“This is the third time this week!” The shrill voice grew louder as it approached the bedroom door. Isaac looked at the clock, which read 8:02 AM. He and Elliot quickly threw off their covers and jumped out of bed as their mother whipped open the door.

“If you were planning on catching the 7:50 subway, I don’t know what you were thinking!”

“Jeez mom, give me a break. I was up late yesterday,” whined Isaac. The boys’ father got involved.

“Don’t talk back! If you weren’t late you’d be in for an ass whooping right about now.” The mother shot the father a disapproving look and turned quickly to the boys.

“Boys, I hope you can survive without lunch again. Shoo.”

The boys sprinted down the hallway of their New York apartment building, to the annoyance of their neighbors. They stumbled down the steep stairs of the old building. There was no time for the slow elevator. After barely beating the subway to the station, they entered the train out of breath, crammed between an obnoxious businessman on his phone, and the local lunatic. Elliot decided that this was the perfect environment to start up an argument.

“Why didn’t you wake me up! I can tell you now we’re not off the hook with mom and dad!” 

“I overslept too, genius. Beside’s, why’s that my responsibility?”

“You didn’t have to get yourself up when you were my age.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s 1978. Alarm clocks were invented a while ago.”

“Well… at least I have friends. You’re gonna be spending lunch by yourself today, aren’t you?” Isaac snarled at Elliot. They continued bickering until they got to school, which made them ready for school to be over before it even started.

-

“We’ve talked about this!” Shouted the mother, just after the door closed behind the boys. “We agreed we don’t condone corporal punishment.” 

“I know we ‘agreed’ to it,” sighed the father. “You’d been nagging me all day. What was I supposed to do, Justine?

“I know what you could try. Giving a crap about this family, and how you’re affecting it. You know what, Walt? I’m tired of you ignoring anything that might require effort. At least try to get a job so we don’t have to eat government cheese. How many job applications did you submit yesterday. I know I sent in 5. You’re a lazy coward.”

“Yeah whatever. You said that yesterday.” Walt stumbled into their bedroom and slammed the door.

After a day of tense silence and avoiding eye contact, the boys broke the silence by trudging into the apartment, muttering insults. After an awkward dinner of cold beans and powdered milk, the boys went to bed angry, and the parents fell asleep with their backs to each other. This was an average day for the Morrison family.

The following Saturday, Isaac left his bed at 1:00 PM. On weekends, he slept in as long as he could to avoid contact with his family. To get out of the apartment, he decided to go do some Laundry. He dragged his bag of clothes two blocks to the laundromat, and started his first cycle. While waiting, he decided he’d help out and do some grocery shopping, although the only one he thought deserved any help was his mother. He mostly did it to be out of the apartment longer.

He grabbed his pocketbook to make a list, but he didn’t have a pen. Luckily, there was a pen on the ground. He began writing. Green beans, beef, Pepsi Co… As soon as he finished the o, Isaac did a double take. The inside of the o glowed as if about to catch fire. When it stopped glowing, there was an empty black void. He hesitated, then touched the void. His finger slipped through as if the washing machine under the paper wasn’t there. He didn’t need any more stress, so he just ignored it. He tried to at least.

As he anxiously finished his errands, the strange hole the pen made was in the back of his mind. That night, he scarfed down his dinner, not that he normally chose to spend an extended amount of time at the table. While everyone was finishing up dinner, he went to the bathroom and locked the door. He cautiously drew the pen from his pocket, and carefully drew on the door in a circular path. Hesitating slightly, he completed the circle. He waited through ten seconds of tense silence, convinced he must’ve imagined it. Suddenly, the circle glowed with a blinding white light, and then faded to black. Isaac couldn’t resist the temptation to walk through the circle. 

The void immediately closed behind him. He was surrounded by blackness. It was like outer space without the stars. A well groomed man in a suit appeared quietly.

“It is time for you to make an important decision.” He said, ominously.

“You need to tell me where the hell I am, now!” Isaac screamed.

“There’s no reason to be frantic. This place does not exist to harm you. It can be anywhere you want, and contain anything you can imagine. This is the life you want.”

“How did I get here, and who are you?”

“If you must know, I’m not from this planet. The pen you used to create that void was placed there by me. I have strategically placed 1,000 of them throughout your world for people like you to find. People who ended up in circumstances they don’t deserve. Like living in a dysfunctional impoverished family. My hope is for them to find the pens and finally find a life of happiness in my realm that I’ve created especially for them. Since you found the pen, only you can travel through the void. Anyone in this realm can imagine anything they want and it will become a reality, and I can prove it. What’s something you’ve always wanted that you could never obtain?”

“I’ve always wanted a dog. Something I could come home to everyday, that would remind me that I always have someone who loves me.” The exact dog that Isaac was picturing appeared out of nowhere. The smile and short stubby legs of the corgi was a welcome comfort for Isaac.

“I’ve spent far too much time explaining things to you,” the man said curtly. “Make up your mind soon. The pen will become just a pen in 24 hours.” The man snapped his fingers, and Isaac found himself standing in his bathroom, Elliot banging on the door.

That night while falling asleep, there was a battle happening in his mind between two decisions. In the next 24 hours, Isaac had to decide to either abandon his family, or pass up an opportunity for unending joy.