Chadwick Rye

The smell of grease and defeat clung to my uniform like a second skin as I pushed through Mickey’s Diner’s glass door. The little bell above jangled its tired song, same as it had for the past three years. Same as it would tomorrow when I dragged myself back to this place that sucked the life out of me one shift at a time.

“See you tomorrow, Ashley!” Derek called from behind the counter, his voice dripping with that fake friendliness he saved for closing time. “Try not to trip over any dragons on your way home!”

I didn’t turn around. Didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing my face burn red. Derek thought he was so clever, making fun of the fantasy books I read during breaks. Like his life was so much better, flipping burgers and hitting on customers half his age.

The October air bit at my cheeks as I stepped onto the sidewalk. The street lights painted everything in sick yellow pools, making the cracked pavement look like old teeth. I pulled my jacket tighter and fished my phone from my pocket. The screen lit up, showing Chapter Twelve of The Dragon’s Crown right where I’d left it.

Perfect. Princess Anora was about to discover she had magic powers. At least someone’s life was getting interesting.

I started walking, my thumb swiping across the screen. The words pulled me away from the cold night and Derek’s stupid jokes. Away from the smell of cooking oil that lived in my hair no matter how much I washed it. Away from the fact that I was twenty-three years old and my biggest accomplishment was memorizing which customers wanted their eggs over easy.

In the book, Princess Anora could throw fireballs and command armies. She mattered. When she walked into a room, people listened. They didn’t treat her like furniture or make jokes about her dreams.

My feet knew the way home without my brain’s help. Eight blocks down Harrison Street, left on Maple, then the shortcut through the alley behind the old gas station. I’d walked this route a thousand times, maybe more. Usually with my nose buried in a book or staring at my phone screen.

The words on the page blurred as my eyes watered from the wind. I blinked hard and kept reading. Princess Anora was arguing with the court wizard about proper spell casting when footsteps echoed off the alley walls behind me.

Heavy footsteps. More than one person.

I glanced up from my phone, suddenly aware of how dark the alley was. How alone I was. The footsteps were getting closer, and my heart started beating faster.

“Hey.” The voice was rough, like someone had been smoking for twenty years. “Hey, you.”

I turned around slowly, my fingers tightening on my phone. Three men stood about ten feet away, blocking the path I’d just walked. They looked hungry in a way that had nothing to do with food. Desperate in a way that made my stomach clench with fear.

The one in front was tall and thin, with hollow cheeks and darting eyes. His jacket hung loose on his frame like he’d lost weight fast. The other two flanked him like wolves, their hands shoved deep in their pockets.

“We need money,” the thin one said. Not asked. Demanded. “Whatever you got.”

My mouth went dry. This wasn’t happening. Things like this didn’t happen to people like me. I was nobody. I was invisible.

“I don’t have much,” I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded. “Maybe twenty dollars—”

“Empty your pockets. Now.” The man on the left stepped forward. Something glinted in his hand. Metal. Sharp.

My hands shook as I reached for my purse. Twenty-three dollars and some change. That’s all I had until payday. That’s all I ever had.

But then anger flared in my chest, hot and sudden. Why me? Why tonight? I’d done nothing wrong. I’d worked eight hours serving coffee and wiping tables, listening to Derek’s stupid comments. I’d minded my own business, hurt nobody.

I was tired of being nobody. Tired of being pushed around.

“No.” The word slipped out before I could stop it.

The thin man’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

“I said no.” My voice was stronger now, fueled by three years of swallowed anger. “Find someone else to rob.”

I turned to run, but they were ready for me. Hands grabbed my arms, my jacket, my hair. I screamed and swung my purse like a weapon, connecting with someone’s face. He cursed and stumbled back.

“You little—” Pain exploded across my jaw as a fist found its mark. The world spun sideways.

I hit the ground hard, my phone clattering across the asphalt. The screen cracked in a spider web pattern, Princess Anora’s face distorted behind broken glass.

“Should have just given us the money,” the thin man said. He sounded almost sad about it.

I tried to get up, but someone kicked me in the ribs. Air whooshed out of my lungs. Then I saw the knife, really saw it this time. The blade caught the distant streetlight as it descended.

The first cut burned like fire across my stomach. I screamed again, rolling away, but there was nowhere to go. The second cut was deeper. The third…

Blood pooled beneath me, warm against the cold concrete. Each breath came harder than the last. My vision blurred at the edges, darkness creeping in like smoke.

The men were arguing above me, their voices echoing strangely. Something about sirens, about running. Their footsteps faded into the distance, leaving me alone with the silence and the spreading cold.

I stared up at the narrow strip of sky visible between the buildings. A few stars managed to shine through the city’s glow, tiny pinpricks of light in the vast darkness. They looked so far away. So unreachable.

My broken phone lay just beyond my fingertips, Princess Anora’s story frozen on the cracked screen. She would never get to throw those fireballs now. Never get to save her kingdom.

The cold was spreading from my stomach outward, numbing the pain but bringing something worse. The terrible understanding that this was how it ended. Not with glory or purpose or meaning. Just bleeding out in an alley, alone, while my dreams died with me.

I should have been braver, I thought as the darkness closed in. Should have fought harder. Should have mattered.

Should have lived.

My last breath misted in the cold air and dissolved like it had never been. Like I had never been.

The stars watched in silence as Ashley Grimes disappeared from the world, leaving behind nothing but an empty uniform and a cracked phone displaying dreams that would never come true.