Today was like any normal day for Shaun. He woke up at 5:30 which was normal for where he lived, showered and began his day with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal, just normal bran flakes like he always had. While reading the paper in his chair Shaun noticed a story in a section he did not read normally, it included a story of a hiker whose remains had been found at the bottom of a cliff eaten by wolves . This sort of thing was very unusual because Shaun lived in a very plain town, and lived a very plain life, that followed the same plain pattern: wake up early, work late, and repeat. Shaun simply shrugged off the news of this incident and continued his routine by brushing his teeth with a plain toothpaste, dressing himself in his plain clothes a t-shirt and cargo shorts, and then he packed himself a plain lunch.
Eventually he noticed the time, and realizing he had read the paper a few minutes too long he rushed out the door and grabbed his helmet and his bike, this was his prized possession and the least ordinary thing in his possession. It was a large bright blue mountain bike because Shaun was a very tall person, however Shaun only rode it on the normal road to his normal job so it was immaculate and well taken care of. However being late Shaun decided to take a shortcut over the ridge that separated his house from his office.
So Shaun started on his way, hesitant at first but soon became confident and returned to his normal pace. As usual Shaun was on track to make it to work on time as he reached the crest of the ridge, this area was about two miles from his house where on his normal route he would go through a quiet neighborhood and loosen his grip, however this was not his normal route. When Shaun relaxed his grip for only a moment it was enough time for tragedey to strike, a stone scraped against the right side of Shaun's tire turning it sharply on a 90° angle to the left. This drastically slowed the bike down however Shaun did not, he was flung forward only to be stopped by his gut hitting the solid metal of the bike's handlebars. Shaun's weight pulled the back tire of the bike off the ground, its tail swung quickly to the right following the direction Shaun had been thrown 180°, until Shaun fell back miraculously into his seat where he put his feet down to stop.
Shaun took a moment to catch his breath, and to settle the breakfast that his bike's handlebars had churned. Eventually after assessing himself Shaun mounted the bike, this time being very careful to hold on tight, he very gingerly rode down the ridge to his job. This is where he chained up his bike in his normal spot, where he would have continued his normal day.
However Shaun was not so lucky, he was lying in a ditch at the bottom of the ridge motionless. His bike had only rotated enough to line up with its front wheel and when he fell back into his seat it sent him rolling backwards down a steep rocky slope. The bikes back tire had become wedged between two rocks at the top of the ridge so when Shaun fell off his foot became stuck and the weight of his body dislocated his right ankle. He continued to ragdoll down the rest of the jagged incline breaking his right arm and gashing his left, his helmet had cracked down the middle but worst of all Shaun had tumbled and had the full weight of his body land on his neck, right on the edge of a rock. This left him unconscious in the middle of a ditch in the scorching sun.
When Shaun finally came to his senses he assessed himself. He rolled his tongue around in his mouth only to find a piece missing and he was disgusted by the grittiness of the sand I his dry mouth with the taste of blood, he felt the burn of the sun as he lay there as he had been for hours but he could do little more than that because he was paralyzed. Shaun could only lay there in his own pool of dried blood and limp useless body. Eventually the sun started to set, he was facing west and just as the sun was crossing the horizon he had to squint to see a large dog shaped figure, only Shaun knew it was no dog. Shaun began to realize at that moment that he had not been fulfilled in his life and he wanted to do more, but he was sure that he would not make it throught the night, so he did the only thing that he could do, cry.
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