Book of Fate

Alexa is 26 years old and has finished a Hotel and Restaurant Management course, but she likes writing. However, it seems that destiny is not in her favor. If she finishes a book, it will be rejected due to the poor quality of the story. As a result, she was always disappointed every time she came home.

As she entered the house, Lexie, her friend, said, “Alexa! Your story has been rejected again by the editor.” She sadly nodded to her friend. “I told you to stop and search for work. At least when you work, you have money, and you don’t have to go home at night because you can’t find anyone to take that,” Lexie suggests.

“You know, even though I’ve finished my college degree, writing is really what I want,” she replied, her voice cracking.

“I support you if you’re happy. I just want you to rest a little since you’re out on the streets almost every day and night.”

“I will not leave the house; I still have a story to finish, so I’ll just continue it.” Then she smiled. Her friend shook her head at the change in her mood, saying she was sad a while ago but suddenly changed.

“Let’s eat; it is also time,” Lexie said.

“Okay, I’ll just change my clothes for a minute.” and went into her room.

When she enters her room, the first thing she sees is the scattered papers on the bed and floor. All of the papers she used to create the plot of one of her books she put down on the table and laid down. “Another day has passed, and yet another of my stories has not been accepted again.” And she closed her eyes for a few minutes.

Alexa has been orphaned since she was in elementary school. Her aunt works in another country to support her daily life. She has covered her expenses since her parents’ deaths; until now, she has done so even though Alexa can get a job. Alexa already graduated and can find a job that she’ll get easily because she masters culinary arts and graduated with a course in hotel and restaurant management, but she does not want it because she wanted to be a book writer and a well-known author. All who read the story will feel its impact and carry it with them.

Alexa is a nice person, even though her friend Lexie often gets angry when she always spends the night on the road. She knew it was dangerous at night, but she thought that it would be okay to catch her on the road at night as long as she just went home with a smile on her face. But she always came home sad because her story was never accepted again. She is the type of person who has many scenes in her story until the middle, but when the end is near, she can’t think of a scene to write, so she will leave it and start a new story because another story enters her imagination. In short, she was good at the beginning, but she couldn’t continue it until the end. She also already finished one story, like the one she was holding a while ago, that she took home because the editor was not satisfied or maybe the plot of her story was not accepted by the readers. She also has no choice but to take it home and create a new one.

She got up and got out of her room and went to the kitchen, where she saw Lexie already preparing their food. Lexie said, “Sit down.”

She sat down on a chair and started eating. “Alexa, you might be interested in working for my boss’s company. Still hiring until now.”

“Maybe I’ll think about it first.”

Lexie smiled. “All right, if you’re interested, just let me know.”

She simply nodded and continued eating. Then, after she washed the dishes, she went to her room and continued to write. “A story is like someone’s life, as you get older, where you feel tired and lazy about the thing you wanted to do in the beginning, but in the middle, you feel lazy about the thing you went to do, but I thought I had already started. I already started. Why won’t I continue? It’s worth the hardship I felt when I was just starting.” Then she sighed.

“Completing and recognizing my stories, even though my books are not famous and the publishing house is not, gives me so much joy.” Continuing to look at the manuscript that has not yet been accepted. “But, the question is, When will that happen?” She just shook her head to clear her mind so she could continue writing.

That night, Alexa began writing her new story, which she will use to apply again.

***

A small wooden house can be seen in a forest. After entering, you will see books that look to be a few years old and also the sign of dust in the lamps that seem to have smoke inside with magic.

An older man was seated in an old chair, and there was a table in front of him. “Lucas, where are you?” Victor shouted.

A boy approached him, but he did not use his feet to go near him; he used his ability to fly. “Why, Grandpa Victor?”

“What are you doing, and you haven’t been here immediately?”

“I was just looking through the bookshelves and reading. Do you need anything?” Lucas pointed to the end of the bookshelves.

“Go to my room and get my magical book.” Then, Lucas flew to Victor’s bedroom and brought back an old book. “Here it is.” Victor reached for it, and he remained afloat.

Victor looked at him. “Didn’t I tell you not to use your power so frequently that people might get lost in the forest and suddenly see you?” Then he went back to the step on the floor while a little sadness was seen on his face.

“You can go back to what you were doing because I cannot be bothered while writing because it’s set to happen.”

“Okay, Grandpa.” He walked away and left his grandpa.

While Victor was already wearing his glasses and holding the pen, whose handle was made of white feathers, he said, “It’s been a while since you’ve waited for this to happen, and finally your request will be granted, Jack.” He has already started writing in the old magical book.

