One way to hope

March 20th 2002, it was a beautiful, sunny day in Manhattan, New York. On this sunny day a beautiful baby boy was born and given the name, “Dean.” The nurses told Dean's parents that their baby was one of the happiest they had in the hospital in years. You might be wondering why they would say that, but the reason was because Dean was one of the first babies who was smiling after birth, it wasn't common which was a shock to Dean's parents. Dean's upbringing was what any child growing up would wish for. His parents loved him, took him out to many places, and everything he wanted, he got. Now this might seem like what a typical “spoiled kid” is but to Dean’s parents, Ahmed and May he was their pride and joy. Their family estate was beautiful, it had marble flooring, wood furniture and had two studies. Dean’s parents were successful lawyers who had a good reputation in New York. Dean was always a cheery child who always had a smile on his face. He loved to play outside and play sports. That was up until a tragic day which dated, January 9th 2008. His family home burnt down into flames. As Dean and his family were evacuating the home he saw a tall, black figure standing near the door that looked like it was hysterically laughing. This not only made Dean scared but somewhat curious to what this weird figure could be. After Dean and his parents had gotten situated into a new estate, Dean told his parents about what he had seen that day. Dean’s parents sat there with a unsure look on their faces. They asked Dean if that was truly what he had seen on that day. Dean was sure that was what he had seen on that day. Ever since then his life as a normal kid was gone. He started seeing figures that didn't look human. He would ask his parents if they would see what he was seeing as well but his parents were not seeing what he would. His parents thought it was a trauma response due to the house burning down so they took him to a therapist to run some tests. Test results showed that he was fine and extremely healthy with no physiological issues. Dean's parents were stumped; they didn't know what they were supposed to do for their kid. Their last resort was just to pray and hope for the best. Wherever dean went he always saw these figures attached to people left and right, and they would sometimes attach to dean himself. Dean was scared but didn't want to make a scene so he didn't say anything. Dean decided that he wanted to put matters into his own hands so he could not only help himself, but his parents. Dean is now 8 years old, it had been two difficult years for Dean, he was thinking about ways to help himself; An idea popped into Dean's head. It was to note down all of the suspicious activities and common things these spirits would do. But first, Dean needed to confirm if what he was seeing were actually spirits and how to tell the good from the bad. Dean grabbed the notebook on his desk, which had his favorite color on it, blue. He grabbed a pencil and started writing down some of the stuff he had noticed. “Some spirits are different colors which show what sort of personality they have. Some of them look different than others, but sometimes the looks can be deceiving so I need to take a look at their behavior.” Dean jotted down. The next day Dean asked his parents if he could go visit an internet cafe. Of course with Dean being his parents' pride and joy they said yes. Dean got ready, grabbed his bag and went to the internet cafe. As Dean was walking he picked up that the spirits would either attach to people whose personality matched theirs or would attach to anyone who suited their fancy. Dean continued his research for another 4 years; he had gathered not only information from himself but from others. Dean had started messaging and sending emails to people who have been experiencing the same. He took all of this information and decided that he was going to start exterminating these spirits with the power of hope. He took much time out of his daily life to pray, read and memorize spells to heart; and in just a year he had accomplished his goal. At thirteen Dean started receiving modeling contracts from large companies. Dean wasn't exactly unattractive. He had brown thick hair, tanned skin, he was surprisingly tall and fit beauty standards perfectly. Dean rejected all of these contracts to fulfill his dreams, which was to get rid of all of these evil spirits ruining the lives of innocent people. Dean started searching on the internet for abandoned hotspots with paranormal activity. Dean had been thinking about how spirits are good at persuasion so he decided to bring a pair of headphones and play music to flush the voices out. Dean had already arrived at the area where people had claimed there was suspicious activity. He started walking around the area, as Dean recalled he said it smelled like “Rotten meat”. Dean continued walking; then he started hearing strange noises. He turned around to see a spirit charging at him. He started to recite his spells as a test and seemingly it worked. The spirit disintegrated in front of Dean’s eyes. Dean continued to practice and go to these abandoned areas but after a year of continuous work Dean fell into a depressive state. He would always question his abilities, or why he was doing this. Dean didn't know what to do anymore; it felt like he was trapped inside of himself with