The theme song starts. This time it’s an upbeat jazz song, but the lyrics are unchanged.

“What the chocolate chip jello are you doing? You can’t go changing the theme music. The whole point of a theme song is that it’s familiar. At least wait a dozen episodes first, like a respectable show.”

Nate facepalmed, then groaned because he had never done that in real life before. What am I thinking? Should I just pretend this is real life? And if this is a book, books don’t have theme songs!! Is something wrong with you? The last line was directed at the author.

Thunder roared in response, interrupting the music momentarily.

Nate held his hands up in surrender, then went over to the corner to sulk for the rest of the intro.

“I am not sulking,” he said aloud to the empty room.

At the end of the song Nate left.

The book dropped from the sky again. It flipped open to a new page.

The quill came back and wrote in the book with the same flowing calligraphy as the last time.

2. Contestants must pass one final test before boarding the ship.

The bird came and flew away with the book again.

The scene changed, It was the big day.

“What the fudge-soaked raisins? It’s been months. Where did the time go?”

As Nate mentioned, it had been months, and yet time had not mellowed his attitude.

“Hey, I heard that. Wait, how did I hear that?”

A car horn from outside interrupted his thoughts. Nate glanced out the window and saw the limo out front. It was here early. And honking, how rude is that! Nate clenched his fist and took a deep breath. Then he stretched, and the anger faded away.

Nate grabbed his bags, gathered his family for a quick goodbye, and left.

The driver packed up Nate’s bags. He opened the back door and pointed at the seat, where a laptop and a note were waiting for him. Nate got settled in the back and read the note.

Dear Nate:

Congratulations on your acceptance.

Your first test begins now. Using the laptop provided, you have two hours in which you must write a short story between 3,000 and 5,000 words. The story must be about a wooden house deep in the sea that burns down. Somebody dies in the fire. Solve the mystery.

Feel free to begin at any time. The countdown doesn’t begin until you open the app on the computer. Bear in mind that you have an 8-hour drive, you must also finish before you arrive.

If you cannot manage the word count in the time provided, the limo driver will turn around and drive you back home. Don’t think you can cheat your way onto the ship though. Your story will be graded before we let you aboard.

Wishing you luck,

The signature was impossible to read, but the message was clear. Nate cracked his knuckles and opened the computer.

Something told Nate to wait. He looked at the unopened app. He wasn’t ready to start writing yet. Not with that kind of scenario. He closed the computer and took out his phone. It was time to research.

It didn’t take long to come across thermite. He didn’t know if that would work, but the next best option was magic. The letter was vague, it could be human or mermaid. A scuba diver caught in the house, surrounded by an air bubble, and maybe a crack in the ocean? No, Nate dismissed the idea. He was going with mermaids. The magic would be the air bubble around the house. Nate kept thinking down that line. Air bubble because a human lived there. So the fire could just be a regular fire. Nate was warming up to the idea and popped open the computer again.

Nate’s fingers hovered above the keyboard. Lightning flashed between his fingertips and the keys.

“What the actual blueberry taco was that?” Nate jerked his hands away from the computer and examined his fingertips. A calming sensation came over his mind, and he suddenly had memories of this happening before. It was a special ability of his.

A smile grew on Nate’s face and kept growing until he looked like an emoji. He shook his head

and laughed from deep within as he positioned his hands over the keys again.

Nate started typing and his fingers flashed faster than his eyes couldn’t keep up. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped, but he didn’t stop typing. After a few minutes, he lifted one hand up to his face, to look at it. The other hand kept going, taking over the entire keyboard. He shrugged and put his hand back.

Nate finished well before the 2-hour mark hit, but he used the extra time to go over and edit his work. The letter said graded, and editing might count.

After closing the computer, Nate looked around and made sure the driver couldn’t hear anything. “Am I the main character? Am I the one who makes it? I’m in the theme song, so I must be important”

Silence

Nate shrugged, perhaps all the characters got their own theme songs, like wrestling. He wondered if any of the other characters were self-aware. He made up his mind that he would get them to see the truth. This world clearly wasn’t normal, he couldn’t be the only person to see that.

Once Nate had calmed down, he finally let himself relax, and do the traditional limo stuff. Raiding the icebox, standing up in the sunroof, stretching out on the seat. It didn’t take long for Nate to get bored. He considered making some troll posts on social media to pass the time, then wondered where that idea came from. He had never thought about doing that before.

The computer started beeping, and Nate opened it. On the screen were two words, in bright blue, “You Passed”.

Nate sat in silence, looking at the screen. He kept waiting for it to feel real. His first test passed. He was truly on his way now. Yet it all felt like a dream. He remained in that dazed state until the door opened, and the driver proclaimed “We’re here”

Nate grabbed his bags. The yacht was out in the ocean, and they were taking a smaller boat to reach it. There were a handful of other contestants waiting as well. Nate was the last to arrive.

He ran up to the boat, bags overflowing around him, to begin a new adventure.