The Slate Of Vale

Jeff doubt anyone could climb a two storey building to drop an envelope at this early hour of the day, or was it his mother who had dropped it? He couldn't tell for sure. It took him time to summon the courage to pick up the envelope.

The envelope bore no address, not even that of the sender.

Who would be sending an envelope in this computer world? Jeff asked himself. The red seal on the envelope was as hard as a nut shell that it didn't bulge when Jeff tried to break it. The envelope itself, though was made from what seemed to be paper, was much harder than the seal when Jeff tried to tear it open.

"What is this?" He asked himself again as he turned the strange envelope over and over again.

Giving up the idea of opening the envelope at that precise moment, Jeff tossed it inside his drawer.

"I will deal with you later, for now, I have a race win."

With much courage and determination, he swings his bag pack behind and picked up his hover board. Shooting one last glance at the drawer where the mysterious envelope now was, he walked out the exit.

When Jeff came downstairs, he saw his friend Matt sitting on the brown leather couch, with eyes buried on the screen of his cell phone. The sitting room smelt of toast and fried egg which was popping out from the plate seating perfectly on the dining table. Save for the food and a glass of orange juice sitting on the table, the table was bare and Jeff's mother was nowhere in sight.

"Is that a new video game?" Jeff asked, noting the serious face Matt wore. Over the years he has come to realized that there are only three things that Matt was strongly addicted to: food, his creative work and video game. The latter seemed to be taking effect now.

"Yea, it's the new 3D air borne video game of Dr. Jakins"

"I suspected as much, that man needs a soft pat on the back, he has done much for this city"

"I heard the king would be acknowledging some laureates today. Do you think Dr. Jakins might be on the top list?" Matt asked, not sparing Jeff a single glance.

"I can't tell; the king has a strange way of doing things. Let's hope he acknowledges the poor man for his effort towards the growth of this country." Matt nodded his head in agreement.

"Where is mom"? Jeff asked, suddenly observing her absence.

"I think she went through the back door" His friend replied.

"We should get going then, it's almost time and late coming shouldn't be our first impression, especially in the presence of the other extractors."