I met up with my friend Mike in Toronto. We were going anime shopping together along with some other friends of ours. When we got to one mall that we knew had a couple of stores we wanted to see, we split up. Mike and I together, and the others together.

Mike and I wandered through the mall, noting the odd layout of the stores and escalators and aesthetic displays like plants and seasonal decorations. We weren’t really looking to buy anything, him because he’d been to this mall regularly and knew there was nothing new for him and I because I had only enough money for food, and the trip home.

We walked sometimes hand in hand, sometimes one slightly ahead of the other, window-shopping. We came upon one store, a sort of half variety, half anime shop selling common items, like milk, bread, and cigarettes, and anime merchandise, like cards, posters, and videos to rent. We looked around a bit, very interested in that store, then moved on. Later we found ourselves in the food court for a snack. We got to talking and although I don’t know what the topic was exactly, the end result was that we should apply for jobs at this store, so that we would always be together.

We went back to the store. This time I noticed that things were spilling out of the door, as if it was a perpetual sidewalk sale. Mike spoke with someone working there and arranged for our jobs. I thought it odd that we didn’t need resumes or to fill out forms. Satisfied with the arrangements, Mike walked back to me, took my hand and the two of us walked back to our hotel room. I wanted to tell my other friends about our new jobs first, so he went on ahead and I sought out my friends.

I remember Josh was the most suspicious about the job, and none of them had seen a store in the mall as I had described it. But the mall was rather large so I thought nothing of it.

When I got back to the hotel, it was dark. I didn’t know what time it was, or what I had done to pass that much time from my lunch with Mike. I was a little wary to be walking the streets of that part of Toronto all alone at night, but I made it safely. When I got inside, one of the owners, Barb, told me that Mike had to leave suddenly and he had left the address of where he was going and wanted me to join him as soon as possible. This made my mind run a million miles a minute. I didn’t know where this place was. I wasn’t familiar with the streets of Toronto. It was after midnight (so Barb told me when I got in). I had so much stuff to carry. How would I get there? Apparently this place was across town.

I ask Barb if I could please keep some things in storage at the hotel, and after much conversation I managed to convince her, mostly because we had worked together one summer. I packed as much as I could carry into my bag: clothes, toiletries, what little money I had left, as somehow I knew I was about to embark on an adventure that would change me forever, and I wasn’t sure if I would even survive it.

I walked out of the hotel, backpack secured over my shoulders, and I looked back. Barb and her partner were at the door seeing me off. I waved, then turned towards my path. I walked slowly down the dimly lit alleyway, squinting at my map, and walked out of view of the hotel, most likely for the last time.