• Rick set the manga, Fushigi Yugi, down on his lap. He sighed with the lollypop still in his mouth. There are just things in his life that bored him to death. John, his best friend and neighbor, sat across the bedroom with a manga in his hand.
    “Naruto is just another ninja story” Rick says as he snatches the manga from John.
    “Hey, give that back!” John whines. “It’s not my fault that nothing interests you—don’t ruin things for me, too” he collapse on the bean bag chair.
    They both relaxed and stared at the ceiling where Rick taped up posters of his favorite anime shows and movies. One side was all of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies while the other is One Piece, the famous pirate story. In-between the two was a single poster of Romeo x Juliet. Rick wouldn’t admit it himself, but he was a sucker for a romance story—just not a boring story.
    All his life he did nothing. School, sports, and just anything else was something Rick wouldn’t do. Things that are average or considered normal was boring for him. He just didn’t take interest in activities that were common among people, and that’s why he tries to escape reality with the adventures of anime/manga, and books. His mother was disappointed in him because she wants a “normal” son that does “normal” stuff. It wasn’t that Rick was stupid or lazy. He’s smarter than the average fifteen year olds and has the fitness of a football player. Even though he doesn’t go to school, he teaches himself the subjects. Everyday is a sunny day so he gets out, exercises, and just explores.
    “It’s getting late” John says, breaking the silence. “I think I should go home”
    “For what?” Rick sat up straighter, eyes narrowed. “There’s no need to go home”
    John ponders for a moment. He was already late for dinner, so there’s no point in going now. His father isn’t home either; gone on a business trip. It’s always like that. He only comes back once every two to three months to dump loads of money in John’s room. As for his mom and siblings, he has none. Rick doesn’t say anything about his family issues because he himself has a father that doesn’t come home—well, actually he left the family but it’s almost the same. The only family he has right now is his mother.
    “Spend the night” Rick offers.
    “I did that last night and the night before that and the night before that!” John won’t say it, but he likes spending the night over because it’s less lonely.
    He studies John for a moment. “Why are you going home?” his voice was full of suspicion.
    “Because it’s late—“
    “Why are you going home?” Rick says again, louder, standing up abruptly.
    This makes John back up but he doesn’t change his answer. “Because it’s late” and he dashes out the door.
    Rick grins mischievously. He sniffs the air as if smelling a fresh baked dessert. “I sense something interesting” he rolls his shoulders and runs to John who was already outside on the porch.
    There was a soft glow coming from the full moon. It was the second one John had seen since his father’s last arrival. Behind him he heard the slam of a door being shut. At that time John was already across the street. He knew it was Rick. This happens all the time; it was annoying. When Rick gets interested in something he would barge in, sticking his nose into everything.
    John takes out his house keys from his pocket and unlocked the front door. He went inside and relocked the door so Rick couldn’t enter. The house was ghostly. Everything is dark, just the way it is everyday. John takes a slow look around; the kitchen, living room, and just about all the other rooms were unsurprisingly empty and the same as it looked last month when he came home on a full moon. The last place to check was his room.
    Rick saw how John ignored him across the street. This only made him move faster. He sprinted over to John’s house just in time to—and the doors locked. “Dammit! What are friends for” he curses. He peeked through the window but it revieled only darkness.
    There was a big tree growing at the side of the house. The branches reached higher than the roof. Rick went and stood beneath the tree, eyes determined, shoulders rolling. He took a big leap and started to climb. In a minute or two he would reach a high branch that would help him get onto the roof. John had told him once that his room was on the second floor.
    Inside the house it was still dark. The stairs creaked as John walked up it. When the door to his room appeared, it was shut. His heart pounded in his chest as he reached for the knob. Maybe his father is in there. His father only comes on full moons, which was why John had refused Rick’s offer of spending the night. Today is the day John will—hopefully—meet his dad. Ever since he was a child his father was off, leaving him with a babysitter that he no longer needed once he turned eleven.
    John gulped, his hand still resting on the knob. This is the moment he’s been waiting for. For four years he’s been trying to see his dad and for four years he failed. Somehow, his dad would slip right under his nose. At night he would stay up until his dad comes but he would eventually fall asleep and wake up next morning to find the piles of money his dad left behind.
    There was a crash and a loud thump inside the room. With an image of his dad in his mind, John opened the door and yelled, “Where have you been?”
    The man he was looking for turned out to be Rick. Rick sat on the rug, rubbing his head in pain. The window behind him was slung open; the curtains catching on a nightly breeze. John could see a broken branch hanging over outside from a tree.
