about when I ran away from home and cut my ancestors off. I have complete freedom of action that no one can influence. I'm officially dead, I have no tails. No relatives, no friends, no responsibility of any kind, but so are the downsides.

I have no papers, which means I won't get a proper job. I haven't finished school, so I have no education and fly past cool jobs or college. I don't have a steady flow of money, I don't have more than $1000 with me and I have no idea what to do next.

"Here's what am I supposed to do? What would some TV show or book character do in my situation? What am I talking about, though? Heroes like them wouldn't even have the idea that they have nothing to do. They have the world to save, the beauties to seduce and so on, blah, blah, blah."

-We've got to think this through. - I sat down on the bed and stretched. - Considering wasting money on food and other little things, along with the hotel rent, then I'll run out of money in about a month. During that time I should....

URRRGH!

An empty stomach interrupted my thoughts. I grabbed my stomach and realised I needed to eat before making any plans.

-Breakfast doesn't interest me right now, neither do snacks, nor coffee and tea.... I remember Greg mentioning a doughnut shop. I think I could do with a couple of doughnuts.

After picking up some cash from my hotel room keys and getting changed again, I left my new temporary home and went in search of my mini-breakfast. I rarely ate doughnuts myself, as I preferred a good breakfast, but I wasn't too hungry right now, so a simple snack would do.

-Doughnut shop, doughnut shop..... where are you...o I think this is it!

After walking around the pier for a while, I finally found the place I was looking for. I walked around quite slowly, enjoying the beauty of the slowly rising sun. It was almost 8 a.m. on the clock, so people also started pulling up. Some for robo, some just walking around like me, and some walking around with their kids and having fun.

I found the doughnut shop at the furthest end of the pier. It was a small building, painted white and pink, apparently to attract the attention of customers or to create some sort of friendly atmosphere. Like every other doughnut shop in the world, this one too had a giant doughnut, underneath which was the tiny name of the building itself.

-Big Doughnut....speaking name, you can't tell. - I wept, who am I to judge people for the creativity of their brand name.-I hope the doughnuts there are as cool as the name.

Walking through the door with a bell on it, I was greeted by...an empty doughnut shop. There were only three people in the whole place. Me and two vendors. One of them was a long teenager my age, with a copra of red hair and holes in his ears and I kid you not. He had holes in the middle of his ears, I don't know how or why, but it creeped me out.

The second salesman was a short blonde girl, with a tired look. Both of them wore purple coloured uniforms with the shop's logo on them.

On seeing me, the short girl perked up and stood back slender while the sleeper, on the other hand, leaned on a chair and hovered over the phone.

-Welcome to Big Doughnut, what can I do for you? - As soon as I stitched up the counter the standard words of greeting sounded.

-All right.... give me a couple with chocolate, pink frosting and sprinkles...o, and wrap this one up for me as well. - I pointed to the last of the Kotiki ice cream.

-Okay, one minute please.

The girl stepped back picking up my order while the guy was still hovering over his phone. All I could do was stand and wait for my order, looking around the shop.

"It's pretty clean, though." - I remarked. - "The windows are clean, the floors are tidy, there's not a trace of dust or dirt. Usually places like this are pretty dirty, all because of people who eat doughnuts illiterately and spill lots of crumbs on the floor. It's people like that that make me stop eating them because it looks disgusting from the outside."

-Okay, your order's ready. That'll be $4.45 ¢. Card or cash?

-Cash.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the notes and started counting them out. Just as I counted out $5, a bell rang behind me and another customer entered the store....very loud customer.

-Kitties, kitties kitties....KITTIES!

Having already handed 5 quid to the cashier, I turned around to look at the noisy bastard. At first, I didn't see him, but as soon as I lowered my gaze, I spotted....the baby.

"Oh, that explains it." - I rolled my eyes and looked away, not even trying to remember what he looked like.

-Sadie! A pack of kittiesfor me, please! - he stood to the side of me and shouted to a short girl, apparently named Sadie.

-Sorry Stephen, but we're out of Cotics. - she replied, handing me my change. - The last pack had just been purchased.

