Dorivaldo

Dorivaldo wasn't exactly the kind of name that inspired respect. It sounded more like someone who would miss the bus and then apologize to the driver. And, honestly, he'd already done that.
He lived in a town too small to hold secrets and too big to hold peace. He worked in a notary's office, that place where time decides to take a permanent vacation. Stamp, paper, signature. Repeat. Breathe. Repeat again. His life was basically a poorly rendered loop.
But there was a curious detail: Dorivaldo was absurdly observant. While everyone else was busy pretending they knew what they were doing, he noticed things. Like the man who always signed documents with a trembling hand, but never got the name wrong. Or the woman who smiled too much when she talked about her "husband traveling." Or the guy who always showed up with a new document, as if he were trying to erase old versions of himself.
Dorivaldo didn't comment on anything. He kept everything in his head, as if it were a secret file... that nobody asked for.
Until one day a strange document appeared.
It wasn't the role itself. It was the name.
Dorivaldo.
He thought it was a coincidence. Ugly names are like that. But when he read the rest… same birthdate, same mother's name, everything the same.
One less thing.
In the "status" field: deceased.
Now imagine you're alive, breathing, with back pain and a bill due... and the paper is basically saying "it's over".
Dorivaldo laughed. That slightly crooked laugh of someone who doesn't know if it's a bureaucratic error or the universe playing a tasteless joke. He decided to ignore it. Because, of course, ignoring problems is practically a human hobby.
But then things started to… fall into place.
The baker no longer remembered his order. The neighbor walked past him as if he were a particularly unattractive lamppost. At work, no one asked for help, no one spoke to him. Even the coffee seemed tasteless.
It was as if the world was… uninstalling him little by little.
Dorivaldo, for the first time in his life, did something impulsive.