Mira had known Elliot and Silas for as long as she could remember. The three of them had been inseparable since childhood, their bond forged through years of shared secrets, mischief, and countless classroom pranks.
Both boys were not only brilliant students but also masters of chaos, a balance Mira had long since learned to live with.
Together, they had walked the same school corridors, faced the same high school exams, and now found themselves tackling the same major—Biochemistry—at the same university. Their friendship had stood the test of time, growing stronger with each passing year.
It was the last exam of their third semester in college, which meant that starting tomorrow, they were finally free for a whole month, which meant vacation time!
They had just finished their exams and were walking back home together when Silas suddenly noticed an advertisement outside a store. It read:
"Are you lucky enough to go to the most expensive city — The Hana City? Try your luck in this lucky draw! The top three winners will get an all-expense-paid trip to 'The Hana City!' Try now!"
"Hey! Should we try this?" Silas asked, pointing excitedly at the ad.
Mira's shoulders were hunched down, she practically looked like a walking zombie
"It might be fake. Let's just go home — I really need to sleep." She said
"You're no fun!" Silas groaned. "Elliot, what about you?"
"Yeah, why not? We've got nothing to do anyway..." Elliot replied.
"You too...? Do you even know where Hana City is?" Mira asked, baffled.
"If we don't, we'll find out when we win and go there," Silas grinned.
Eventually, she gave in — like she always did with those two.
The shop looked fancy and... a bit strange, to be honest. The shopkeeper greeted us warmly as they entered and asked how he could help.
"We're here to try our luck with the lucky draw," Silas said on behalf of all of us.
The shopkeeper smiled and replied, "Sure! But you need to shop for at least 500 dollars."
"five hundred each?" Mira asked in a baffled voice.
"Yes," he said, still smiling.
She pulled her friends aside and whispered, "Isn't that a bit too much?"
"How is it expensive? Your monthly pocket money is 1500 dollars," Silas shot back.
"For all three of us, that's 1500 in total!" She argued.
"How much do you both have right now?" Elliot asked.
"I have 1000" said Silas.
"I've got 800," Mira added.
"Great! I've got about 1000 too. Let's do it. Anyway, I need to buy groceries," Samay said.
"But—"
"No buts, Mira. Don't spoil the fun!" Silas practically yelled at her.
'Sometimes, I really think if I'm the one who's stuck with these... dumb creatures'
She thought but of course, she gave in. She couldn't say no to them, especially when they were excited and jumping like monkeys.
They roamed around the store with a trolley, picking up items they needed. The store had some really great stuff at decent prices, which made the shopping a little justifying. But still, Mira wasn't convinced that they needed to spend 1500 bucks for a gamble.
She bought some groceries for home — cheap and good quality — along with some snacks and pretty home decor items. Somehow, she managed to buy everything she wanted for just 550 dollars.
Once they were done shopping, they headed to the cashier. After billing everything, the cashier led them to the lucky draw.
There was a big glass bowl filled with marbles. They each had three chances. If you pulled a white marble — unlucky. Red meant first prize, yellow meant second prize, and blue was third.
Silas went first. His first two picks were white. Then — a red marble! He cheered.
Elliot was next. He picked a red marble on his very first try.
Then it was Mira's turn. Her hands were trembling as she picked up the marble, First draw — white. Second — white again. Third — also white. She sighed in disappointment.
The shopkeeper noticed and said kindly, "Don't be sad... Go ahead and take one more chance."
"Can I really?" Mira asked hopefully.
"Yes. I don't like your sad face," he said with a smile.
Her heart pounding, she reached into the bowl once more... and pulled out a red marble! She couldn't believe it. She jumped excitedly and hugged both her friends.
'The trip package was for three weeks — this vacation was going to be unforgettable!' she thought
They walked home happily, bags full of goodies in hand. At home, she told her parents everything about the lucky draw — and that Silas and Elliot had won too. At first, they thought she was joking, but when she showed them the plane tickets, they finally believed her.
Her dad made some inquiries about the place. One of his friends said it was a fantastic and safe tourist destination. That gave her father the confidence to let her go.
Asking her mother was much easier. As long as she was going with Silas and Elliot, she had no reason to say no.
Both the boys got their permissions too. With all the bags packed and excitement in their hearts, they were ready to go!
They hailed a taxi to the airport, their luggage packed and excitement bubbling just beneath the surface. When they finally boarded the plane, an odd sense of quiet settled over them. The aircraft was nearly empty—eerily so. Aside from the three of them, there were only a handful of other passengers, scattered sparsely across the cabin like forgotten shadows.
It felt a bit odd, but they brushed it off.
After nearly six hours of flying, they finally arrived at their destination. Once the flight landed, they disembarked and collected our luggage. Stepping out of the airport felt like entering a whole new world.
There were advanced technologies everywhere — robots casually walking on the streets, automated systems handling basic tasks, and surprisingly, very few people around.
They soon noticed a taxi waiting for us outside. They got in, and it took us straight to Their hotel, which was situated near the beach. The view from the hotel was stunning. That first day, they decided to rest in our separate rooms.
The next day, they decided to explore the city.
One thing quickly became clear: this place was ridiculously expensive.
Like— really, really expensive. Just a single meal cost over 2000 dollars. They kinda panicked that they'd go broke if they spent a few more days here.
Later they ended up wandering around like lost migrants. Of course, they couldn't afford a taxi anymore, so they walked everywhere. During their walk, they came across what looked like an amusement park.
"Should we go in?" Mira asked the boys.
"Is it free?" Elliot asked, cautiously.
"Yes, it's written there," Silas replied, pointing at a signboard.
So they went inside.
Most of the people there seemed to be tourists like them. There were many game booths, and to their surprise, the games offered money as rewards. If you won, you'd get a good amount of cash. Since they were on the brink of getting broke, they decided to try their luck again.
They split up to try different games.