My name is Gary Coswell. I used to be your average 15-year old living in an average American small town with a normal life,normal family,and a painfully shallow social life. I had no real concerns or worries other than getting good grades in school and doing my daily chores at home. I had no friends and nothing fun to do in my life,but at least I never had to worry about any unexpected surprises or change of plans because my day to day life was so predictable. I didn't have time to think about girls or parties or any of those things. I was considered by everyone at school as a nerd;a misfit;a weirdo. Indeed I had lived in the small town of Breckenridge,Missouri all my life,yet despite that,I never really connected with any of the local kids and teens for one reason or another. I was either too scared to talk to someone,or the other kid couldn't relate to me,or thought I was weird for some reason,or just wasn't friendly. There are a lot of reasons as to why my social life was pretty much nonexistent,but those were the main ones. Anyway,I had grown to hate my life and resent my experiences. I didn't know how much more of the monotony I could take before I went insane,but all of that changed on the night of March 15th. The events that took place on that Monday night changed my life forever,and nothing would ever be the same again.

"Gary! Gary! Its 6:50! You're going to be late for school!"

"Hmm...yeah be right the...",I murmured as I struggled to wake up from my deep sleep.

I opened my eyes and glanced at my alarm clock. It was 6:53 a.m.! I've only got 20 minutes before the bus arrives! I couldn't believe I had overslept like this. It wasn't like me to miss the alarm at 6:30. Then I noticed that I had forgotten to set the alarm last night. I spotted the manga I was reading last night on the floor. It was volume 5 of Tokyo Mew Mew. I must have fallen asleep while reading it and it fell on the floor there. Typical. I often tend to fall asleep whenever I read a magical girl manga. They're my favorite genre of manga to read. I've been a huge fan of anime and manga since I was 9,and over the years I've gained a big collection of anime and manga,from shonen to shojo,and everything else except hentai and that junk. While I enjoy many anime and manga genres,I've always had a particular affinity for magical girl types,and generally any anime or manga that are centered around girls and women,not for perverted reasons,but simply because I have a soft spot for anime girls,whether they be normal,neko,angel,demon,or whatever type;all the same I have a crush on them. This is yet another reason why other students at my school think I'm weird and avoid me;because they think its stupid and geeky for a guy to like girlish anime and manga like I do. But even when I tell them that its because I like the women,they still think that I'm gay or a drag queen in the making. But I stopped caring about what other people say and think about me a long time ago. Still,it doesn't make my life any easier.

"Gary,what's taking you so long in there!? Hurry up!",my mom shouted from downstairs.

Taking another look at the clock,I saw it was now 7:05 a.m.. I'd better get moving! It wouldn't be good to start a new school week by being late for class on a Monday morning like today. So,after a quick shower and a minute spent brushing my teeth,I dashed downstairs to the kitchen and swiped a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from mom and received a kiss on my cheek,and then a brief hug from dad,and headed out towards the curb where the bus was already waiting. As I got on board,Mrs. Patterson,the bus driver,gave me an annoyed look and said,

"I've been waiting here for five consecutive minutes. Thanks to you,I lost five minutes of my morning coffee and donut break. If I lose my break this morning as a result of your tardiness,I'll make sure you never ride my bus again! Is that clear!?"

"Yes ma'am",I replied sheepishly.

"Now take your seat!",she said with clear agitation.

I found a seat way in the back of the bus,and sat down quietly. I could hear the muffled laughter of the other students around me,and I thought to myself,this can't get any worse. Needless to say,I was wrong.

I made it to my homeroom class at 7:39 a.m.,four minutes late. Ordinarily,this would not be a big concern,but to our teacher,Mr. Ross,even a single second late to class is a travesty to the moral structure of our society. I knew what was coming when I entered the classroom. Everyone was sitting at their desks except me,and Mr. Ross was standing by the chalkboard,staring at the clock on the wall over him. Upon my arrival,Mr. Ross directed his gaze towards me. With a look of disapproval on his face and a serious frown,he began to chide me for my late entry.

"Mr. Coswell,do you know what time it is?"

"Its 7:39 sir",I replied.

"And you know very well that class starts at 7:35 a.m.,don't you?"

I nodded in reply.

"Then",continued Mr. Ross,"That begs the question as to why you arrived in my class 4 minutes later."

I had no real excuse for being late other than my own lack of good judgment stemming from my decision to stay up a little later last night in order to read a volume of Tokyo Mew Mew.

"How sad;you don't even have an explanation for your irresponsible action",Mr. Ross commented. "Even though this is your first infraction in my class,I'm afraid a little discipline is in order for your poor punctuality. In that case,I'll see you in detention this afternoon at 3:00,is that understood?"

"Yes sir",I answered.

"Now please take your seat so that we may begin".

