'She asked to wait here...' John thought as he stared at the distant clouds from the hilltop.

John was an above-average student. His grades weren’t too far off from the top; his looks weren’t that bad either. What he lacked was a social life. He never had any friends. Why? You may ask. The reason was simple; he doesn't care whether he has friends or not. Friends were only hindrances that get in your way of prosperity, or so he thought. This attitude made him a loner and a favorite for bullies to pick up. As for graduation, he pursued engineering, hoping for a secure career. At college, his lonesome attitude made him a creepy guy. His unease in communicating with others severely impacted life after graduation. He stuttered or froze up in most interviews and group discussions. Thus he was unable to get a job, and so began his NEET life.

Even though all these seemingly bad things, to other people, happened to him, John was still happy. How? Well, he followed the golden rule he made for himself.

‘Don’t make any friends or bend yourself for others’ needs. Success always follows failure.’

If there was an exception to this rule, it was Ellie.

‘Ellie is divine’ whenever he thought of Ellie, his heart muttered.

John and Ellie grew up together. They can be called diaper buddies. The second rule John had was:

‘Ellie is a goddess. No matter what she says, do it first before asking questions.'

Slowly but surely, John’s feelings had evolved from friendship to love to blind devotion.

Anti-social as he was, John was a kind soul. Only to animals though. Unknown to many was that he was an active member of PETA and an aggressive keyboard warrior for animal rights. Even as a child, he had a great love for animals. He hiked the nearby hills several times and always petted the stray dogs he saw. Many a time he was accompanied by Ellie too. The hilltop he was currently standing on was their favorite escape. A pair of hummingbirds chirped from the branch of a nearby tree.

‘Should I confess.’ Listening to their song, John thought.

As he got lost in the moment; something strange caught his eye. There, at the edge of the cliff was a little flower that danced with the wind. He stared at the flower curiously. In all his life, he had never seen such a beautiful little flower. His eyes lit up as he concluded his worries. Yes, he must confess, and what better gift to give her than this godsend flower. Smiling merrily, John slowly walked towards the flower.

As John made his way towards the flower, it started glowing. John stopped suddenly. A flower isn’t supposed to shine.

‘Whoa! Is it a flag? Is it one of those isekai thingies?’ John nervously thought.

‘Nah, probably not. Let’s see if the flower still glows after its plucked. If it does; then it will be a great gift for Ellie.’ John thought as he resumed his walking.

John paced almost ten minutes before realizing that he isn’t getting anywhere. It seems that the cliff is moving with him. It felt like trying to outrun the moon.

‘Should I give up?’ he wondered.

As if taunting him, the flower twinkled. He stared at the flower with suspicious eyes “Oh, so that’s how it is, eh? You are testing the strength of my love.” He declared all of a sudden. Time laughs at this naive protagonist.

John sprang towards the flower with all his might. His skinny frame breathed heavily. Feeling pity for his weak body; the cliff finally stopped running away. John reached the edge of the cliff where the flower was twinkling. He sat down and extended his arm to pluck the flower. The moment his hands touched the flower, it disappeared along with everything else. The world around him vanished in an instant. He felt like he was falling. Everything around him turned black. The funny thing was that he was able to see himself clearly in this darkness.

Suddenly, as if mocking him, the little white flower appeared before him; away from his arm’s reach. It blinked and multiplied itself rapidly. The flower multiplied itself into millions, no billions and billions in an instant. Finally, they stopped twinkling and started shining brightly and more intensely by each passing second until John lost his consciousness.