I walked down the stairs with a lost stare, not knowing when I even reached the last floor.

"No. The only way to resolve this is to get to work and make more money" I stated and slapped my cheeks gently with both my palms.

"Let's go".

I walked down the hall and passed by many other apartments before I arrived at the building's gate where Priest Elijah stood, as usual, adorned in his priest uniform.

"Always on time boy!" He expressed with a smile, before bringing out a stack of fliers and handing them to him.

I grabbed the fliers, and reached for my back pocket to grab my small bag, only to realize that I might have forgotten it upstairs.

".…and how was your night? Did anything magical happen?" He added, unknowingly steering up a nightmare I wanted to forget.

Should I tell him about the dream?

Maybe, I should. He might know something about it!

No! If I tell him about my experience now, he might want to inspect and ask me questions. Questions that might stop me from going out today to share these fliers, and make the money that I need to provide for the household.

"Well, don't keep me waiting?" He asked with a raised brow.

My answer, in turn, was obvious.

"No. Nothing magical happened, but, I did experience something weird" I shook my head and replied.

"Oh!" He nodded his head in understanding, before continuing "And what's the weird stuff you experienced".

I folded the fliers under my arm, took a deep breath, and responded "I will tell you about it when I get back".

"Are you sure that you don't want to talk about it now? And from what you earned yesterday, how about taking a break and spending a day with me?"

"Don't worry, I promise to tell you everything when I get back" I repeated before I continued "Besides, just because I earn more on a job that pays less, doesn't mean that I should take a break and wait until the money finishes before I earn more again".

As a former office worker, these words have never been truer!

"Haha! True" He laughed, before nodding his head in agreement.

"Alright, I will wait for you to return so that we can talk about it" He added, and proceeded to ruffle my hair.

I nodded and strolled into the streets. At least, he didn't drag me over and force me to explain every detail to him.

I didn't stop walking until I was two and a half miles away from the church until started sharing the fliers and preaching the gospel of god Nogudi to them.

Although it was a long tiring walk, added to the gruesome work that required you to sweet talk your way into people's hearts and make them listen to you, but, I have long since become accustomed to it.

And the testament to that was the number of people that showed up during the service with my fliers in their hands.

Another one.

I speed walked towards a woman who stared blankly as she strolled through the streets, looking as though her shoes has seen better days while her clothes -well, at least, she looked comfortable in them.

In short, she was either a person who is slowly dying from the inside, a criminal trying to hide from the police or a drug addict with no purpose in life.

Nonetheless, I placed my bet on the first and the latter, because it was more either of those two that I always encountered.

I pulled the most charming smile possible for my age and slowed down my steps as I approached her.

I knew for a fact that she has seen me walking towards her, however, that didn't matter since I knew that people like this always came for the service by the time I am done with them.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you have a moment to talk about our saviour? 'He who always has the medicine to our problems'" I uttered. My gaze turned up, and I could see a spark in her eyes.

However, it instantly dimmed.

"Sorry kid, I am not in the mood to join of those cults you call church. Using children to blackmail people into their cults, how sick are these people?" She responded. Her eyes sized me up with a glare that easily cooled down by the end of her words.

Her words penetrated my ears, letting me understand the kind of difficulty I was dealing with. However, I didn't let it show on my face.

"What do you mean by cult ma'am? Do you know how much 'The church of Nagodi' has helped me?" I twisted my head innocently.

It might not be as potent as when I was little, but I was still sixteen years old, so it wasn't hard to act like a boy who was yet to understand how the world works.

As expected, she was only a little put off before rearranging her face back to normal.

"Poor boy" She shook her head and stared at me pitifully.

She then sighed exaggeratedly, tapped her cheeks with a finger, and looked at me with a mischievous gaze.

"if you manage to convince me to attend your church, then I will pay you more than the measly amount that you are being paid tight now" She explained. She stared at my eyes, and in hers, I could see pity and determination.

Humph! Even if I misjudged her through her appearance, I still took the challenge in front of me. After all, money is money, and I won't be here if I wasn't looking for one.

"Is that a deal ma'am?"

"Yes," She brought out a small stack of crown sterling notes from her pocket. And I could see that my judgment was truly wrong.

This woman doesn't need help, what she needed was a nice sense of fashion.

"Alright" I nodded my head, composed myself together, and then preached.

"My god is the unyielding giver,

'He' is the living embodiment of medicine and pestilence,

'He' absorbed all the pestilence in the world to keep us safe, and created the medicine for each one when 'He' found out that man can never be truly safe,

'He' doesn't discriminate,

'He' accepts all in his home unlike other gods,

'He' sees all who are sick and heals them,

'He' sees all who are well and blesses them,

'He' sees your enemies and curses them with pestilence, because as a child under his wings, what kind of father would he be to let the wolves lust after his sheep,

'He'…..

"Stop! Stop!! Stop it!!" She expressed before messaging her forehead with her hand.

"Is there something wrong?" I questioned in confusion. Certainly, I am sure that I haven't made any mistakes.

"Yes, this is"

From her expression, I knew that she bought none of my act.

"You see, I am not poor or sick, nor do I have anyone around me that is sick" She sneered and tapped her finger against my nose "And most of all, I am not gullible. Your words would have worked on anyone who still hasn't gotten their asses up and recovered from the crusade, but, not me".

I sighed, internally. Of course, she didn't buy it.

Next time put off some nicer attires so that I won't profile you as one of my targets. That was something I wanted to say, but, I still had to keep up my facade.

"You seem more intelligent than you look, and for that, I will have to give you this" She stated and stretched her hand towards me, revealing what was in them for me to see.

Two notes worth 50 crowns sterling each were in front of me.

"This!" I was stunned. My expression this time was genuine "Is this real?" I asked, with hesitation apparent on my face.

She frowned "If you don't want to take it, then I won't bother you".

I blinked. My hands moved faster than my mind could process and pulled the money out of her hand.

With this, I might accomplish what I had planned to do today, rather than wait and save money from my measly pay for over two weeks.

Great!

I suddenly felt a stone being lifted from my shoulders.

She stared at my reaction and chuckled "Hey! How about I escort you so that I can see what this cult sends kids out to bring in more followers for its gain looks like"

"Church" I corrected.

Besides, we weren't the only church that does this, and also, where would a sixteen-year-old lay his hands on a paying job in a world like this without doing something shady?

"Alright! Alright!! I understand" She apologized "Let's be on our way then.".

I nodded and led the way while thinking about which expenses to cover.

"Hey, kid"

"Yeah" I turned to the side and stared at her.

"What's your name?"

"It's Ezekiel" I lied.

"Okay. Do you have parents?" She questioned.

"Yes, but one of them is dead" No use hiding that information since everyone lost someone special or someone they knew during the crusade.

"Oh! sorry about that" Her face morphed into pity.

"No worries, I have learned to live without him".

"Now, you are making me feel sorry for asking" She muttered with a distraught expression, before pointing her hands at a corner "Let's take this route, it's a shortcut".

I nodded, while my mind still revolved around my father -Mr Clearance, and what he would have done if he hadn't died.

He would have locked me in the house unlike my mother and made sure he provides whatever was needed for the family. Although, he was strict, but, he was a family man with his priorities set straight.

Funny enough, as a father, I would have done the same if I ever found myself in such a position in this upturned world. Even though I don't agree with some of his parenting techniques.

"Hey, Ezekiel! That isn't your name, right?"