Been rather busy with University. Will continue to write bits and pieces when I am free. Still… I am thinking of many things and I hope that this whole quarantine thing will be over soon.
Dogbertcaroll: Thanks for the compliment.
CajunBear73: Summed up in a poetic manner.
Imperial Gilgamesh: To be honest, something along the lines you told is planned.
RKF22: Thank you.
Chapter 3 Overcoming Fear
The next morning, Ron woke up with a seemingly better feeling compared to last night.
After making breakfast for him and his pet Rufus, Ron went back to the decision he made last night.
The resolve to change himself into something better.
Not for Kim, not for the people who talk about him but solely for himself.
"Ron-man got to do what Ron-man can do." spoke Ron with resolve.
He already did the first step by deciding on following the advice of a book he found in the online library.
It sounded wise and it seemed to possess many profound pearls of wisdom and sentences.
Ron couldn't speak out the Asian looking name and instead simply ignored the author.
(AN: Btw I am not going to use a real book as guidance, simply writing stuff down that I deem as necessary. It makes it easier for me to shape the plot.)
'So let me read the first page…. Something about change being normal and that it should be embraced instead of fearing or avoiding it?'
"Hnk, Book?" the small naked mole-rat glanced at Ron as if he was ill.
"Yeah, Rufus. This is probably going to be common. After all, didn't people spoke that books contained the wisdom of our predecessors? I can't believe that I used such wise words. I already feel that I am becoming smarter. Booyah!" spoke Ron towards Rufus and shouted in a happy voice.
Even though he only repeated the first page of the book in a slightly different way.
Ron continued to read the online book, nevertheless, it seemed that it was rather harsh for him who only liked to read stuff that was interesting. Like comics, fantasy books, or gaming lore.
After finishing the first chapter, Ron started to write down what was nice and what wasn't so helpful.
Change comes in many forms. Physical and spiritual.
'So should I work out and do more sports? I mean it should be helpful if I go to missions with KP. Besides, reading books should make me smarter.'
Ron thought in a confused way as he tried to find the truth in the riddle.
Writing down more sports and reading books on his list, Ron continued.
Confronting fears and finding solace in the fact that everyone has fears and no one is spared from it.
'So others are also afraid… But I mean no one ever shows it…. '
Ron sighed.
'This is going nowhere. I mean doing sports and reading more books seems smart. But what is all of this blabbering about change? Can't change be simple?'
Typing confronting fear into his computer, sites about Self-helping groups started to appear on Ron's screen.
'I mean… this might actually be a great thing. I mean if I realized that other people also have fear, then doesn't that mean that we can work together on overcoming that fear?!'
Ron immediately searched for Self-helping centers in Middleton, the place where he lived.
And indeed, there was a website about the Middleton center for Self-helping.
Apparently no one needed to apply and it was opened every weekend for potential groups.
Though most groups had a current theme on it, the rooms were open for everyone to visit.
Glancing through the list, Ron quickly found that visiting this site seemed to be a great idea.
Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, was represented through three groups as it seemed that there were too many people in it.
And it seemed that there were many more.
Nyctophobia, fear of the dark, Pithecophobia, the fear of monkeys, and many more.
Ron seemed to have a problem of choosing which group he should visit as too many groups would suit him, but there seemed to be a group for that as well.
The group of "special problems, everyone welcome", where everyone that seemed to have a less common problem would go to.
"I guess this is the perfect group for me…" spoke Ron before turning towards his trustworthy comrade Rufus.
"Right?"
"Hnk? Group?" replied Rufus before simply rolling into a ball in Ron's pocket.
…
Doing something was something that Ron rarely did. Instead, he mostly sought out excuses and then let it slide with his usual tardiness.
But now, here he was. Standing in front of the self-help center of Middleton.
'To be honest, I don't really feel so good. But Ron-man got to do what Ron-man sought out to do.'
It was clear that Ron felt a little bit nervous about going somewhere where he didn't know a single person.
Although Ron was able to navigate through the multiple food chain layers of Middleton High school with ease, there was always something about trying to do something new.
After all, the people that he got to meet through school were simply young teenagers. Just like him. So it was easy to fool everyone with his trademark goofy smile and be the lazy, easy-going Ron-man.
But now he would meet people that had fears and expected him to perhaps share his fears as well?
Would they judge him?
'No. No. I don't think I should talk about KP. Let's start with something small like spiders. Yeah, everyone is afraid of spiders. They are those hairy, crawling, and frightening creatures.'
With a wry smile, Ron stepped into the self-helping center.
An old and kind looking old grandma was the receptionist.
"Oh my. What fear does such a handsome lad have? What group do you want to visit? We have a group of talking about spiders, darkness, jobs, books, and even simple things like the refrigerator."
Smiled the old lady in a grandmother like-tone.
Ron was simply blinded by the sheer amount of kindness the old grandma radiated and replied in a nervous voice:
"Well, actually I am looking for a special group. You know the one where one isn't sure…"
"Second Floor, the last room. You won't miss it." said the old lady with a wide grin on her face. However, she continued to speak before Ron could walk towards the second floor.
"If they are mean to you, come back to me. Some people are angry about their situation and regularly are a nuisance. Though all of them have a good heart."
With a big smile, Ron nodded towards the old looking lady that had the charisma of a nice grandma and began his journey towards the last room of the second floor.
The stairs creaked when Ron stepped on them.
'It's a pretty old building. Though it seems to be newly renovated.'
He glanced inside a couple of rooms that had glass windows.
In one room, Ron could see a group of middle-aged bald men sitting in a circle.
In another room, he could see a seemingly normal looking middle-aged woman knitting and smiling.
In another room Ron saw a mix of people crowding around a blackboard, discussing with emotion as some of them waved their arms around like crazy and their head was covered in sweat.
There was a single room that seemed to have forgotten to close their door and as Ron looked into it, a small yet visible smile appeared on his lips.
The people wore different uniforms and seemed to sit around in a circle.
"I can't believe that they won't even give me health insurance. I tried to argue back since our jobs are pretty harsh, but nevertheless he kicked me out." one of the uniform-wearing person spoke in a complaining tone.
"Yeah… it's rather hard for us to find someone willing to pay good health insurance. Though that is pretty necessary for our job. I would love to change jobs but… once you get into it. It is pretty hard to get out." agreed another while patting the back of the complaining one.
*Sigh*
"The goon business is hard and doesn't pay that well. I mean we are the only henchman. But … I heard of HenchCo giving out pretty good terms…."
'A self-help group for goons? I wonder if there is a self-help group for heroes as well.' Ron thought with an image of KP sitting in such a circle seemingly complaining about her average high school problems with being a teen and all that.
After the small and yet enjoyable discovery of the goon self-help group, Ron arrived at the last door of the second floor.
'I guess it is time to open it?'