Victor is a disciple of a superior who dictates everything. It will give a message to everything that happens, and Victor is the writer in the magical book that makes it happen, everywhere in this world. In the “Book of Destiny,” once all the events and dialogue in the book are written, it is not just simply writing because it also has events that the two people still do not meet that easily. Some bad things will happen before they meet. At that time, Jack will be the one to grant his destiny. A few years ago, it just so happened that Jack was looking for a woman and had now received an answer to his wish.

Victor had been writing for several hours and had run out of ink in a small bottle. He stopped in the middle of writing. “Maybe some other day, I will continue to write this. I still have time to finish it.” He closed the book and placed it on the side of the table, together with his eyeglasses.

Every word written in the book will automatically disappear, and by the time it is lost, it means that it is already happening to the people whose names are included in the book.

***

On the next day, Alexa only slept for about two hours because of writing, so her eye bags were already black and her hair had not been combed when she left her room and went to the kitchen. At those times, Lexie was having coffee, and when she looked at Alexa, her eyes widened, and she almost spilled the coffee while she sipped.

“Did you sleep?” Lexie asked.

Her face wondered. “Yes, why?”

“Or maybe you sleep almost until the sun is rising?”

She rested her elbow on the table and pressed her cheek against it. “Because I can’t think of anything to write and I’m trying to function my brain to think of a scene, I’m not sure what time it is at that moment.”

“The question is: Do you write even one chapter?”

She shook her head and smiled. Lexie, on the other hand, massaged her forehead. “Alexa, I’m telling you to just stay up at work, and at least you’re making money, not as you do, and possibly get sick.”

She gave Lexie a small smile at what she said. “Right now, I might be late for work; just eat; maybe later you’ll lock yourself in your room again and forget to eat.” Lexie grabbed her bag and left.

Alexa also left the house after eating and cleaning her room and went to a park to rest her mind. She ended up in a wide-open space with a nearby river and a chair near the trees.

She sat down and closed her eyes to get some fresh air, but there was a voice behind her that seemed to be talking to someone.

“Why did you call?” asked a male voice behind her.

Her ears are on the person talking to someone behind. “Are you sure about that? I’m going!” said a voice that seemed to be filled with good news.

She felt it leave, so she turned around, but she could only see the man’s back as he walked away. “He has a good body build. Perhaps it would be better if I could see his face,” she thought and turned her back to the river.

She focused on thinking about the scenes in her new story, but she admitted that she was hit by the so-called ‘writer’s block,’ and no matter what she did to activate her imagination, she really couldn’t think of anything. “What kind of inspiration do I need just to make a good story?” she said out loud, and the person next to her heard it without realizing it was sitting next to her.

“Good morning! It looks like you have a problem, I noticed, based on your facial expression.”

She turned around and saw an old man. “I’m sorry if my voice got louder.” She awkwardly smiled at the old man.

“No problem, but if you don’t mind, what’s your problem?”

She sighed and said what she was thinking, even though she didn’t know the old man very well. “What’s the problem, Grandpa? I’m a writer who writes based on my imagination, but lately, nothing has entered my mind, so I’m here now to rest my brain, but it doesn’t seem to be effective either.”

The old man nodded and faced the river. “You are aware that the scene you want cannot be given right away, and not everything you want will be given at this time. You have to think a few times before you do it or start, not all day. You will feel that, like now, nothing enters your mind, so you are here, but don’t you know that some of the writers have not been successful because they just want to be the famous author of a book and write so many of them?”

“What do you mean?”

“You write not only because of your imagination but also because you use your heart to make all its readers feel what the writer of the book felt while they were writing it. Do you notice that not all writers around the world have been successful, even if they already have a lot of books? You want to know why?”

She just nodded her head in response. “Just because of themselves, they are proud of themselves because of the number of stories or books they can write, and let’s just say that the title of their story is good, but the question here is also the story behind the title. For you to write good books, you don’t have to do it right away because that’s what you want. There’s the right time and place for that. Maybe it’s better to say “Trust the process.” Then he smiled at her.

“So do you believe I can write a book that its readers will love?”

“Yes, but it’s not the only one you use.” And he points his index finger to his heart. “Even your heart.”

She smiled at what the old man said because her headache seemed to go away. “Thank you very much, Grandpa. Somehow, I was relieved by what you said.”

“You’re welcome, but before that, I will leave you with the saying that not everything written in the book will also happen in the real world, so to everyone who reads your story, just stay in their imagination of what they read in the book, because it will not happen in the present, no matter the fate they want to happen to them like in the book. They will not dictate their destiny. Destiny will do that.” The old man stands up. “I’m leaving. Be careful when you go home! and he walked away.

“Grandpa’s great. Does he read a book?”

But just a few minutes later, Alexa also stood up and walked away from that place.