"Mason Bradley, the newest hit in books. Even I'm addicted to his newest series, Shaya." A female voice enlightened him of his newly acquired popularity. The news channel was on in the other room, he had no idea why. The bed was warm from the laptop still on his lap from the long night that was filled with empty ideas.
He slid one leg out after the other and pushed the soft blue bed sheets aside. He turned to walk to the door, being blinded by the sun reflecting off the pure white walls. Each step he took was more of a slip against the soft carpet. As he entered the other room, the TV shut off.
"Hello?" He said with a loudly shaking voice.
A small noise came from around the next corner. With no weapons near, he held up his fists. The corner was close, but he feared what was on the other side. Turning fast, he yelled, "Aha!" Nothing.
"That's strange." he said aloud to himself. He dropped his hands and turned to the black screen.
He slid over the back of the couch and took up the remote, clicked the red power button, and sighed. He was relieved nothing was there to hurt him. He stretched over the long brown couch. The TV was mounted on the wall; surrounded by old pictures and random papers with ideas and notes. He rested his feet on the coffee table, knocking over an old bottle of beer, forcing it to fall on a stack of papers and an old pizza box that had a half eaten slice and some crust.
"Crap!" He yelled out. He jumped up to try to save what he could.
"The new Hit List for Books list starts with none other than Mason Bradley's Henya's Heart. Followed by..." He tuned out the rest of what the lady said. Mason was number one on the Hit List for Books. Everyone followed it like the Bible. He dropped the papers right then, grabbed the stale slice, and jumped up to make it to his room as fast as humanly possible. Being 26 and on this list was everything to him.
He jumped onto his bed, ruffling the sheets even more. He shuffled through them for his laptop. A hard metal object slid past his frantic hand. He pulled it out and ran his hand over the sticker covered top. The biggest, a superman sticker smack dab on the middle of it. He ripped it open to show a bright background of a Pikachu. He slammed his password in, messing up three times.
Once in, he opened a new tab to check the official website. Right in front, a picture of his shaggy brown hair that touched his eyebrows, green eyes brighter than the sun, and his awkward pose holding the book. The picture had the caption 'Henya's Heart by Mason Bradley is a must read!' With reading the last of that sentence, he jumped out of bed and ran into his bathroom. He looked into the mirror that reflected his graphic-t and the top of his plaid boxers. He smiled with teeth to see if he needed to brush. He immediately closed his mouth and grabbed his toothbrush.
A few moments later he had his jeans, hiking boots, and Star Wars shirt on. He ran to the living room and grabbed his Harry Potter wallet, his phone, and keys. The door was shut and locked faster than it ever had in the three years of him living in the small, one bedroom apartment. He headed for his car, skipping steps to the bottom of the long stairwell. Why did he get a place on the third floor, he didn't know.
He ran down the sidewalk, passing trucks and bikes until he saw a baby blue 1970 mustang. My baby. He thought. He ran over to the vintage car and jumped inside as fast as he could, starting the ignition and racing out as fast as possible.
Ten minutes later, Mason pulled into the book store he sells his books to the most. After stopping the car, he ran inside and pulled up the website on his phone. He stumbled into the building and ran to the only other person there.
"Dane!" he yelled. A man walked up in a blue shirt and jeans. He had short, blonde hair and blue eyes. The way he held himself was usually cheerful, but when Mason was near, it all changed. He got pretty annoyed.
"Yes, Mason?" He said with a sigh.
"Look!" Mason said, breathlessly shoving his phone into Dane's face.
"Wow. Pixels." He said, pushing Mason's hand out a little. He spoke the words while reading them. Once Dane saw Mason's picture, he smiled. "Congrats, man. I guess I do have to put your book on the Top Table."
The Top Table is where the best sellers' books and people who appear within the first five on the Hit List for Books go; being there meant more sells.
Mason helped Dane move his stuff from one side of the huge store to the other and couldn't stop talking his head off about how he wished for this exact moment to come true. After they finished, he stood in front of the display, his name peering through the piles of books.
He made it.
His dream had come true.
CITEȘTI
Inked Skin
FantezieA man, Mason Bradley, is an author whose books have come to life. He goes to a realm full of his books and learns that every story he's ever wrote lives there. Soon, he discovers he cannot leave.
