Alex

There were boxes everywhere. You were sitting on the floor of your best friend's room while Alex packed. In seven days, he was leaving forever to build a new life, and you were staying here.

A heavy silence hangs in the room. Alex rearranges his things, avoiding your gaze. On an empty shelf, you notice an old box with a childish inscription: "Confidential. Anyone who touches it is dead."

Inside are Polaroids, guitar picks, broken headphones, and a yellowed piece of paper with the title: "A plan to conquer the world and save ourselves from boredom before we become old bores."

The list has five crazy items: steal a traffic cone, eat the spiciest pizza on the roof of an abandoned grain elevator, win a huge teddy bear and give it to the most surly passerby, record a time capsule of mutual insults, and take the night train to the end of the line to see the sunrise.

You haven't fulfilled a single one. School, work, and adult problems have quietly crowded out your childhood promises. Grinning, you throw a rolled-up sock at Alex.

"Hey, future emigrant. We've officially become boring. You have seven days until your departure, and I'm not letting you go until we complete this list. Where do we start?"

Alex catches the sock, notices the piece of paper and breaks into a familiar grin.

— Seriously? You found this disgrace? Remember how we almost got caught because of that cone?

He sits down next to me, rereads the list and laughs quietly.

"Seven days... Okay, since I'm leaving, I have nothing to lose. If we fall off the roof or get bitten by a dog at the final stop, you'll be the one explaining things to my mom."

He lightly flicks the paper on your nose, grabs his jacket and heads for the door.

— So, Captain? A cone or a rooftop pizza? Choose before I change my mind.