The Fortune Cookie

‘Your life is in danger. Say nothing to anyone. You must leave the city immediately and never return.’ After opening the fortune cookie and reading it, I was quite literally shocked and frozen. For a moment, nothing in this world, the humans around me, the sunlight, the smell of delicious Chinese food and the incessant sound of people talking, absolutely nothing made sense to me. Then, I calmed myself, my brain started sending impulses again and I started breathing, but intentionally not involuntarily, for right this instance, every breath seemed like the last before my impending doom struck.

I suddenly went into a flashback. My childhood, when my father left my mom and me, to pursue his so called "dreams", my school, where I was bullied and tormented relentlessly, and now, a threat to start life all over again, given to me, a health inspector for restaurants.

By this time, I was done running away. This note was like any other bully, but this time I wasn't going to be any other wimp. So, determined to fight my way out of this rock and a hard place, I started looking for people who could've possibly sent me this note. Every other person in the restaurant was having a merry time, letting time fly, ignoring the rest of the world like an innocent toddler spotting his bottle of milk. This was the case for everybody apart from two people.

The first was a shady character, wearing very suspicious clothes like he was an assassin. He was standing by the door, and appeared like the silhouette of a ninja in dim light, getting a final glimpse of myriad of people present, a concoction of different people, some joyous, some tired after a hard day, and one devastated. The second person was at the counter, leaning against it, probably paying his bill, dressed like an out-of-fashion man without any care of the people around. I realised, it had to be one of these two only, who could've sent me the fortune cookie, for the cookies are at the counter and nowhere else.

I was a simple guy, living a simple life, going to the wishing well and wishing of magically running into my father was my last activity, different from my daily routine, and yet here I was, about to go and fight for my life.

I stood up, my legs trembling like they had just been electrocuted and my mind, filled with trepidation. I slowly calmed myself and realised, if I wanted to survive, I would have to ex-cogitate and do some pellucid thinking.

So, I went up to the counter, and as I was walking, I saw that the shady character had left and the senseless dresser was about to leave. I went up to the counter and asked the lady there, as to who writes the slips inside the fortune cookies. Just then, our conversation was interrupted as she had to answer a call. So, during that while, I picked up another fortune cookie, for I deserved at-least one that wouldn't dumbfound me. I opened it and it said, 'I told you to not say a word and leave immediately. You are playing with your life at stake here.' The note was written with a pen and not printed and the ink was fresh. I suddenly had a eureka moment and said to the lady, "Forget what I said earlier, just tell me, do you know the man who was just at the counter before me?". She replied, "Yes, of course, he is the owner of the restaurant, Mr. Ramirez". Without waiting for another second, I sprinted and dashed outside to look for the senseless dresser. But he must've have known how to fly as well, because by the time I got surrounded by the dark, dingy sky, he had vanished into thin air.

After wandering the streets for almost an hour in this cold winter night, asking people and strangers about Mr. Ramirez, a black sedan without a number plate stopped in front of me. I thought this was it, the moment of truth. But, all that happened was that they threw out a bag and left as quickly as Mr. Ramirez did. I opened the bag, and inside, was another fortune cookie. I crushed the cookie with a lot of unnecessary force, threw away the cookie and immediately read the note which said- 'Final warning. LEAVE NOW OR NEVER.' This was the time to ex-cogitate and so I did. The note was printed and the cookie was fresh. So, in

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stead of being terrified and demoralised, I started speculating, determined to come up with a solution like a genius with a puzzle. Then, it hit me. If the cookie is fresh and the note is printed, this means, that the cookies are being made right this instant, and as nobody could've predicted what a man would do in this situation, in which I'm in, the threat delivering cookies are being made at this moment, which means that Mr. Ramirez is at the cookie factory.

I rushed to the cookie factory, entered it and walked straight to the head office, ignoring all the tumultuous workers and their constant rampage. I opened the door with a mighty hand, with strength and determination in every fibre. It was Mr. Ramirez! He slowly turned around, while I watched with a nervous heart in my mouth, carefully analysing each crevice of his body. He was wearing a mask, which he removed even more slowly and intently. A face was revealed to me, the face of the senseless dresser, the face of Mr. Ramirez and the face, of my long lost father! My mind exploded with questions. My brain almost imploded with the amount of curiosity. I was completely, entirely and utterly dumbfounded with every cell of my body just frozen in absolute awe and silence. Slowly, but stanchlessly, he told me everything, how he was part of the dangerous 'Guchi Gang' and how the ultimate boss of the Guchi Gang was the owner of the chain of Chinese restaurants and how when I, the health inspector, shut down one of the Chinese restaurants, the leader wanted me dead. But my dad, knowing it was me, wanted to save me while staying in the shadows, and so he gave me a warming to let me escape and survive.

"I had no other choice, but to do this if I wanted to help you, for if the boss got to know that I was helping you, both of us would've had the same fate, the same miserable ending, the same way of leaving the world behind.”, said my father. "So this was the 'dream' for which you left us.", said I and confronted him. "Son, this job is very dangerous, and I needed the money at that time. Even though I wasn't there to teach you many things, one thing you must always remember is that your loyalty towards your job, takes precedence over everything and anything in your life." he said. "Are you sure that's what you want to teach me?" I inquired to assure. "Absolutely! If there was only one lesson I could teach you, it would be that loyalty towards your job over everything. That's why I’m afraid, if you don't leave instantly, I would have to end your life, right here, right now." he stated.

Suddenly, in a flash of mili-seconds, I took out my pistol, aimed it at my father and shot him in the leg. As my father bled to his death, I said "Dad, I am in the FBI, and part of the special Black-Ops covert unit. I am a field agent, living undercover as a health inspector, instructed to take down the Guchi Gang and its members. The restaurant that I shut down, I was fully aware who the owner was and so, the shutting down was not a mere coincidence but a planned outcome that would bring me to this spot, right here, right now. And as you just taught me that loyalty toward the job takes precedence over everything and anything, my hands are tied and I am forced to end this, once and for all, right here, right now. Sorry dad, but I'll always think of you as a good man, and on the bright side, I am following the one thing that you taught me."

*BANG*

The bullet pierced through the flesh and skin, entered the skull, made a hole, not only in a body, but also in my life, for I had just ended my father's life. With an unsteady and trembling hand, I lowered the gun, put it back in my holster. There was blood all over the floor, my family's blood. I leaned against the wall, my body shivering and gasping for air, because after what just happened, suffocation was nothing but an understatement. I reported to the FBI that the operation 'Echo Black Fox' was a success.

I was just about to go for a paseo, and find some food, not Chinese, when I got the following message- 'Find a way and escape, and meet us at the rendezvous point. You are completely surrounded by the Guchi Gang'....