When Kai finally got home, the sun was already setting, casting a soft golden glow through his bedroom window.

  He closed the door behind him, leaning back against it, exhaling a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

  The sound of the ocean waves was still fresh in his ears.

  The warmth of the sun still lingered on his skin.

  The laughter and teasing of Alina and her friends echoed in his mind.

  But now, alone in his room, everything felt different.

  Kai walked slowly over to his bed and sat down heavily, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor.

  “What just happened?”

  At first, it had felt like a normal day — awkward at first, sure, but… good.

  He had laughed.

  He had played.

  For a moment, it felt like he belonged.

  But now, he couldn’t ignore what he knew deep down.

  “That wasn’t just some random beach trip.”

  His hands gripped his knees, the realization creeping in stronger with every breath.

  “That was what I imagined this morning.”

  His mind flashed back to sitting in the closet, the candle flickering, the image he had tried to hold so desperately:

  “A perfect day at the beach. Laughing. Playing. Feeling the sun on my face.”

  “I couldn’t hold it. I thought it didn’t work.”

  But it had.

  It just took time to catch up.

  “I thought I failed… but it happened. Exactly how I pictured it.”

  Kai stood up and began to pace the room, his heart beating faster.

  “If I can imagine something, and then it becomes real…”

  He rubbed his face with both hands, trying to calm himself, but the thoughts wouldn’t stop.

  “What if I imagined something worse? What if I imagined something dangerous? Would that happen too?”

  His stomach twisted at the thought.

  “I’m playing with something way bigger than I thought.”

  But another thought fought its way in — something that made his chest tighten in a different way.

  “If I can create a perfect day like today… can I create other things? Can I fix things? Help people?”

  The idea felt warm and terrifying all at once.

  “But at what cost?”

  He sat back down on his bed, staring out the window at the darkening sky, torn between excitement and fear.

  “If I can shape reality… what am I supposed to do with that?”

  The next morning, Kai couldn’t sit still.

  Everything that had happened over the past few days — from bending time to shaping future moments — weighed heavily on his mind.

  “I can’t stay locked up in my room forever. I need to think.”

  Throwing on his hoodie, Kai stepped outside, the crisp morning air brushing against his face, cooling the restless heat in his chest.

  The world felt oddly normal, like nothing had changed — but Kai knew different now.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I see everything differently now… like I’m walking through something fragile.”

  As Kai wandered the streets, letting his thoughts drift, his eyes caught something he usually never paid attention to.

  An old man, sitting on the sidewalk with a scruffy dog curled up beside him.

  A cardboard sign hung around his neck, letters fading but still readable:

  “Any help would be welcome. Thank you.”

  Kai slowed his steps, watching as people walked by without so much as a glance, their eyes forward, their minds elsewhere.

  The man sat quietly, gently stroking his dog’s fur, a distant look in his eyes — like he’d long since given up on anyone noticing him.

  Kai stopped a few feet away, just watching for a moment.

  “He’s been here forever… but I never really saw him.”

  Something tugged at Kai’s chest.

  “What if I could do something for him?”

  His mind started racing.

  “I’ve changed things before. But what if… instead of thinking about myself, I tried to help someone else?”

  “What if I could shift something small… just enough to give him a break?”

  The idea made his heart pound.

  “I should try.”

  Without another thought, Kai turned and headed home quickly, purpose building inside him.

  Back in his room, Kai locked the door behind him.

  “Alright… let’s see if I can do this.”

  Lighting the candle, he sat down in his closet, breathing deep, focusing.

  The pyramid formed quickly now, as if part of him knew how to slip into that state without effort.

  “Okay… no past. No future. Just now. And something better for that man.”

  Out of his body, in the swirling, smoky space, Kai held onto the feeling of wanting to help, of compassion — stronger than he had ever felt before.

  “I want to see people helping him. I want to see him get what he needs.”

  He pictured it clearly:

  ? People giving him money.

  ? Someone noticing him, smiling, showing kindness.

  ? Maybe even a conversation that reminded him he wasn’t invisible.

  Kai held onto that image, pouring emotion into it — not forcing it, but wishing it into the world like a quiet ripple.

  When Kai came back to himself, he was more nervous than ever.

  “Did it work? Or am I just fooling myself?”

  But instead of staying home to overthink it, he went back out.

  This time, Kai didn’t approach the man.

  Instead, he sat on a bench across the street, watching quietly, hands in his hoodie pocket.

  At first, nothing happened.

  People kept walking by, eyes glued to their phones or conversations.

  Kai felt his chest tighten.

  “Maybe I can’t change anything after all.”

  But then —

  A woman passed by, a businesswoman with a leather bag slung over her shoulder.

