Nugomi

Mr. World

Hello..."

"Yeah, I got a woman named Abigail sitting by herself. I found her talking to a chair. She claimed it was her husband..."

"Yeah, it's located south of Mogliu, street number 95..."

"One more thing... What's with the rocks."

"Is that so.."

"Yeah, yeah. "

I dropped the phone in the dilapidated receiver with a clang, the resound echoed dully along the walls of the phone booth. My shoulder hunched forward as if three little devils sat on my back; each one of them snickering at my disposition. I slump over my knees as the weight of my embarrassment grew too much to bear. The culprit of my state of despair:

A small, indifferent wallet laying on top of the receiver.

It's almost laughable. How an object of admiration—a true apex of ecstatic excitement —can turn in a blink of an eye to the deepest sense of dread and despair. After my small victory in the small food court, I skipped away as far away as I could until the little establishment was only a speck on the horizon. The small prize that I held in my hand had a comfortable heaviness to it which only served to full my imagination of the contents inside the bag. I could almost feel the wads of cash on the tip of my finger and a juicy steak, or whatever meat, on a plate. And maybe, just maybe a bottle of water. As the excitement had gotten the better of me and, as the little dinner could no longer be seen, I stepped aside into a little alley where no prying eyes could see. With my hands shaking and the rising heat in my chest, I opened the wallet. As the content of the wallet presented itself to me, an indescribable feeling started rising inside me. it's was an odd feeling, a feeling that even now I can't even describe. The feeling that when instead of the delusion cash, something else materialized: a—pile? stockpile? family?—of rocks. The family of rocks—I choose the word because each rock not only varied in size and shape but also impression- stared at me, shocked with their crayon-colored faces. It was as if I had just interrupted their daily lives when I opened the wallet. Some looked like they were in the middle of a nap as their eyes were drawn closed, others wore expressions as if they were having conversations about the weather. Finally, there even was a little family of rocks taking care of a newborn peddle whose face was expertly drawn. This woman loved her rocks. In the middle of this sedimentary genealogy, protruded a little yellow card with some text written on it. Like putting the nail on the coffin and bringing me to shame the card read: "Hello, My name is Abigail. I'm lost please call the number on the bottom of the card" and worst of all, there was a little dog in the corner of the card wagging his tail sadly.

I loudly groan as I recollect the memories of my past failure. I push open the door of the phone booth and trudge my legs outside. The little red house, whose windows must have had the time of their stationary life hearing my plight, stood there aloof to my suffering. That sort of irritated me, so I gave it a good one. Of course, there's no reaction other than my silent squeal and a throbbing hand. Nevertheless, as they say, the past is the past.

My footsteps dig deep into the sand bathed road as the sun slowly retreats into the edge of the sky and small sneaky tints of red intermingle with the overpowering blue. Deep in thought, I contemplate my next method of attack. Should I go for big Mac? No, I almost lost three fingers and a part of my nose last time I tried to swindle that fish guy; That man is no pushover. I guess being a war veteran comes with its perks. Maybe I can—

And there it stood: an anomaly, a mystery. Right dead center where the sky and the earth meet stood a human-shaped pillar of light. The contrasting colors between the increasing red-blue sky, the bleakly broken-down houses , and this white streak on the middle created a dissonant painting. It's as if it doesn't belong there and the town itself is trying to run away from this enigma, because no matter where I try to look, I can't seem to see anything other than the beacon of white. As I got closer, the easier it was to make up its—his features. Standing at an impressive height, you could almost imagine him being the son of a mountain. The hard stony surface was chiseled to give its rough edges the form of a human figure while giving his face the utmost care and precision. The sculptor with great expertise modeled a strong square jaw accented by a straight nose that emerged from the face. The eyes were no stranger to perfection, as the eyes har an equal distance apart and adorned by long black eyelashes. After the sculptor finished his masterpiece, he left it out in the sun to receive its blessing, giving him a golden look.

This man does not belong here.

The island of Duermos is a pathetically small island that cartographers don't even bother to put on the map. The people here don't even know the history of this place because nobody ever bothered to record it. It's as if we were randomly put down in space-time, and we all wander around aimlessly without knowing who we are and where we came from. Sure, some people claim that they are the long-lost heir of some old monarchy that stood here whatever time ago or that they hold "Authentic silver spoon collection" from a fallen aristocratic family. But in reality, nobody knows the truth about this town or island; only that we just found ourselves here. As for me, I have a theory that we all are attracted to this place. When I was born, I felt intrinsically connected to this island. By "born", I mean consciously being aware that I existed, that I was a thing that took up space and was affected by arbitrary rules of nature. It all happened in instant, like being sucked up from a suspended dream. I found myself in front of a trashcan and with a whisper that echoed "I exist" through every crevice of my being. By that point, I was already here on this island.No parent, no siblings; nothing. I had to get by with whatever I could, even if it meant dirtying my hands. But for some reason, no matter how downtrodden, dirty, and unfair this place is, I just can't seem to hate this place. Maybe it's because it's the only thing I have. I believe everyone on the island feels the same, we all roam around without a clue of what we are doing. That is why this man does not belong here. His eyes are beam with a sense of direction and security, while ours is plagued by hopelessness and insecurity. Maybe that's why I slowly became to hate this man. He stood as symbol of what I wanted to become.

