MR. BORN TO LOSE

Prologue

Leonard Sylas was one of the, or some say best poets of the 20th century. The Italian-English writer was best known for his poems, because they speak for what they truly are, every word he writes down feels like exploring a whole new world in his mind. But all the letters are only so much to still keep him mysterious from the outside world, that's his mystique. He'd continue to achieve many more in his 35 years of life, before dying in a house fire.

His works vary from short poems, to a few novels. From euphoria, to anger, to longing, and to love. One of his most popular works, "Born to Lose" a diary of him and his supposed lover. Yearning and infatuation for his significant other fills every corner of every page as they face their everyday life. Unfortunately, this diary was burnt in the house fire that killed Leonard, and only some of it had survived. Until today, literature fanatics and alike are still investigating the missing pages.

Samuel Clifton was one of them. Since the young age of 14, he had always been obsessed with Leonard's lovely poems he found on tumblr. He'd stay up-to-date with every new page restoration, he'd spend hours and hours just lost in his writing, heck, he even chose a literature major just to learn about deciphering more meanings in his text. It's as if he found his long lost soulmate in a man that died 75 years ago.

Well, this infatuation continued to grow larger as Samuel had finally started working on his thesis on the "Born to Lose" diary...

< >

The sound of clacking can be heard from across the room, and shortly after, a groan comes out of someone that's currently surviving off of instant coffee. "Another writing block?" His friend in suffering, Connie, questioned. "...Yep." Sam couldn't think of a longer response, his mind was all over the place. Every bone he moved generated a cracking sound with how long they've been writing away. He looked at the words on the screen again, trying to find new ideas to no avail.

"Do you want another coffee?" Sam got up from his seat, preparing to go make some more. "Nah, I'd puke if I drank more." Connie answered, not raising his eyes from the computer screen. Sam walked out of the room, finally starting to collect his mind again. With the deadline being 3 weeks left, he doesn't really have much time for himself or Leonard anymore.

The dimmed lights shimmer on his hair as he makes his way to the kitchen. He opens a cabinet, being welcomed with a strong creaking sound. He grabs another pack of his favorite coffee that tastes like absolute shit; just to wake him up. After heating up some water he stirs the powder in. He stirs... and stirs... and stirs......

BANG

"HOLY SHIT." Sam screams in shock. He looks to his left, and gets a furry being looking at him in awe. It's Otto, Connie's beloved cat who knocked over a pot while climbing the counter. He looks back, "...Did I startle you?" He asks the poor cat. Otto simply purred and rubbed his head on the warm palm as Sam reached out for him. Fortunately, this cat wasn't as hyperactive as others, so Connie and Sam hadn't been interrupted by Otto for the last few hours. He stroked Otto's beautifully long fur a few times before putting him on the floor, and returning to Connie's room.

"You should try sleeping at least, dude." Connie glances over the full jug he's bringing into the room. "I can't, i still have too much to do." Sam sits down and takes a sip of his enormous jug of caffeine, Otto follows suit and jumps into Connie's lap to sleep. Sam sighs, even after this much caffeine he still couldn't conjure any more words to fit in his thesis.

"How many words do you have now?" Sam scoots over to Connie's side of the table to observe him. "I don't know, like, 9k?" Connie replies, the tired raspy voice is starting to surface. "Holy shit, 9k in like what, 2 days? You're crazy, man." Sam replies.

"I am actually gonna go crazy any minute now." Connie leans back on the bed and stretches his arms, cracking his bones.
. . .
Slowly, snoring can be heard from the poor guy. Sam decides to leave him alone and continue to stare at his word document. 'What do I do now?' He rests his head on the table. After a while of silence, he finally decides to scroll his tumblr collection of Leonard's works he built since freshman year. Each and every one of them evokes a different feeling in him, and each one gives him the nostalgia of being a teenager and discovering Leonard for the first time. He wishes he could actually see the diary he's studying in person...

Then an idea popped into his head, a really crazy idea.

He opens up Google and searches for plane tickets, hm... Florence, Italy.... $1,555... Voila. He opens his bank account, just enough for the ticket and another living for 1 month. This is perfect.

"Wait for me, Italy."