-What?! Oh, no! How am I supposed to live?! There's no more?! No more, no more?! -He leaned over the counter.

-No Steven, they're all gone. - Sadie sat down and sighed. -They're no longer available, the last pack had just gone to a new customer.

As I picked up the bag I noticed how the two men were now looking at me. Sadie, with calm on her face, but the boy.... I don't even know how to describe his face. Something between pity, sadness, supplication and begging. An incompatible combo.

-What?! -I raised an eyebrow.

-Mmmmmm....- she busied herself and lowered her head to the counter. - Nothing....

-That's good.

I reached into the bag and fumbled for the very packet of Kotiki ice cream there. It was the ice cream of my childhood, which I used to buy with stolen money or money saved from lunches.... which I also stole.

The ice cream was two biscuits, chocolate flavoured, with soft vanilla ice cream underneath. Always loved this ice cream, ate it when I was sad. They're called 'Cats' because the biscuits are made in the style of a cat's face.

"But really, I didn't know they were no longer being made. It's not even a little bit....harmful." - I unwrapped the light pink packet and sent the whole popsicle into my mouth at once. - "Mmmmmmmm, tastes just as good."

-Last.....kotik...- the kid looked at it with tears in his eyes. - There's no more of them... there's no more of them! Aaaaaaahhhh! How on earth! How could they stop making such delicious ice cream!

-I don't see how you can eat those cats. -The long salesman decided to stand up and clean up the shop. - I, on the other hand, like Lion Tongues, I think they're much better than Cats.

All three of us cringed at his words. Sadie, the kid and me. Lion Tongues was an ice cream on a stick, it didn't even look like a lion! It had a horrible orange flavour, with a dash of lemon! I can't imagine how you can eat it?

-Lars, it's horrible! They don't even look like lions, look! The whole face is skewed to the other side! - the kid stood next to the fridge with these "delicacies" and pointed at them. - Don't ever compare that horror, with the Kitties! May they rest in peace!

-Ha! So what?! But they taste so much better and nicer than yours. -.....

With that, I decided to duck out of the shop and walk around town. I just didn't want to have to deal with a hyper-active kid and an insufferable teenager.

----------------------

Beach City was.... pleasing to the eye, there's no other way to put it. The town was built on the coast and was manicured to the max. The houses here were mostly white or beige, making the sun reflect off them and make them glow.

The people here are just as pleasing to the eye. Where I was born and raised, there haven't been so many smiling faces in my entire life! It was as if the whole town had joined a sect or something.

There was also an influx of tourists with their families who made a fuss. All in all, I liked the city, especially its streets.

The streets in town were so narrow that no more than two or four people could get through, which was nice for me, because I hate crowds and hustle. Most of all I like to spend my time in peace where there are least people and where they just can't get to me.

The town had its own hospital, spas, coffee shops where I bought myself a cup of coffee as I was tired of eating donuts dry food, restaurants and so on. All in all, the town was literally designed to attract tourists.

And there were quite a few people, even though it wasn't even summer yet! It's just the beginning of Spring, I can only imagine what it will be like here when the summer holidays and adult holidays begin.

"Well, I still haven't figured out what to do next."

I still haven't figured it out. Walking through the streets of the city and enjoying the atmosphere here, I still hadn't figured out where to go next or what to do.

"I might as well settle down here. Get a job, get a girlfriend, buy a house, and so on, what do teenagers dream of now? The city is pleasant in principle and I could stay here, but what's next? I can't sit in one place forever and not do a damn thing! ".

With all this thinking I did not notice how I climbed a small hill on which stood an ancient lighthouse. I crouched near the lighthouse and set my coffee and doughnuts on the ground, then dangled my feet off the edge and wiggled them around, looking ahead.

-The day went by so fast, I didn't even notice. - I said, looking at the receding sun. - Time flies pretty fast here, I don't even have time to look back.... and that's a problem. Because I still haven't figured out what to do!!!!!

I leaned back and looked up at the sky, the sky was silent. I was silent too, everyone was happy with the silence.

