The city was quiet.

This was not a quiet which emanated peace or tranquillity, but an eerie silence filled with emptiness. This was a night that would have you feeling as though all the life in the world had disappeared.

There would be the occasional buzzing of streetlights or a random car whizzing by, but that was all.

Against such a backdrop of eerie silence, there came the sound of shoes slapping against the ground at high speed.

"Shit, I am late," he panted.

Ethan didn’t pause, but ran further. He couldn’t afford to slow down. The burning in his legs and the air he seemed to be sucking in couldn’t keep him from his objective.

His uniform was slightly ruffled from the fast pace at which he had been running. He pumped his arms forward and kept his eyes focused straight ahead.

When he passed a convenience store with its pale and sickly fluorescent lights shining down on the sidewalk, the sight of his reflection momentarily brought him to a halt.

He stopped and studied himself in the window for several moments before turning to run away.

There was a fold in the collar of the security officer’s outfit, which he corrected with his fingers.

The action was so quick that there was nothing to notice, but in those brief seconds, he had made the fatal mistake of looking at himself.

He had black hair that looked unkempt from the lack of regular grooming. His brown eyes were devoid of any emotion, reflecting an empty light behind them.

Dark circles formed under each eye, the result of not having had a good night sleep in weeks. His body frame was slender – not because he was healthy, but because he hardly ate anymore.

He did not resemble a twenty-year-old in the slightest. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

’You look terrible,’ he told himself.

Afterwards, he resumed his fast-paced walk to his destination.

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

In a short while, the modest office building was visible. Its glass windows and the company logo clearly displayed above the door reflected the respectability of the company during working hours and nothing else during the night.

Once at the entrance, Ethan slowed to a jog and collapsed with his hands resting on his knees. He sucked hard at the thin air in great breaths for a moment before straightening himself up.

He was about to move when he became aware of the presence of another individual.

He had the same uniform, and he was standing next to the door in much the same way that Ethan would expect to find himself at this point in time.

The other man looked at him pityingly.

"Hey," the man shifted slightly. "Are you Ethan?"

"Yeah," Ethan replied. "Who are you?"

Before the man answered, he reached out and set his hand on Ethan’s shoulder – a brief and firm gesture of comfort.

"I’m sorry, man," he patted Ethan on the shoulder once. "Boss is waiting for you inside."

Ethan looked at him blankly. He knew very well why the man did so. He had known it the moment he saw him – he had known ever since the phone call a few days ago.

"Right," he murmured to himself.

He didn’t say anything more. He turned around and entered the building through the glass doors. He walked along the corridor until he arrived at the office.

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The boss was a rather heavy-set man in his mid-forties who always seemed tired regardless of the time of day. As soon as Ethan stepped through the office door, the boss raised his gaze and saw him.

"Ethan, you’re here," he stated as though he had already anticipated this visit. "Sit."

Ethan sat down without hesitation, his eyes focused on the floor.

The man across from him placed his hand on the desk and reached for the white envelope he had been holding all along. He held it out towards Ethan, who accepted it after looking at the boss quizzically.

The white envelope contained cash for a month’s work.

"This isn’t the end of the month," Ethan stated slowly.

"I know that," the boss laced his fingers together and placed them on the desk before saying. "But Ethan, I am sorry to tell you that you are fired."

The words struck him hard, but he was prepared for this outcome. He had already anticipated it the minute he had seen the other man standing at his station.

"Ethan, I know what this job means to you," the boss went on. "That is why I have ensured that you receive your full salary for this month as your severance pay."

For a moment, Ethan stared at the money in the envelope. Then, he reached out to take it, folding it and tucking it safely into his breast pocket.

"Thank you, boss," he managed to say.

Without anything further to say, Ethan stood up and made his way to the exit.

"I am truly sorry," the boss called after him.

Ethan turned to acknowledge the words but said nothing. Instead, he left the office, closing the door behind him.

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

As soon as he stepped outside, the bitter night air enveloped him. He began walking, putting one foot after the other without any hurry.

His sister’s medical expenses had always kept themselves at the forefront of his mind. Ever since his parents had died, he had taken up responsibility for her, as she was the only person who mattered in his life.

She was suffering from an illness that did not discriminate against anyone. Because of this, Ethan had to drop out of school and work hard to cover her costs.

Now, he lost another job.

He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out an object. It was a deck of playing cards in their original plastic packaging. His sister had bought him before all that happened, but he had yet to open them.

She knew how much he loved card games, but since then, he had not participated in any game of that kind.

The sealed deck of cards glimmered under the glow of the street lights as Ethan moved it between his palms. In those few moments, he remembered why he had never touched them.

He kept walking.

Out of nowhere, the dizzy spell took hold of him. It rose from the base of his head and spread out through his entire body as though the ground had tilted under him.

His movements became unsteady. His knees wobbled. He tried reaching out to catch himself but found nothing there but air.

He fell.

He landed on the sidewalk with an impact that numbed all the senses in his body. The deck of cards slipped from his grasp, falling a few inches away from his hand that lay stretched out beside it.

Ethan felt the chilly air soak into his skin instantly as soon as he landed, his face pressed against the cold concrete.

There was no pain. Only the quiet emptiness that filled the night and darkness at the edge of his eyes until nothing was left except it.

Ethan remained still where he lay on the sidewalk.

Beside his hand on the ground was a sealed pack of cards.