I hunkered down at my desk and prepared myself mentally for what was fast becoming a very bad day.

The rest of the day from that morning on was all a blur. Before I knew it,I had gotten through with physics,civics,history,biology,English,math,and P.E.,and it was now time for me to report to detention,where I would find out just how long I would be staying there for. If anything good could be said about detention,it was that at least I wouldn't have to deal with Mr. Ross while in it. I was very thankful about that,but still,detention is detention. Later this evening,I'll have to explain to mom and dad why I got home late and then I'll have to bring up my detention as a result of being late for class this morning,and that will only result in yet another detention,this time,at home. Trying to brush off those negative thoughts and focusing on the one positive thing,the fact that Mr. Ross would be nowhere in sight while I'm in detention,I entered the detention room and to my utmost horror,there sitting at the dean's desk,was Mr. Ross,in the flesh.

Before I could stop myself,I blurted out,"What are you doing here Mr. Ross!? And where's Mrs. Winters!?"

Mr. Ross,looking even more annoyed at me than he was this morning,replied,"So you choose to begin your detention session with a rude and outrageous outburst,eh Mr. Coswell? If you must know,Mrs. Winters had to leave early today due to a family emergency,and she asked me to take over her detention supervision duty this afternoon,which I accepted".

"Mr. Ross",I began,"I'm sorry,I didn't mean to --"

"Take your seat Mr. Coswell",interrupted Mr. Ross with an agitated tone in his voice. "I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth today,is that clear?"

"Yes sir",I answered.

And with that,I took my seat at the back of the room,behind 12 other students,mostly guys,and a few girls as well. After a few minutes of just sitting at my desk in the back of that depressing room doing absolutely nothing,my mind eventually began to wonder. I started thinking of the good old days in my life,back when my mom and dad actually had time to spend with me and each other. We were so happy then. Mom would make me my favorite breakfast;chocolate chip pancakes,and I'd gobble them down like there was no tomorrow,and oftentimes dad and I went fishing together at Cedar Pine Creek,and he'd catch all the big fish while I celebrated any catch of mine,even though most fish I would catch turned out to be minnows or some other kind of small fish,and dad would tease me about my bad luck all the time. Every Christmas,dad and I would go up on the roof and set up the lights across the front,and then we'd decorate the tree,while mom was busy baking her delicious gingerbread cookies and making hot cocoa for us to enjoy together while sitting by the fireplace,as we watched the snow falling outside and talked for hours about all kinds of stuff. Then there were the times where we'd go and rent a few movies,and would sit back and enjoy them together,sometimes late into the night. Since I never had any friends my own age,mom and dad were the only real people I could hang out with and have fun. They made my life happier and better when I felt alone,depressed,and bored. But those days are long gone. Ever since dad got promoted to editor of the newspaper he works for,The Breckenridge Messenger,and mom got a job as a chef for the fancy 5-star Country Villa Hotel,they never have time to spend with me anymore. The only times I get to see them now are in the morning during breakfast and at night during dinner. The rest of the day,everyone is busy;dad with his newspaper articles,and mom with her ingredients and recipes;meanwhile I'm either doing homework,chores,or getting ready for bed.

All of that wouldn't be so bad if I had some friends to hang out with,but I don't. So,I live my day to day life like a zombie;each passing day no different than the last. I wish I had a better life like the other students of my school;they all have something in their lives that I want;a cool family,lots of friends,a girlfriend,popularity,and the thing I want the most: time for fun. I'm always overworked,either with school assignments or chores at home. I feel so trapped,as if my life is under the control of everyone else on this planet except myself.

I've wanted a girlfriend for a long time too. But all of the girls that I've talked to at school were either taken or weren't interested in me. So when you combine everything in my life that I've mentioned so far: my parents always busy,the fact that I have no friends,I'm constantly working,and I really want a girlfriend but can't get one,and you can understand why I have low levels of self-esteem and self-confidence. The only thing that helps me escape from all of my troubles is reading my manga and watching my anime shows on DVD and TV. That is the only luxury I have in my life,and without it,I don't know where I would be. Its probably the only thing that is keeping me from snapping under all the pressure and going on a psychotic rampage. But anyway,I --

"Mr. Coswell! Mr. Coswell,for the last time,get your things and go!"

"Huh? Did you say something,Mr. Ross?"

Mr. Ross' face was bright red with agitation;he looked like he could explode at any moment. "I've been calling you for the past 5 minutes,but it seems like you were in Dreamland",Mr. Ross scowled. "Detention is over,at least,for today it is. Though with your arrogant behavior continuing up to now even after your detention session,it looks to me as though you need further disciplinary action. Therefore",he continued,"you will be back in detention tomorrow at the same time as today,and fortunately for me,I won't be handling detention duties tomorrow since Mrs. Winters will be back by then".

