Nature's Wrath (Chapter 1)

Most live in a mere shell of the gift known as life. Looking for the next best invention, the fastest cars, and the hottest media personalities. The vast majority of people had materialistic views on life, feeling that as long as they had money to spend, they were living a good life, and there was nothing else to worry about.

Some spent their time free from such obsessions. Monks, Villagers, Rasta's are some examples of people who lived apart from such distractions while living amongst these people. Even seemingly ordinary people working typical jobs are trying to distance themselves from this illusion. Staying grounded with activities like meditation, yoga, tai-chi, and so forth. Those people maintain their connection to the universe and connect with their true selves in a more profound way than others would ever get to comprehend.

'Man, I've hit rock bottom, huh. a high school dropout with no friends. The only people who haven't turned their back on me are dead or in prison. When it boils down to it, my family is all I got. Even then, that doesn't mean a whole lot. Most of them disowned me because of who my father is. Now I live in a one-bedroom apartment, working a miserable factory job to get by. I mean, It could be worse, though—no sense in complaining now. I almost have enough saved up to launch my business, then I can get my mom a new house and find a chick to settle down with. Yea that'll be the life.'

-10:53 pm, Manu thought, 'Today was a pretty good day. I made a little extra from overtime, might as well treat myself.' grabbing his wallet and house key, he heads outside, locking the door behind him. Walking into the store, he is greeted by the clerk. "Hello! Welcome to

Food Mart." The woman said enthusiastically. Manu walks straight to the food aisle,

grabs a grilled chicken, a can of beans, and a gallon of water. With that, he goes up to the cashier, ready to pay for his things. "Did you find everything, ok?" She asked with a

happy-go-lucky tone and a smile. "yea," he replied in a monotone voice, ready to hurry back home and eat. "Alright, your total will be $11.03," The woman told him, bagging up his groceries. He gives her a twenty-dollar bill, and she hands him the change. "Thanks

for shopping at Food Mart! Have a good night, sir." She says in the same cheerful tone.

"Thanks, you too," he said back to her with a light smile before grabbing his things and

walking out the door.

Arriving at his apartment, Manu pulls out his key and unlocks the door. Slipping off his shoes, he goes to flip the lights on and sets his bag on the counter alongside the jug of water. Walking to the microwave, he grabs a plate to warm up the chicken and beans,

adds freshly made rice and starts chowing down on his food.

-11:11-

As he's eating his meal for the night, he suddenly thinks to himself, 'If only life was as

Adventurous as the manga and novels make it seem. Shit, by now, I would be out somewhere falling in love or fighting against some villain threatening to destroy the universe...haha, I'm allowed to dream, too, right? Jeez, I have way too much time alone.

I should work out more.' He said to himself, hearing how dumb he sounded.

-1 year later-

"Grr...ha..ha..done"! Manu breathed heavily, finishing his workout, 'now for some

meditation, my favorite part of the day.' walking out on the balcony, he sits in the center of the balcony to meditate. For the last year, Manu took the steps toward the road of his idea of a healthy lifestyle. Eliminating the inner anxiety and regret lingering through his mind. Reinforcing his resolve and adhering to a strict regimen every week. Manu was able to prosper spiritually, improving his overall quality of life.

Getting home from work, he would work out doing anything, from burpees and muscle-ups to plank holds and Russian twists. On his off-days, he walked around the park taking in nature, and started incorporating meditation in his everyday life. At one point, he even started adding yoga into his weekly routine.

-7:30 am-

*beep* *beep* *beep* his alarm blared as he jumped out of bed. 'I usually get to wake up before my alarm goes off. I can still make it to work on time if I skip my morning workout.

I'll make up for it later.' Once he brushed his teeth, he threw on his work clothes and

packed a water bottle with a granola bar and leftover food for lunch. Whipping his

bookbag over his shoulder and snatching his wallet and keys off the countertop, he

swung the door open and ran out to his car, locking the door behind him, ready to take

on the day.

-The Next Morning-

-6:32 amVisibly in a good mood because Today was his off-day, Manu had the day to himself.

Remembering what he told himself the other day. He starts his workout session of the day pushing himself harder than usual to remind his body to wake up on time. Following the workout, he decides going out for a jog would be a good idea. Putting on his running shoes, he swiftly heads out of the apartment. Choosing to go to the park, even though it's a four-mile jog, he saw it as an exciting challenge to overcome. Just one year ago, he couldn't imagine feeling this amount of satisfaction from doing things like working out or meditating. He was stuck in a depression day in and day out. Feeling guilty about past sins and hopeless about the future. With no money, no true friends, and his relationship

His family was deteriorating as time went on. Getting by doing anything that distracted him from himself instead of facing reality like a grown-up. Be it Obsessively

Smoking, watching online videos, looking at other people's lives through the lens of social media, and belittling himself. He knew he was not doing good enough for himself but felt like he had no other choice but to suffer. Not realizing he did, but he was wasting his life away by not acting at the moment.

-10:00 am, Manu walked up to a park bench before walking the trail, sitting down and admiring the scenery only available to him at this park. The city is overrun by apartment buildings, car repair shops, factories, and everything else you would expect in the slums —hydrating himself with a few gulps of water before walking the trail.

-2:30 pmArriving at his apartment complex, walking up the stairs felt unbearable. He

underestimated the run back home after completing the trail and was paying the price.

He was sore beyond belief. With quivering legs, he made his way inside and sat down at the table, eating food he had left inside the fridge. Afterward, Manu whimpered in the shower so he could get passed out on his bed for some good rest and recovery.

*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *CRACK* *BOOM* *CLINK* *CLINK*

Manu slowly started to wake up after hearing something in his home fall over. Trying to

resist the urge to fall back asleep feeling tired, he thinks about the possibility of someone having broken into his home. It wasn't a rare occurrence for something like this to happen in this city. He reaches under his pillow to snatch his firearm as he springs up out of his bed and glances at the clock seeing that it is close to noon. He confirmed in his mind that that was the only explanation. Often criminals would try to do break-ins

around the time others were working. Ignoring the shooting pain in his legs, he maneuvers out of his room as silently as possible so that the intruder would be caught off guard. Ready to shoot on sight, he walked down the hallway that took only five to six steps to go down. Readying his pistol, he whipped around the corner like a navy seal.

*thump* His gun hit the ground.