Some one with purpose.

As time passed, both of us stood in the place, neither of moving an inch. The white stain stood in front of a crossroad. One of the paths led directly to Mogliu while the other to Santiore. After years of neglect, the sign that indicated which path is which had faded, so the only way to know where to go is by experience or trial and error. It was at that time that the man in white made his first movement in a while. From his pocket, he produced a black note with unidentifiable writing. The man looked from side to side and then back to the note.

He's lost.

Another opportunity had come to me. Fueled by the irritation caused by the past mistake and the growing hatred for the man, I walked up with determined focus. "Hello sir, it appears that you seem lost," I said to the man with a practiced smile. The man looked straight into my eyes almost drilling a hole into my skull. His eyes are a peculiar color. It's as if the artist that was in charge of painting his eyes got lazy when mixing the paint, so there is an intertwining hue of green and Red adorning each eyeball. "I'm looking for Mogliu," The man said with a thick accent that stuck to every word he pronounced. "Mogliu sir? that's a mighty dangerous place you're looking. For you see, the nûgomi tread those grounds " I leave the bait ."The nûgomi?. Never of them" I stand on my usual pose and begin to make random shapes with my hands"You see sir, the nûgomi are dangerous creatures.No one knows how they look or what they are. But one thing is certain, they are thirsty for human blood and are incredibly cruel. They kill indiscriminately without leaving a trace" I clap my hand together "Are you sure you can stand against such mighty creatures? " I wait for a response. For a moment, I can spot a gleam of amusement in his eyes but is quickly overshadowed by curiosity. "Oh yeah, that sounds dangerous. I guess I should look for some guides then " The man said while looking around the desolate town. "No need for that sir. For I have this! The charm of the lord Omli. With this, you can repel any evil forces that intend to harm you, including the nûgomi. And for you sir, I'll give it to you at the fair price of 500 ters". The man's eye widens and for a second, the red color in his eyes seems to dominate the green color. " Protect from the Nûgomi you say? In that case, a showcase of such power is in order. Because a 500 ters is a pretty steep price to pay" It might just be my imagination but his height grows each time he utters a word. The hairs at the back of my neck are raising and every single fiber of my body is screaming to run for it " Y-you k-know, as a foreigner in town, I think you deserve a 100% discount on the house. Here you go. Good afternoon" I dropped the plastic charm on the floor and turned around as fast as I could, trying to get as far away as possible from here. "You do not have permission to move " as the words entered my body, every single muscle in my body locked down, preventing me from moving. Was it fear? no, it's something much deeper than that. It was like my body was responding to the commands of a superior being, altogether afraid of the consequences of ignoring an order." Turn around" and my body did as he wished. He picked up the charm from the floor and admired it "So, this is supposed to work against the nûgomi, huh? What I coincidence, we got one right here to test it out" His tone of voice got raspier and coarse while his body began to twist and turn in unnatural shapes. A black ooze dripped from the mangled body as a dozen-no 2 dozen sets of teeth appear on every surface area of the black ooze. In the middle, a single ball with a scale red bead staring in front of me. The arm which held plastic, now covered with teeth jotting out in unnatural angles, quickly pulverized the charm with as much effort that it takes to open and close a hand"Oh it looks like your charm didn't work. Why is that?" The grotesque monster cackled in front of my terrified body. If weren't for the fact that my body had locked up, I would be prostrate on the ground begging for forgiveness, however, the best I could manage was a pathetic groan. "Huh? so this is what your vision of a human amounts to. Cheating the defenseless ,but can't do a thing in front of a dominating force." Wait, was does it mean by "Cheating the defenses?" it can't be... "It was utterly repulsive seeing a man taking advantage of the weak for his benefit." Oh, no he saw me. Is this it? Will all finally come to an end? I close My eyes against the dominating force keeping them open, I was ready for my fate. But, all of a sudden I regained control over my body and fell to my knees gasping for air. When I opened my eyes, I see the same man from before with his back turned" You're not even worth staining my clothes " As he uttered those words, four other men clothed in white approached the man. "Mr. World, we found traces of an infected. All traces In mogliu point that its head towards Despairia" said one of the men in white. "Let's go " those words echoed throughout the desolate place leaving me behind humiliated, sacred, and above all else furious.