"But Mr. Ross,I--"

"Enough! That is enough of your bickering for today,Mr. Coswell!",Mr. Ross interrupted angrily. "You can think it over when you get home! Now get going!"

Worn out and frustrated,I grabbed my book-bag and headed out of the room,walking down the long hallway to the school's front exit. As I walked out of the building,I criticized myself for zoning out during detention,which I tend to do whenever I'm bored and can't get out of a situation. How could I do that,I thought to myself,when Mr. Ross was present during the entire session. I should have known better. I turned left and headed south down the sidewalk,away from the school and into the outlying neighborhood. The sun was already setting and it would soon get dark;too dark for me to be able to see where I'm going. I looked at my watch: 7:04 P.M. I'd better hurry! I still have to walk 5 blocks before I get home! I also have a lot of homework to do once I get there! I began to walk faster,and then I started jogging,and eventually,I broke into a run. Before I knew it,I had gotten half-way home,with only 2 blocks to go. I passed by a familiar empty lot on which a small hill covered with trees was situated. I'd passed by this empty lot with the small,forested hill countless times before on my way home from school,never giving it a second thought,but this time I noticed something unusual. From the corner of my eyes I saw a glint of light coming from the woods on the hill. I stopped to get a better look,and saw that the light was pulsating,almost as if it was moving. I immediately thought that I could be watching a real-life UFO,and that I might come into contact with aliens.

My curiosity got the better of me and I quickly headed into the small forest on the hill. The light was getting closer;probably only a few feet away. As I got closer and closer to it,the light became brighter and bigger,and all of a sudden,I felt a strange vibration around me and a noise like that of a generator or air conditioner filled the area. Then a gust of wind came up,becoming a sustained gale-force wind vortex,as if I had entered some giant vacuum cleaner. Then,I saw it. The source of the light. In front of me was a huge hole,shaped like a sphere. It looked like a piece of the space-time continuum had been ripped open. It was something from straight out of a science-fiction novel. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The whole scene was surreal,and I pinched myself in order to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Nope,I definitely felt that,so I'm not dreaming or hallucinating. This thing is real! But what exactly is it? Some sort of bizarre,unknown atmospheric phenomena? Or could it really be an actual hole in the space-time continuum? I slowly outstretched my right hand and attempted to touch or at least feel the chaotic center vortex of the hole. And then,I felt myself pulled into the hole swiftly and violently,and the surroundings of the woods and the hill disappeared and were replaced by rapidly shifting lights and bright pulsing beams of what looked like neon lights.

The whole area around me was filled with nothing but bright,flashing lights,as if I were in the middle of a huge Rave or Disco club,with thousands upon thousands of disco balls,lava lamps,and studio lights. Then,I felt myself being spun around forcefully;first in a circular motion,but then just randomly being moved around,and as hard as I tried,I couldn't stop myself from flying around. I started getting dizzy and feeling light-headed. I wanted to throw up,but I was moving so fast,I couldn't even do that. Suddenly,the lights around me began to dissolve,and I slowed down as a result,but what I saw beneath me once the swirling lights faded away made me feel anything but relief. Somehow,I had been transported high up into the sky,and I was now free-falling towards the ground below at an extremely fast pace. The surface of the Earth looked so small and far away even as I was plummeting towards it at an increasingly fast speed.

I knew this was no doubt the end of my life. There was no way that I would be able to survive the impact upon hitting the ground,let alone being able to avoid impaling myself on a tree or smacking myself into the side of a mountain or cliff. How I wished that I had never seen the pulsating light of the hole in the woods while I was walking home from school,and I also wished that I had never made the mistake of touching the hole or getting up close to it. Then again,how could I have known that doing so would lead me to my death. Of course,all of that is meaningless now. I can't travel back in time and reverse my actions,so I have no choice but to accept my impending end and let everything from here on out take its place. Now,the ground was much closer and I could see the trees of a vast forest come into view;it looked likely that this would be my final resting place,the place that I would die,and where my broken,mangled body would be discovered who knows how long from now,probably by a hunter,or maybe a hiker or camper who would find me by accident during their travel through the area. Then,my body would eventually be identified,and my parents would learn of my untimely death. It will break their hearts and no doubt haunt them for the rest of their lives. Just thinking of that was painful for me,and I felt tears roll down my face as I continued to careen downwards to the forest and its surface below. I finally reached the trees' canopy and brushed against several branches and leaves as the ground quickly zoomed in closer and closer. This is it,I thought to myself. This is where it all ends. I love you mom and dad. Please don't suffer too much from my death. Besides,we'll see each other again in Heaven one day,so think of it as an extended leave instead of a permanent absence. Then,I died.