no hope at all. Of course his parents were there to help him through it all but he still felt like he was missing something. Dean quoted “They’re growing tired of me, and all the things I don't talk about”. No one knew what he meant by that. Maybe it was the guilt he was feeling from hiding these dangerous acts from his parents, or maybe the spirits were getting to his head. Dean was in this sort of state for two years, from ages fourteen to sixteen years old. Those two years were the hardest years in Dean’s life. Dean described it to feel like it was a burning hill wherever he would go; burning his feet and body leaving him in unbearable pain. He also stated that he lost a lot of weight due to him being in so much pain. Dean was stumped during this time of his life but the only thing he could do was hope he would get better. Dean did in fact start becoming happier, but not in the sense you would think. Dean thinks his only purpose in this world is to get rid of these spirits; that is his only goal. As soon as Dean was able to go back and exterminate all these spirits. Dean was slowly but surely getting recognized by the media for doing such dangerous “stunts” at such a young age. Dean didn't think of what he was doing as stunts but as something that brought him joy. Dean was taken in for interviews, asking him about why and how he got into doing things like this. Dean wasn't afraid to tell people about what he had gone through to see spirits and why his life goal was to exterminate them. A few months after Dean’s first interview he met a woman named Shahd after going out for dinner. Dean saw her and something instantly clicked for him, he knew he wanted to be close to her, Dean walked up to Shahd and striked conversation with her. It turned out they had much in common. They quickly became close friends not letting anything come between them. You could say they were best friends but Dean felt like Shahd was something much more than a friend. Dean always felt happy and at ease with Shahd it was unusual, Dean didn't know what this feeling was. At this point Dean couldn't imagine a future without Shahd; this is where Dean had realized he was in love with Shahd. Dean was scared to tell Shahd, so many thoughts were running through Dean’s head. What if Shahd would reject him? What if Shahd thought that Dean wasn't good enough for her? Dean decided that he would take a deep breath and say what he needed to say. Dean grabbed his phone and texted Shahd, “Hey, can we go for dinner tomorrow at six?” Shahd answered “Sure, lol where?” Dean tapping his phone responded, “It's a surprise be sure to dress nice though.” Dean turned his phone off waiting for a response from Shahd. Dean flopped down onto his bed which smelled like laundry detergent, staring at the ceiling Dean fell asleep. Dean woke up feeling all sweaty not knowing how long he had slept for. He checked his phone seeing tons of missed calls and texts from Shahd. Dean calls shahd back, Shahd picks up the phone immediately. “Hey! what happened you weren't answering any of my calls or texts I was worried to death!” Dean responded “Sorry I just fell asleep.” Shahd let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, now what time will you be picking me up tomorrow?” Dean responded saying “Five, make sure to be ready.” Dean ended the call with a large grin on his face. Then he remembered the real reason he was calling Shahd to the restaurant, Dean started to worry. The same thoughts were going through Dean's head over and over again. Dean took a deep breath and stepped over to his closet to pick out something to wear. He took out an expensive looking suit that his parents had bought him earlier as well as a pair of dress shoes. He laid them out on his bed and was regretting his choices already, but Dean needed to be the bigger person and focus on his goal for tomorrow. Dean went and took a shower then went to bed. The next morning Dean woke up and took a shower, got dressed then got his hair done. By now it was already four thirty, now he had to go pick up Shahd. Dean unlocked his car then sat inside, fastened his seatbelt then started to drive. Dean arrived at Shahd's home. Dean texted Shahd that he was waiting outside. Dean watched the front door open, Shahd coming out in a beautiful flowy blue dress. Dean unlocked the car and as she stepped inside the car they immediately started conversation. They talked the whole way there, laughing and having fun. Once they arrived at the restaurant Dean went and opened the car door for Shahd, as Shahd stepped out of the car Dean nervously took her hand and walked inside the restaurant. As Shahd and Dean sat down at their table the waiter came and asked them if they would like any drinks. They politely declined. Dean told Shahd that he had something to tell her. Shahd asked him what was up; Dean started stuttering and choking on his words but Shahd took his hand and told Dean that she was there to listen to him. Dean finally spat out the words that he was dreading to say, “I’m in love with you!” Shahd laughed “That's what you were trying to say?” Dean looked back up at her flushed, “So? What about you? How do you feel about me?” Dean asked. Still laughing, Shahd told Dean “Of course, I love you too.” This was how Dean met his wife. Dean still continued on with his career of exterminating spirits but only when needed.

THE END !!!