Wonderman: Golden Djin

A 27-year-old man was seen walking through a city block in Indianapolis Indiana. He had brown curled hair, average looks, greyish eyes, and wore a full business suit. He walked briskly passed the pedestrians around him towards his workplace. It was midday and he had just finished having lunch at a nearby [Munchers DD] chain restaurant. His expression was dull and his eyes were glazed over. He habitually glanced at his watch and proceeded through his motions with a poker face.

He entered his workplace, ignored the receptionist, and headed straight for the elevator. Only a few minutes later, the elevator opened on the third floor and he stepped out of it. He walked a few meters before pulling open the glass door with the words: [Owen's B Contractors] on it. He placed himself on his desk chair and turned back on his computer.

His desk was messy, it had notepads filled with notes, ideas, and comments. His desk wastebin was filled with crumpled papers and he didn't bother to clean them up.

After his computer had booted, he opened the text document he was writing on his laptop, and an expressionless look left his face. His lips frowned almost noticeably as he looked over his work.

"Vale, did you send me those reports I asked you to?" A woman in business attire asked, coming up to his desk.

This was Vale's boss at the contractor firm, Melinda Crossings. She was a driven and ambitious woman, but she more than often took out her failings on him. Four times now, she had pushed the blame of not meeting clients' expectations to her 'team'. That team was actually only Vale. His teammates rarely stayed more than 6 months, so he was the only current member. In the end, she was an ordinary boss in Vale's eyes, but her ambition poisoned those who worked under her.

Melinda scowled lightly after Vale didn't answer immediately. He was staring out into space, looking at the clipboard she was holding.

*Snap* *Snap*

"Hey hey. I want it done by the end of the day, understand?" Melinda said after snapping her fingers to shake him out of it.

"I'll get it done." Vale nodded with a poker face.

Melinda took a quick glance at his open computer screen and saw the text document Vale had opened. It was a novel he had been writing religiously since he worked here, she had known about it for a while. Vale would write it during work when things were slow.

*Tsk*

"Looks like you don't have enough work. You can take the Metalmiks client as well." She clicked her tongue and handed him a small paper with the client information from her clipboard.

She walked back to her manager's office and closed the door elegantly. Vale stared at the paper document on his desk with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. He closed down his text document and began his work for the rest of the day.

...

5:00 PM Closing Time.

"Vale, I'm gonna need you to stay late and finish the Metalmiks paperwork I asked. Please and thank you." Melinda told Vale as she set down her paperwork at the receptionist's desk on her way to the elevator.

"Thursday night happy hour baby!!"

"Madik, how are things working out with you and Melinda? Any progress?"

"Uh err, of course! She totally feels the same way. But she said that she was too focused on her career right now and said that she wouldn't have time for anything serious."

"Ahaha, that counts as a rejection then."

"What, no, actually because she said she liked me it's not..."

"Master of Cope, teach me your ways."

"Hahaha"

Coworkers walked past Vale on their way to the elevator. Then they clocked out for the evening. They were giddy and energetic men who couldn't wait to go to the Thursday night bar nights that had long since become a tradition here. Vale ignored them and continued clicking away on his computer. For the upcoming partnership with Metalmiks, he was filling out documents and reviewing their provided legal contracts.

...

8:12 PM, 3 hours later.

Vale finally finished his work and everything was wrapped up neatly in a folder. He placed it on Melinda's desk and dragged himself back into his office chair. He let out a tired sigh before glancing at a message on his phone.

[Dear Mr. Montereo,

We regret to inform you that your dog, BubBub, passed away from a skin tumor this evening. We tried our utmost, but he was just too old and it was his time to go. You should know that he passed away peacefully and without any pain.]

Vale reread the message three times before putting his phone back on his desk face down. He sat there with a thousand-yard stare for about 3 minutes. The office lights dimmed as the floor janitor clicked the lights off in the room by mistake. Vale now sat in complete darkness at his desk, with only the slight glow of his phone to light the room. If someone could see his face, they would see silent tears that fell down his face in the darkness.

...

10:02 PM, 2 hours later.

Vale lay on the roof of his office building, watching the night sky above. He had been thinking about a lot of things. Today had been one of the worst days of his life. He worked at a job he hated. He has a boss that treats him like dirt. All his close family had long since left this world, and now his last family member BubBub had left him too. He was alone... and he realized he needed to change something. He couldn't keep doing what he was doing. He wasn't happy with his life. Everything was just so... tiring.

He recalled his childhood dreams of watching Fizney movies, Solar Wars, and building legos. He remembered praying to be a superhero like a fool when he was 14. He recalled how engrossed he felt watching those worlds in the movies, being sucked in them as a child. And he remembered his dream, he had always wanted to tell stories. He wanted to create that same feeling he had as a child for others. He wanted to see other kids' eyes light up. He wanted people to get lost in a world of wonderment.

He watched as a beautiful comet streaked across the sky. It was a falling star. He wished that he could follow his dreams as he had always wanted. He reached his hand up, as if he could grab the comet with it and crushed it in his palm. His stoic face didn't change, he set down his hand and closed his eyes to rest. He wanted to only take a short nap before driving back to his apartment.

Unbeknownst to him, golden sparks were swirling around him. His entire being was changed from within and at this very moment, the legendary Wonderman was born.