“Come on! Try it!”

The kid shouted towards Hugh. He seemed to be encouraging him. Hugh’s heartbeat was a thousand times a second as he saw the ground two feet below him. It was scary for a kid like him.

Hugh would not have gone to the slides if it weren’t for the kid’s prodding. The two were friends, and the kid wanted Hugh to try out the slides.

The slides were made of metal, and it was easy to slide on, which made it even more terrifying for Hugh. He was afraid of the feeling of helplessness as he slid towards the ground.

Hugh had seen the kid go through the slides multiple times, so he knew that it would be safe. He took up the courage and closed his eyes as he started to slide down.

The wind blew past his face, and he could feel his heart in his stomach. The feeling of sliding down was terrifying yet exhilarating. He would never have thought that such a dangerous activity was exciting.

“See, I told you!”

The kid was waiting for him down the slide. He reached his hand out for Hugh to grab, and Hugh accepted it.

“Sir Aric, it’s time to go home.”

Hugh heard the voice of a woman nearby. He turned around and saw a woman in a tight skirt and suit. She had neatly tied-up hair paired with her glasses, which made her look professional.

“Give me five more minutes, Miss Esme!”

Aric shouted towards the woman, and she bowed towards him as she acknowledged his plea. Up until now, Hugh did not know of Aric’s name.

Like the kids that they were, they did not care about names and just played together. Now that Hugh knew about Aric’s name, it would be rude not to introduce himself.

“I’m Hugh”

Aric nodded, but it seemed as if he was not that interested in Hugh’s name. Hugh did not know if Aric even heard his name.

“Okay, Hugh. I’ll try and remember that.”

Aric quickly turned around and ran towards Esme. He held her hand as they both went away. Just before they were out of Hugh’s sight, he saw Aric wave towards him. He waved back.

More time passed and Hugh was now in kindergarten. Hugh was nervous for the first day since he was in uncharted territories. He did not know what to expect.

He heard the sounds of children wailing, missing their parents. Some were fits of joy and happiness to see their friends. Hugh was not the same; he was walking alone towards the door.

Hugh hesitated to open the door, but he eventually twisted it open. Hugh’s heart beat a thousand times as he stepped forward.

Most of the children looked at him, but they ignored him once they realized that they did not know him. Hugh was terrified of the unknown, but thankfully, he saw a familiar face.

Aric was sitting there, surrounded by kids that seemed to fawn all over him. Hugh wanted to wave towards him, but he seemed busy so he just sat on an empty chair.

“Hugh!”

Then, Hugh heard an excited voice directed towards him. He turned around and saw Aric with an excited smile coming towards him.

“Aric!”

Hugh and Aric did a high-five as they celebrated their reunion. It was not long until they chatted away and built their friendship. Aric even introduced Hugh to some of his friends, and Hugh became a part of their friend group.

The classes started and the teacher made everyone introduce themselves. Hugh complied, and so did everybody else.

Then, the teacher started his lesson.

“Does any of you know what a Desire is?”

Most of the students raised their hands with excitement on their faces. They all seemed to be knowledgeable about the subject, except for Hugh.

“Looks like most of you watch the news. That’s right, those heroes you see on the news use their Desire to beat up the bad guys!”

The children cheered as they rattled on about their favorite superhero. Some agreed, and some argued that there was someone better.

The teacher then went on to explain how people would get their Desires.

“Once you are old enough, you can eat a Desire pill. That pill will give you your powers, and you can be a superhero of your own!”

The children marveled at the hope of becoming a superhero. Everyone seemed to be filled with excitement as they stood up from their seats and cheered.

Hugh looked around, confused at everybody’s excitement. He had never heard of a superhero before, nor did he know what a Desire was.

He looked towards his left and saw that Aric was as excited as the other kids, maybe even more. He leaned towards Aric and whispered to him.

“Does everybody get a Desire pill?”

Before Aric could even answer Hugh’s question, the teacher answered it for him.

“However, not everyone could get a Desire pill. Only when you are rich, could you buy a Desire pill of your own. You could even buy a higher quality pill so that your Desire would be stronger.”

Hugh’s shoulders slumped and he lowered his head. He knew that his family’s situation was not good. They were poor, and a Desire pill seemed too expensive for his parents to buy.

It all made sense to him why he only knew about Desire until today. His parents had been isolating him from this world so that he would not be disappointed once he learns that he could never afford a Desire pill.

Hugh quietly raised his hand amongst the excited kids that bragged about their dreams to be a superhero.

The teacher noticed Hugh’s hands and permitted Hugh to speak.

“What if someone can’t afford a Desire pill?”

The children turned silent at Hugh’s question. Some even had confused faces as they could not understand Hugh’s question. Some of them could not understand the fact that someone would be poor.