Richard opened his eyes to a world of pure sky. Blue hues and white clouds dominated his vision in every direction. A stunning sight, truly awe-inspiring, except for the fact that he was falling. Real fast. He screamed just about as much as one would expect to after waking up hurtling through the beautiful blue sky.

  With his back turned toward the earth, he had no clue how far away the ground was. “I swear if that jackass…” He tried yelling, but fear gripped his senses once more. Closing his eyes, he hoped it was just a strange dream. That he’d wake up in the apartment in a second with a start. That a certain pain in the ass didn’t sign him up for an unwanted skydiving trip. But the wind kept blowing over his body. He checked his person and found no backpack or parachute. In fact, he wasn’t wearing anything at all. Richard was buck naked and falling through the sky.

  After the initial shock subsided, which took a while following another round of screaming, Richard felt it best he at least looked at the ground before it hit him. He flailed his arms and legs around. Having never skydived or anything of the sort, trying to move his body in free fall was a challenge. But he managed somehow, only to see another unbelievable sight. It was not the ground that he saw.

  No, it was more of the sky. But not a cloud-filled sky, but a darkened one blanketed with stars and planets. Richard’s gaze flew around the starry half, taking in as much of it as he could. His mind involuntarily searched for constellations, yet he didn’t recognize these stars. He’d spent more than enough time looking at the night sky with Emily. She practically forced him to memorize each constellation, which is how he knew for certain that this was a foreign sky. The close up of the planets was a pretty big tell as well.

  Even though he felt the wind rush by his face, it didn’t sting his eyes, and the stars themselves didn’t budge an inch. He could see them perfectly.

  But that wasn’t important now. He had no clue what’s even important anymore. Richard turned back over, only to find that same blue sky, then back again to see the alien night sky. His mind melted. “How? Just how?” Try as he might to rationalize, he hadn’t a single clue as to what was transpiring.

  He finally gave up, closing his eyes and curling up, hoping for this dream or delusion to end. It felt like the only reasonable explanation he could come up with. But as time went by, the falling never stopped, the wind never ceased its whistling in his ears.

  Richard braved to open his eyes again. But this time the image changed. Still the two skies, but this time the blue sky was encrusted by the night sky. He looked to the edge, where the skies met, and slowly but surely, the night sky encroached on its daylight brethren. It looked almost as if the night sky was swallowing the day sky. Richard, now entranced by it all and with little else to do, kept watching.

  He had no idea how long he watched. There was no way he could even keep track of time, but he knew it must have been a while. Long enough for him to adapt to and even ignore the sense of falling. It almost felt like flying.

  The blue sky shrunk away, inch by inch. So slowly that it seemed as if it was fighting against the dark sky. Fighting to keep itself from being devoured. But it was losing, or better to say it had already lost, now simply fighting for what precious little time it had left.

  The starry sky had no mercy for its counterpart. It never once slowed down, never once stopped. It only consumed, as if that was all it could do. Tearing away the blue sky, replacing it with more stars.

  Minutes, hours, days, maybe, passed in that eternal free fall, until the blue sky was merely a blue pip in front of Richard. It almost looked like just another star, a blue one shining among the others. Richard was starting to get annoyed with how much he was using the word blue. He questioned even why he cared about that blue sky when he much preferred the night sky that surrounded him. Maybe deep down, he was just rooting for the underdog.

