There's a light in the sky and I don't know what it is. But it seems like it's coming down towards me, and that's enough to worry me.

Tish is ready before I say a word. She has a fly-eating plant that is supposed to stop that light. I don't see how a fly trap could stop it. The light seems pretty big. She assures me it's the only way.

The light falls in the distance and hits a hill. The hill explodes and the shockwave is coming towards us, fast. I look at the plant and it just sits there. I look at Tish and she says, "Maybe we should've put the plant on that hill."

The shockwave hits us and Tish disintegrates. I'm still alive, watching at her evaporate, and I realize I'm dreaming.

"Wake up kiddo. Come get your breakfast before there's nothing left." my dad says.

My eyes won't even open all the way. The harder I try, the more they sting.

I roll over to the other side of my bed, but it's not there. I hit the floor instead. After that, I just roll out my door and down the stairs. Why bother getting up? I know what's going to happen next.

Dogpile on Lor!

And it happens. I squirm my way out and head for the kitchen. There's tons of dirty dishes and some food left. So I take advantage of this rare opportunity.

"Where's mom?" I ask.

"She's taking her after-breakfast nap." dad says.

Of course. I'd be dead tired too, having to cook for this herd. But who am I kidding? I'd never cook for them.

"Well then, could you give me a ride to the mall on your way to work?"

"Sure. Gonna do some shopping, Ms. Moneybags?"

"Nah. I'm meeting my friends there."

"Sounds good. Hurry and get ready then. We leave in 15 minutes."

There's a bunch of tents outside the mall. It seems like every shop in the mall has a tent outside today. I assume the gang will be in one of the snack tents.

My friends are already here. They've been waiting for me. They're in a snack tent. A sign says; "New! Wasabi Beef Chips!"

"Hey Lor!" they all call out at almost the same time.

And then Carver turns to Tino and says, "are those wasabi beef chips good? They look good, but I've never tried them. I've been wanting to taste them, though. But I haven't tried them. I heard they were good though, so I'd like to taste them some day."

"You... want some of these?" Tino asks.

"Okay, if you insist." Carver says.

"You want some too, Lor?"

Carver stuffs his face as I take my seat.

"No thanks, I had breakfast today." I say.

"You're kidding." Tish says. "You must have gotten up really early. You truly have changed, Lor."

"Maybe a little, but I don't wanna think about that right now."

And I really don't. I'm committed to the brothel idea. But today, I want to just have fun with my friends, like I used to.

"I've been thinking about something." I say.

"You must mean the tents." Tino says. "They say it's because they want to attract customers who just pass by, while at the same time, getting everyone some fresh air. But the truth is, the air conditioning in the mall is being fixed."

"No not that. That money I promised you. I'm going to give it to you. If you want the money now, I'll only be able to give you the 500 or 1000 for Tish. If you want the whole 2,500, then you'll have to wait, because I've already invested most of it."

"How are you able to do that?" Tish says.

"Thompson is helping me out. I'm only giving you the chance for all the money because I've recently learned the importance of money. No matter which you choose, I hope you'll let the money grow too."

"There's more important things than money, Lor."

"I know. But I figure I've already got everything else. The only thing I'm missing is a secure future. Carver, are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, and I'm sorry I flew off the handle that night. I had no right to demand anything." he says.

"And I'm sorry for yelling at you. Phew, I'm glad that's all settled, I was afraid our friendship might be ruined."

"You know we would never let anything break us apart." Tino says.

"Thank, Tino. So do you guys know what you want to do?"

"Maybe some video games. Few games of pool. The beach maybe?"

"I meant with the money. But I guess there's no rush. Let's go to funville first."

"Sounds good to me." Carver says.

"Me too." Tino says.

"Sure thing." Tish says.

I'm feeling better already. I have nothing to be anxious about, and here I was thinking I would never know what felt like again. It's going to just like any other day in Bahia Bay. The only weird thing is that we usually wouldn't do stuff like this on a Tuesday.

At Funville, we play a few arcade games before getting to the main event, pool.

Carver takes his sweet time chalking his cue.

"Come on, Carver. This place closes in ten hours." says Tish.

Tino comes back to the pool table with a tray full of chug-a-freezes and sets all four on the edge of the table.

And then Carver says, "Okay, now. The eight-ball is going to bounce off the table, ricochet off Tino's head, and right into the side pocket."

Tino looks up suddenly after hearing that, and when he sees the ball flying at him, he shoots the tray up to his face with a womanly shriek. The ball bounces off the tray and lands clean in the side pocket.

"My oh my. Is there even any point in playing another game?" says Carver. "We may as well get outta here, cause there's no way you guys will ever match that!"

"Yeah, we better stuff his mouth with pizza or might never shut up about this." Tish says.

"I could eat too." Tino says. "Those near death experiences work up quite a hunger."

Same old Tino, exaggerating like always. And Carver is as arrogant as ever too. But those things make them unique, not bad. And they're my friends.

So what if Carver's a little snobby? At least he's not as bad as that Marie, thinking she got the best of me. I haven't figured out how yet, but I'll get her. I won't let her blackmail me.

"Lor?" Tish says.

Pretty loud for Tish. Apparently she had to repeat herself because I didn't hear her the first time. I kinda spaced out a little.

"What" I say.

"Do you wanna eat or not?"

"Sure, I could eat."

"Alright then, jeez."

So we go.

"This is some good pizza." says Carver.

"Have some more." says Tino. "So, Lor. What have you been doing the past few days? Up to no good?"

"N-no! I've just been talking to Thompson. He's been helping me with my investments. And we're not dating if that's what you're thinking." I say.

"Relax. I was just kidding."

"I'd be nervous too, if I had that much money to worry about. No matter where you invest your money, the market fluctuates sizeably." says Tish.

"Really? What if I invested it in a fool-proof business?" I ask.

"No business is sure to succeed, even with the best plan. Ever hear of chaos theory?"

"No."

"Basically, it says that no matter how well thought out a plan is, there is always something that could go wrong. Even if it's just a minor detail, that little thing could develop into something that could destroy your entire empire."

"But it's just a theory, right?"

"Of course. There's no way to actually prove it. Not that you have to worry about that anyway. You didn't invest in a business did you?"

"No, of course not. But I really don't wanna talk about this anymore. I wanna try to relax."

"I'm with you. There's more to life than money anyway, right?"

"Right."

"Speaking of failed businesses." says Tino. "Isn't this the worst theme ever?"

"Yeah, sure is." says Carver. "The pizza isn't even as good as it usually is."

"Are you sure about that? Maybe it's just that we've been coming here so often, you've gotten too used it."

"Well, what are we supposed to do? Go a different pizza parlor?"

"Why not?" I say. "This is a beach city. There's gotta be tons of them out there."

"I never thought about it."

"It's all kinda depressing isn't it?"

"What?"

"Nothing, I guess. Maybe I just need to get some sleep. I'll see you guys later."

They all say goodbye to me. Except Tino. He says "later days." what does that even mean? It seems like there's never later days around here. It seems more like a repeat of the same day. Is that what I'm trying to change? With my little business?

It's something. And that's what I like about it. It's something. But even now, my hands are almost wrinkled from the sweat. I keep telling myself it'll be fine, but I just don't know.

Walking alone at sunset is nice. I'm going to meet Thompson, but for now I'm alone and I'll enjoy it while I can. There's few people on the road and on the streets. They're either enjoying the sunset at the beach or just staying put to avoid traffic.

With nobody around it feels like time is standing still. So I feel as carefree as I ever could. I feel like I could be like this forever but I know the feeling won't last. Eventually, I'll get bored, I'll want to go see Thompson and start working on that stupid brothel.