Everything happened so long ago, yet Kafka found that his mind often wandered toward his promises... The promises that he was unable to fulfill. He had yet to become a defense force officer, and until today he believed he had lost any chance to fulfill that promise. A new coworker, Reno, had informed him that the age cutoff for the applications had increased. He still had a chance...and he refused to waste it. The man had sent in his final application and sat in his meager apartment with his eyes glued to the blinding LEDs of his phone screen. He should tell them...They deserved to know that he was trying one last time...But did they even want to hear from him?

He gathered his courage and sent a text.

"I'm going to try to join the defense force this year. I know this might be a lot to ask, but It'd mean a lot if you cheered me on one last time."