  He heard, in a soft voice, just barely audible above the roar of wind, the words, “I finally found you.” Then the night sky finished its meal. Right as that small blue dot was swallowed, Richard woke up.

  ~~~

  Richard threw the covers off and nearly jumped out of bed. Water covered and seeped through his shirt and gym shorts; everything was so soggy that he worried he might have wet the bed. Upon further inspection, he was relieved to see it was, in fact, just sweat.

  “Damn.” Richard said as he centered himself, taking control of his breathing. Did I break a fever last night? I felt fine before I laid down. He looked down at his thoroughly soaked sheets. And with a great sigh, “Man, I just washed these two days ago.”

  He got up and started pulling the sheets off and replacing them with the uncomfortable, low thread-count spares he had in the miniscule linen closet. Blasted things always made him itch, but hell would freeze over before he was going to waste change on a small load of laundry. Richard could handle a few irritable nights, wasting precious money he could not.

  Richard, after settling down, went on with his usual morning routine: shower, shave, brush teeth, comb hair. Loud metal music blared through the wall on the other side of the bathroom causing him to squeeze down and nearly break his comb. His ridiculous neighbor’s alarm. Same damn song every morning; some weird Norwegian screamo crap he couldn’t stand.

  He left the bathroom and put on his khakis and a dark blue button-up, tucked in. And after a spritz of cologne, he was ready. Richard walked back into the main room of his apartment. Stopping for a second, he rubbed his forehead and looked at his calendar, crossing out Wednesday. He flipped through it for a moment. “Not much longer. Just one more semester.” In just a few short months, he’d have his Finance Degree. He knew it was the best way to get ahead in life. Get out of the grime he’d spent the majority of his life in. He gathered his things, and walked out the door.

  His elderly neighbor sat out on his front porch—something Richard was entirely sure the man did all day—eyeing Richard as he walked to the door. He grumbled something Richard didn’t quite catch.

  Richard looked at the door of his place, then on to the building. He didn’t have much love for the apartment complex. It was more of a quadruplex with three others living there, but that sounded dumb. The apartment he rented was nothing of note aside from its small size. A Studio apartment, enough room for a twin size bed and a desk in the “bedroom” portion. The kitchen portion wasn’t much better. A half fridge, a hot plate, and a sink that could barely fit three plates and a bowl.

  But he liked the apartment itself well enough…that wasn’t entirely true; the only part he liked about it was the price. But that was just about all he needed in order to love an apartment. It was nearly impossible to find a place for $350 a month these days. Richard couldn’t care less if there was a drug dealer two doors down. He only needed a place to lay his head at night. He only had two possessions of any worth. His laptop and a half decent suit. The laptop never left his person and was locked up tight when he slept.

  Richard got into his twenty-year-old ride, carefully placing his laptop bag in the passenger seat, and drove to the university.

  It was another normal day there, filled to the brim with boring lectures and a less than productive meeting with his senior project group. Idiot athletes the school threw into the business department because who the hell else would take them. He already determined that he would have to do the whole thing himself, but he was damn sure to get something out of the deal. He just needed to research who his partners’ families were.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  See what bargain he could get from them to ensure their precious babies actually graduated. One of his partners even had a shot at going pro. Richard salivated at the opportunities that could provide. He’d need to write up some solid contracts.

  Richard spent the rest of the afternoon speaking with various professors, getting more insight into the business and finance world from them and, more importantly, networking.

  His friend Lester walked up to him while he was in the hall. “Where’d you disappear after class?” Lester said with his usual smirk.

  “Same as usual. Just got done talking with Professor Whiting. He was explaining the microcosm that is predicting whether a company is about to experience an actual recovery or just a dead cat bounce.”

  “Ah, is that all?” Lester said, his smirk turning into an apathetic eye roll.

  Before Richard dived back into the topic, Lester bumped his shoulder. “Come on, man, you need to loosen up. Jay is having a party tonight. We should go live it up!”

  “No, I have to finish the mock business plan for Chambers. I’m not sure if my projections are accurate. Besides, it's not even the weekend.” Richard said, hoping to quell the party animal in front of him.

  Lester frowned. “Dude, it's Friday. Whiting was our last lecture for the week.” Richard checked his phone, then shook his head and cursed internally. He forgot to cross off the day again, Richard thought. He checked the phone. The second Saturday of the month was tomorrow.

  Lester pulled Richard by the arm, then squeezed his bicep. “Geeze dude, I’ll never understand how a bookworm like you finds the time to work out? Your arms are insane.” Richard shrugged. He had the answer, but he’d never tell Lester what it was. There wasn’t anybody he’d tell.

  Lester continued. “Come on, man, we’re seniors. We don’t have much time left before the real world eats us up. You need to chill and relax while we still have full heads of hair.” A shit-eating grin grew on his face. “Even Em said she’s coming.”

  Richard was never a big fan of Lester’s partyboi antics, or him in general. However, Lester’s father was the COO of a major trucking company in the New England area. Lester already had a job lined up through his father’s connections. He didn’t understand what it was to have to scrape by in life. To pull yourself up by your bootstraps. To have people drag you down at every turn.

  Usually, Richard wouldn’t have even wasted his time with the likes of Lester. But he knew how big a boon Lester’s father’s connections would be when he graduated. And the guy had taken a liking to Richard for some reason, and Richard had no problem using that.

  Richard also had to admit his ears perked up when he mentioned Emily. She was a great girl. Smart as a whip, great sense of humor and easy on the eyes. Something about how her short auburn hair swished as she walked tickled the back of his brain. Richard wanted to include her in his life plans, but he couldn’t afford the distractions that came with dating. No matter how enticing they might be.

