A Tortured Life - S01 E01

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A Tortured Life - S01 E01

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 1

Episode 1: A Tortured Life

On the day Leo graduated as the best student in his class, he believed the world was a door waiting to be opened. He stood on the stage with a gold medal around his neck and a paper in his hand that said he was the smartest person in the room. He looked at his mother in the crowd. She was wearing her only good dress, and her eyes were wet with tears of joy. Leo felt like a king. He felt like he could fly. He truly did not know that the world had already bolted the locks and hidden the keys.

Leo grew up in a very small village. It was the kind of place where the roads were made of red dust and the houses were made of old bricks. Most people there did not have much money. They worked on farms from morning until night. Leo’s mother, Mama Grace, worked harder than anyone. She sold vegetables in the market. Every coin she earned went into a small wooden box under her bed. That money was for Leo’s school. She wanted him to be a great man. She wanted him to wear clean shirts and work in a big office with a fan.

When Leo returned to the village after his graduation, he felt like a hero. He carried his shiny degree in a plastic folder to keep it safe from the dust. He told everyone he met that things were going to change.

“Mama, no more market for you,” he said as he hugged her. “I have the best grades.

The big companies in the city will be fighting to hire me. I will build you a house with a roof that does not leak when it rains. I will buy you a soft bed.”

Mama Grace smiled, but her eyes were tired. “I believe you, my son. Just remember that the road is long.”

Leo was confident. He took the very last of his savings, money he had saved by skipping meals at university, and went to the city. He bought a suit. It was a navy blue suit that fit him perfectly. When he looked in the mirror, he saw a successful man. He saw a man who was ready for a breakthrough. He spent his nights writing applications. He used his best handwriting.

He talked about his high marks and his dreams of making the world a better place.

On Monday morning, Leo started his journey. He went to the biggest building in the city. It was made of glass and reached up to the clouds. He walked to the front desk and smiled at the lady there.

“Good morning,” Leo said. “I am Leo. I was the best student in my university. I am here to apply for a job.”

The lady did not even look up from her computer. “Do you have an appointment?” she asked.

“No,” Leo said softly. “But I have my degree. Look at the grades.”

The lady sighed. “We are not hiring today. Leave your paper in that box.”

Leo looked at the box. It was overflowing with papers just like his. Some of them looked like they had been there for months. He put his paper on top and left. He told himself it was just one place. There were many more doors to open.

But Tuesday was the same. Wednesday was worse. By Thursday, Leo’s polished shoes were covered in city dust. By Friday, his tie felt like it was choking him.

Everywhere he went, the answer was the same.

“You are too young.”

“You do not have experience.”

“We only hire people we already know.”

“The office is closed.”

Leo could not understand it. He had followed all the rules. He had studied while others played. He had stayed awake until 3:00 AM reading books by candlelight. He was the best student. Why were the doors bolted shut?

He started to feel a small pain in his chest. It was not a physical pain, but the pain of a dream starting to crack. He thought about Mama Grace. She was still in the village, telling her friends that her son was now a big man in the city. He could not go back and tell her he was a failure.

Three weeks passed. Leo was living in a tiny room on the edge of the city. The walls were thin, and the roof leaked just like the one back home. He had no money left for food. He drank water to stop his stomach from growling. He had visited forty-nine offices. Every single one had turned him away. Some people were mean, and some were kind, but nobody gave him a job.

On the morning of his fiftieth attempt, Leo woke up early. He brushed his suit with his hands. He tried to fix his hair. He went to a small office that sold building plans. He thought that because he was good at math, he could help them.

The manager of the office was a man with a big stomach and a loud voice. He looked at Leo’s degree and laughed.

“Being the best student does not mean anything here, boy,” the man said. “I need people who know how the world really works. Go back to your village and plant corn. That is all you are good for.”

Leo walked out of the office. The sun was very hot, but he felt cold inside. He sat on a bench and put his head in his hands. This was his 50th rejection. The number felt heavy. Fifty doors had been slammed in his face. Fifty people had told him he was not good enough.

He thought about the suit. It was now dirty at the bottom. He thought about his degree. It was just a piece of paper that could not buy him a piece of bread. He felt like a fool. He had promised his mother a new life, but he was just a boy in a dusty suit with an empty stomach.

As the sun began to set, the sky turned a dark purple. The city lights started to flicker on. Leo walked back to his tiny room. Each step felt like he was lifting a heavy rock. He reached his door and reached into his pocket for his key.

But then he stopped.

He saw something on the floor. It was a white envelope. It was resting right under his door, halfway inside the room. There was no name on it. There was no stamp. It was just a plain, unmarked envelope.

Leo frowned. He did not know many people in the city. Nobody knew where he lived except for his landlord, and the landlord only sent notes when the rent was late. Leo picked up the envelope. It felt heavy. There was something thick inside.

He walked into his dark room and sat on his small bed. He did not turn on the light because he wanted to save electricity. He used the light from the streetlamp outside his window to see.

His hands were shaking. He did not know why, but he felt a strange chill in the air. He slowly tore the top of the envelope. He reached inside and pulled out a single sheet of black paper. On the paper, there were no words written in ink. Instead, there were letters cut out from newspapers, glued together to form a sentence.

Leo read the sentence.

As he read it, his heart began to beat very fast against his ribs. The color drained from his skin. His face turned pale, almost white, like he had seen a ghost. He dropped the paper on the floor and backed away until his shoulders hit the wall.

The message on the paper changed everything. It was not a job offer. it was not a letter from home. It was something he never expected to see in a million years. It was a secret he thought was buried deep in the ground of his village.

Leo looked at the door. He checked the lock. Was someone watching him? Was the world not just locking him out, but pulling him into something dangerous? He sat in the dark, staring at the white envelope, wondering if his breakthrough was actually a trap.

Why do you think Leo is being rejected despite being the best student? Is it just bad luck, or is something else happening?

What do you think was written on that black paper that made Leo turn pale?

If you were Leo, would you stay in the room or run away immediately?

Do you think someone from his village followed him to the city?

Join the Journey!

Do you want to know what was inside that mysterious envelope? Do you want to see if Leo will finally break through or if he will lose everything?

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To Be Continued...