Jack had never really liked his life. He wasn’t sporty, wasn’t funny and had no real friends. Fact was Jack was a loser, everyone else knew it and so did he. The only people that didn’t know it were his parents, he hated them because of that. They always said things like, “There’s our special lad” and “Alright there champion”, whenever they saw him, it felt they were patronising him.

His alarm woke him at 7:30am as usual; “Get up, get a shower, get dressed, breakfast then school” he thought, “same old same old”, he said darkly. “There’s the big lad” said Jack’s father, “how can anyone be that cheerful at this hour, not even Santa is this happy at 8am” Jack thought to himself. “Sorry Dad I cant stay for breakfast I have an art project in school”, “No problem, I’ll see you when you get home” little did he know Jack wasn’t coming home today, “Oh dad I might stay late after school to work on it as well” he called halfway out the door. “Idiot, I don’t even do art”. Jack’s estate was overcast and gloomy, again, as if something kept draining the life from it.

Jack was walking at a steady pace but was getting further away from his school and closer to the railway station. When he got to the station he was greeted by the usual sounds from the trains and crowds of people. If you haven’t worked it out by now Jack was planning to either jump on a train, and start fresh somewhere else, or jump in front of one, he still didn’t know himself. He found himself an old matt brown bench to sit and think it over again. “To hell with it” he said after about 10mins of thought, “Running off is so cliché anyway”. So that was that, but he wouldn’t do it now there was too many people about at the moment, not to mention a few little kids. So he sat and waited for the crowd to die down, he smirked at the irony of this. A man, around 30, well dressed in a black suit sat beside him. “I know what you’re going to do” said he, “What?” replied Jack a little startled. “I know” he repeated, “But I have an alternative to offer you”. “Ock you’re not one of those religious guys are you, ‘cos if you are you’re wasting your time.” “No not at all” sad the man, slightly amused “What would you think if I told you I could change everything you see right now. I could even change you”, “I’d think you’re a Looney” the man went on as if he hadn’t heard him, or if he had heard he didn’t care. “I could give you a new school, new house, hell I could even give you a new life.” Jack decided to humour him, who obviously had a screw loose. “So you’re saying if I wanted a hotdog and coke, you could give me them” no point in dying on an empty stomach. The man nodded to Jack’s feet, Jack turned his gaze to where the nod was intended, “Ahh” exclaimed Jack knocking over a bottle of Coke, he started to say something but the man interrupted him with a wave “ I am a busy man Jack I really don’t have time for this. Will you take my offer. “What would I have to give you?” he asked warily, there’s always a catch in these things, “Oh don’t worry I get what I want anyway there is no need for you to give me anything”. Jack thought about this, “How did the hotdog and coke get there, anyway I’ve nothing to lose.” “Ok ok this is what I want; money and lots of it, I want to be handsome, so that I can get any girl I want, I want to be good at football and have parents that don’t annoy me.” said Jack feverishly “Every teenage boy’s dream then” chuckled the man. “Ok then just walk home see what you think”, and with that the man turned and walk round the corner to the exit. “Hey!, I don’t even know your name” shouted Jack, but he was already gone.

Jack started home at double his normal pace, as he was approaching his estate he noticed that it was no longer cloudy and the whole place seemed brighter in appearance. His house looked more or less the same, only it was bigger, a lot bigger. He walked into the hall way past his stairs and into the kitchen where he found his dad eating a piece of toast. “Hello Son, you’re ready early this morning” said his dad, “Um yeah I guess it is early” replied Jack looking at his watch, it 7:45. “Come on then, I’ll give you a lift”.

In school Jack was attracting a lot more attention than he was used to from both sexes. The boys who had just finished admiring his dad’s shiny new Jaguar now turned to the person leaving it and walking up to their school and the girls were giggling and talking to their friends about the handsome new guy. He’d never felt so happy in his life, he was actually being noticed for once. At break time he wandered up to the school pitch (a rarity for him) and after being put in Thomas Hampton’s team he scored a hat-trick winning the match for them 4-3. Once the match had finished one of the girls that had been watching him from the sidelines came over and brought him by the hand behind the trees, a notorious spot amongst pupils. She didn’t even say anything, she didn’t need to the location said enough. “Oh God this is it”, he thought “my first kiss”. they were close enough now so that he could smell the fruit scented shampoo in her hair, so close now that their lips were nearly touching. “JACK!”, a man shouted laying a hand on his shoulder, Jack turned round meeting the face of a police officer. “JACK” another voice shouted, Jack looked his mum looked back. “Shit” said Jack, he realised what was going on and what was going to happen if he went back, he couldn’t accept that reality any more. He needed a miracle, as if some greater being had heard him, the sound of the 8:15 to Lancaster could be heard making its way up the tunnel.

Jack’s mum saw him get up, “Strange”, she thought when he didn’t look round. Stranger yet though that was he had started walking away. Then he ran, so did the police man, trying to help the clearly disturbed young boy. But he could help no more, no one could, at that moment Jack jumped. The driver didn’t couldn’t have stopped even if he had seen him in time and with a dark thud Jack was free.