  Dating also posed another plethora of issues due to his circumstances.

  He was content with the friendly rivalry going on between them, being the top two in the graduating class. And Richard enjoyed the challenge she gave him, along with the stargazing they frequented.

  “As much as I want to, I can’t today. I have to work tonight.” Richard said with a straight face.

  Lester rolled his eyes. “Broooo. You know, parties go on for hours after dark. And in my most humble of opinions, that's when they're the spiciest. And some spice is exactly what you need with her before she gets snatched up by someone else.”

  Lester’s words grinded in Richard's ears. But before Richard could respond, the woman in question appeared, walking up behind them from the end of the hall.

  “What’s getting snatched up?” She asked. Lester’s face twisted into an evil smile. Richard shoved him away before he could open his mouth.

  “Lester wants me to sign up for an internship with him over winter break. Only a few open spots left in it.” Richard lied.

  She turned toward Lester. “Ooo what's the company? I’m looking for something to do over break. Any excuse to get me away from the drama back home is welcome.”

  Lester coughed nervously and pulled back his sleeve to reveal a far too expensive watch. “Oh, look at the time. I got to go… get stuff for Jay’s party tonight. You're still on for that, right, Em?”

  She sighed. “I told you I don’t know. Maybe." She looked over to Richard. "What about you, Richard?”

  “I doubt it. Need to finish stuff for Chambers. Plus, I have work tonight.”

  Lester shook his head and frowned at the two workaholics. “All work and no play makes you two sticks in the mud, or something like that. See ya.” He walked off, pulling his phone out and tapping away.

  An air of awkwardness fell upon them once Lester left.

  “So…”

  “So…”

  The two said at the same time. After a quick, nervous laugh, Emily spoke first. “How is your project for Chamber’s coming along?”

  “I’ve got it mostly finished, but you know how she is. I want to make sure it's perfect,” Richard answered with a smile.

  “It will have to be if you plan to beat mine,” Emily said with a cheeky grin and a light shove.

  A bigger smile grew on his face as he spoke with her. But just as he was about to continue bring up his earlier conversation about dead cat bouncing, his phone chimed. “Sorry.” Richard swiped away the mass wall of notifications, all sent by his stock market and crypto apps. One did cause him pause as he read the title. “Mass layoffs might hit the tech world next week with the new update of the revolutionary AI platform, Datascaping.”

  I need to check that one out. Could hurt a few of my positions. Then his work alarm went off. He cursed the damn thing and looked back at Emily. “Hey, sorry. I got to go. Work.” He shook his phone towards her.

  Emily smiled back. “Go on. Get that bag.” She said with an adorable double thumbs up. An action that also caused the back of his brain to tickle.

  Richard waved, pausing for a second before starting his mile long trek back to his car. The commuter spots were on the other side of campus. He had an hour before he needed to be at work, but he hated being late. Punctuality is a virtue many lack, and he never wanted to be among the many. Not that his unique circumstances ever allowed that to begin with.

  He would have loved to spend more time with Emily, but his future came first. He chanted his mantra under his breath. “Sacrifice now, indulge later.”

  ***

  A man sat in a darkened room. Taking another long drag, he shook his head. “Lester’s right man, she’s not going to wait forever. Especially when you stare at your phone the whole time you're talking with her.”

  ***

  Richard pulled up to the small time accounting firm he worked at. It was mostly secretarial work and some data logging after closing hours. The owner worked on Wall Street in his younger years, before he opened up this business with his wife. He still had quite a few connections in the game, and Richard wanted access to them.

  He understood what it took to be truly successful in the world: People, connections, networks. It wasn’t about what you knew, but who you knew. That’s how you come across real opportunities. The ones that truly could slingshot your career. But Richard was no slouch when it came to the “What you know” part either. He figured with both in your pocket, it would be impossible to fail.

  After his shift, Richard sat alone in the office. A single fluorescent light struggled to illuminate the whole office, blinking at random intervals. The owner trusted him with locking up, and Richard liked having free office space. He mulled over his business plan assignment once more. The words and numbers on the page began to run together as his vision blurred, signaling that it was time to stop. His back popped twice as he stretched.

  He opened his crypto wallet on his laptop screen. A small smile grew on his face. The numbers had gone up again, firmly into the five figures now, getting ever closer to that coveted six figures. He, of course, had a decent stock portfolio as well, but the gains from cryptocurrencies could rocket you way quicker. The smile waned slightly as he peered over the numbers again. A strange pit grew in his stomach. An oddly common occurrence lately. The gains used to bring him such great pleasure, yet now, even after obtaining so much, he couldn’t help but feel…bored. Was it supposed to be this easy?

  Richard shook his head. He was probably just tired. Upon closing the laptop, he locked up the office and looked at his phone. It was already past midnight.

  He swiped through the notifications. A few drunk texts from Lester telling him to come to Jay’s. A couple from other people he kept in contact with. Nothing pressing.

  Richard opened the calendar on his phone. A line cut through the next two days. He was annoyed with himself for not adding it to the calendar back home. “I can’t believe I gave him a whole weekend, at this time of the year too,” Richard said while rubbing his eyes. He was tired. It was his third long day this week and he just wanted to sleep. But he had to make a stop at an ATM first. Get some cash for the weekend.

  After locking up his laptop and phone in the box under his bed, Richard crashed into bed, kicking off his shoes and taking off his shirt and pants. He debated putting on one of his sleep shirts but remembered what tomorrow brought and didn’t bother. The next two days of slumber would do him some good.

  Bright blue skies and night stars flashed into his vision before he fell asleep.

  “Soon.” A voice, barely audible, said as he drifted into slumber.