    “Rick! What are you doing here?” he shouts, annoyed that his friend would break into his room and angry that he believed he had finally caught his father. “You’re ruining everything”
    The bitterness in his voice made Rick equally furious. “Why can’t you just tell me?” he stands, fist in hand.
    John wasn’t going to tell him though. “Get out of here!” he swings his hands around like a crazy ape. “OUT”
    “No!” Rick refuses. “You think I don’t know, but I do” not all the details though, he thinks to himself.
    This catches John off guard. He didn’t know that Rick knew—or was it a bluff? He kept debating what to do but then a low beep came. It was from his watch which read 11:59 P.M.; almost midnight. John took hold of Ricks sleeve and dragged him into the closet. Once the door was shut, Rick shoved John aside.
    “What—“
    “Shhh!” John smacks a hand over Rick’s mouth.
    They both were silent, staring out at the small crack in the door. Rick could almost feel the fast beating of John’s heart in the air around them. Something didn’t feel right, and he couldn’t figure out what. When Rick had said he knew what John was up to, it was a total lie. The only thing he knew was that John would leave to his home once a month, and the next day he would be all depressed.
    Nothing happened in the room. John lifts his watch to read the time, 12:00 A.M.

    Rick opened his eyes, not remembering ever closing it. Did he fall asleep? All he knew was that he and John were in the closet waiting for something. Rick tried to get up but his back ached so he just stayed on the floor. John was still knocked out beside him, leaning against the door.
    “Hey, wake up” Rick poked Johns face, but he didn’t budge. “Whatever” he opens the door, letting John smack against the floor, and gasped. Right in front of him, in the middle of the room, was a huge pile of money. John had told him about this once, but he never believed him.
    “Where…?” John opened his lazy eyes. At first he thought he spent the night over at Ricks’ but then remembers about last night. “Wait—” his head snaps towards the money. “Dammit…” all hopes were lost now. Nothing was ever going to change; not now, not ever.
    Meanwhile, Rick was playing in the pile of cash. “This is amazing!”
    “This is stupid” John punches the wood of his bed in frustration. “I hate this!”
    Rick stopped tossing money in the air and went to comfort his buddy. “You’re dad’s awesome” was what he said. John didn’t want to hear that.
    “Oh yea? If he’s so awesome, then why can’t I see him? I can’t even meet him. Last night—it happened again!”
    This confuses Rick. “What? Last night…we fell asleep—“
    “Did we?” John challenges Rick’s knowledge. “What happened last night?”
    “Uhhh…” he was, for the first time, dumbfounded. What exactly did happen?
    “You followed me home, broke into my room. We hid in the closet for just a minute and then…?” he waited for the sentence to be finished.
    Rick tries to think, but his mind drew blank. “Nothing, I can’t remember”
    “Exactly” John paces the room. This was a strange sight for Rick to witness. “I do this thirteen times every year—coming home, I mean—to see my father”
    Rick nods, not understanding why John chooses now to tell him after ignoring him yesterday. John didn’t know why he was telling him either, but he finally broke down after being fooled for the hundredth time.
    “My father’s some kind of a trickster” he says seriously, “Magician, maybe?” Rick lets go an amused laugh but John goes on talking. “I’m tired of this. Whenever it’s twelve on a full moon, I would knock out and wake up the next morning with this”—he gestures to the money—“in my room”
    “So?” Rick saw this as a joke. “There are no such things as magicians”
    John stops pacing and stares blankly at Rick. “No such things? All this time you wished to believe the unbelievable, but now you say it isn’t true? Just what’s wrong with you!” he kicks the pile of money till there was no longer a pile; everything was all spread out. “I’m sick of this” and he storms out of the room, leaving Rick alone to think about all the craziness.
    “This is nuts” Rick sighs. First John gets mad that Rick followed him home and now he was mad about his “magical” dad. This is just like all the other time when John leaves once every month to his house; except now John is more angry then depressed.
    He sighs, ready to leave but then notices the mess in the room. I should clean it up. Rick put all the bills in bundles, tied together with rubberbands that he found under the bed. He picked up the last bill off the floor and saw two coins beneath it. It was gold with silver glittered around it. There was a strange feeling about them—like how they’re five times as thick as regular coins and that it was shinier. On one side was a half finished star and the other side was a crescent moon.
    Cool,he thought, putting them into his pocket. John would never realize that it was gone. He walks over to the window and sees John far away, walking to the forest trail. Rick dashes out the door to help calm his angry friend.