-I think I need a job. - I drew an unexpected conclusion. - Money is always needed, it is not endless. It will wane and wane until I am penniless. So I need a job. Where you don't need papers and where they pay well.... an impossible task, I'll have to do it somehow.....

-GHYYAAAAA! GHYAAAAAAA!

From behind me came a sudden and strange screaming and grunting. I quickly got to my feet and turned around..... to be dumbfounded.

-Ah you....tch! THOSE ARE MY DOUGHNUTS!

Right in front of my eyes, an incomprehensible green thing that looked like a millipede, with a huge eye in its fangy mouth, was eating my doughnuts! A disgusting green saliva dripped from its mouth, which, when it touched the ground, evaporated, as did the ground.

On her back were several jewels of green, and her belly and legs were black, she also had white hair on her head....Still EATING MY DONUTS!

-YOU BITCH! - I ran towards her and swung my flip-flop off. - GET AWAY FROM MY FOOD!

-GYAHAAA! - it turned towards me, right at the moment of impact. - GYAHAAAAA!

My spanking hit it right in its green eye with a black iris, causing it to close its mouth and start rolling around on the ground, taking the pain away.

-What are you.....- Having calmed down a bit, I took a closer look at the creature. - Some new kind of insect? I wonder how much is given for the discovery of a new species? Hopefully a few million for sure.

I turned my head, to my flip-flop.... there was nothing left of it. Green saliva got on its surface and literally ate my shoes in a second!

"Not only did it eat my food, but it killed my clothes! What the hell is that?! ". - I quickly kicked the flip-flop out of my hand so as not to burn myself. - "That's alright, I guess you can do me good dead too."

I looked around, looking for some sort of weapon of destruction. My eye caught itself on a rusty pipe lying at the side of the lighthouse. Hands acted instantly.

-GET IT! YOU SON OF A BITCH! - I grabbed the pipe and started slamming it into the beetle's back. - GET IT! DEAD! THIS IS FOR YOUR FOOD! AND THIS ONE'S FOR THE POOR SLIPPER! GOD! WHY! YOU! WERE! BORN! SUCH! A! UGLY!

-GYAYAHAHAHAHAHAH!

POOF!

With another blow from the steel pipe, the creature didn't die, as I assumed, but vanished into thin air like a cloud. There was nothing left of it but acid, a dead slipper and eaten donuts.

-Oh, you bastard! No use in life or death! - I threw the pipe aside and squatted down. - It's been such a good day, no, it has to be ruined again because of the.... incomprehensible alien caterpillar! What's next?! A huge asteroid falls on top of me?!

BOOM!

-I'm kidding! I was kidding! - I covered my head and expected the worst..... the worst didn't happen.

Realising it wasn't coming from above but from below, I went to the edge of the hill and carefully looked down.

"What the....!".

At the bottom I saw dozens of these millipede caterpillars crawling along the beach and throwing their acid. There was also a huge mummy caterpillar that was creating them from her body, literally spitting them out.

She and her little ones were fighting some kind of figure, I couldn't see exactly because of the distance. But I definitely saw one of those figures take one millipede in her hand and literally rip it in two with one motion!

Then the three of these figures joined together and started beating the mother caterpillar. Eventually, they hammered her with their own powers and she too vanished into the cloud, leaving nothing behind.

I watched this with my eyes literally widened as I squatted and watched the three figures celebrate their victory before retreating to the wooden beach house.

-This is..... interesting. - I didn't notice myself as a smile appeared on my face and my hands began to shake. - THIS! INTERESTING!

I jumped up and started twirling around myself, laughing and wrapping my arms around myself!

-INTERESTING! INCREDIBLE! CRAZY! AT LAST! SOMETHING, SOMETHING INTERESTING! - I stopped and sat on the ground, exhaling.

My eyes lit up as I stared at the brightly setting sun. They burned just as well as the sun itself. I smiled and realised I had found what to do next.

"Now, I know what I'm going to do next." - I stood up and pulled my chest forward. - "New world, new opportunities..... now, I understood why my teammates adored the ocean so much."

I started down the hill, occasionally chuckling.

"Now, I love the ocean too." - On my face, a smile appeared. - "And that, the love is mutual."