  As she walked past the man, something slipped out of her bag — a small envelope, falling to the ground behind her.

  Kai’s eyes widened.

  The old man noticed, eyes lighting up in a way that made Kai sit forward, holding his breath.

  Slowly, he reached down and picked up the envelope.

  “Ma’am!” he called out, his voice hoarse but loud enough to stop her.

  She turned, surprised, as he held out the envelope with a trembling hand.

  “You dropped this,” he said softly.

  The woman blinked, caught off guard, then smiled warmly, genuine gratitude in her eyes.

  “Oh my God, thank you! I didn’t even realize,” she said, taking it back.

  She paused, looking at him for a moment — really looking.

  “You know what? Thank you for your honesty. Here…”

  She reached into her bag, pulling out some money, and gently placed it in his hand.

  “Get yourself something to eat, okay?” she said softly.

  The man looked stunned, glancing from the money to her, then nodded.

  “Thank you, miss. Thank you.”

  Kai watched from across the street, his heart swelling but also twisting.

  “It wasn’t a miracle. But it was something.”

  A small kindness.

  A small ripple.

  And maybe — that was enough for now.

  “I can’t force the world to change… but maybe I can help nudge it a little.”

  Kai stood, taking one last look at the man who was now smiling gently at his dog, holding the money in his lap.

  As he walked home, for the first time in days, he felt a little lighter.

  Back in his room, Kai sat on his bed, staring out the window at the sky turning orange with sunset.

  “If I use this power… it has to be for good.”

  “Not for selfish reasons. Not to change the past. But to help, in small ways.”

  His reflection stared back at him in the glass, and Kai made a quiet promise to himself:

  “I’ll figure out how to do this right. I won’t let this gift ruin me.”

  For the first time, he felt like maybe he was finding his way.

  The evening sky glowed with fading sunlight, streaking Kai’s room in soft oranges and deep shadows.

  But Kai wasn’t watching the sunset.

  Instead, he sat on his bed, still thinking about what he had done earlier for the old man.

  “Maybe I can make small changes… but there’s still so much I don’t understand.”

  His eyes drifted to the wall — to the place he knew the hidden library was waiting.

  “Maybe there’s something in there that can help me figure this out.”

  Standing up, Kai walked to the wall, placing a hand on it as if to feel for the secret door.

  “Ut supra, ut infra,” he whispered.

  The wall shimmered and split open, revealing the small room, its soft glow welcoming him back into the unknown.

  Kai stepped inside, the door sliding closed behind him.

  The familiar sight of rows of black books greeted him, and on the desk, The Kybalion and The Master Key still sat open.

  But today, something was different.

  As Kai walked past the shelves, running his fingers over the blank spines, one caught his attention — it had a title now.

  “Stalking the Wild Pendulum.”

  “Another book with writing…?”

  Curious, he pulled it from the shelf, feeling the leather cover smooth and warm under his fingertips.

  Opening it to the first page, his breath caught when he saw a handwritten note in his father’s familiar script:

  “You’re making your way to understanding the world. If you can read this book now, it seems that you’re realizing the mysteries. Be cautious — and remember, every cause has an effect, and every effect has a cause.”

  Kai sat down slowly at the small desk, running his fingers over the words.

  “Cause and effect…”

  “Is that what I’ve been doing? Setting causes into motion without understanding the effects?”

  With a deep breath, he turned the page and began to read.

  Hours passed as Kai sat hunched over the book, eyes wide, mind spinning as he devoured every word.

  “Everything in the universe vibrates.”

  “Time and space are not fixed — they are flexible, bending with consciousness.”

  “Our thoughts and intentions don’t just stay inside us — they move outward, affecting the world in ways we can’t always see.”

  Kai leaned back in the chair, his mind swirling with these new ideas.

  “So when I imagine something — when I focus on a strong feeling — I’m not just picturing it… I’m vibrating with it. Sending out waves into the world.”

  He stood up, pacing the room now, the words of the book bouncing in his head.

  “If everything vibrates, and thoughts are vibrations, then maybe that’s why when I focus hard enough on something — a moment, a feeling — I can shift into it. Or bring it to me.”

  He remembered what he read about the pendulum effect — how energy moves in waves, and how our minds can interact with those waves.

  “Maybe when I went back to the past, I was catching the ‘pendulum’ of that event. Tuning myself to its wave.”

  “And when I imagined the beach day… I wasn’t just making a wish. I was sending out a vibration strong enough to align reality to match it.”

  The idea both excited and terrified him.

  “If that’s true… then reality isn’t fixed. It’s like a field of energy responding to my mind.”

  But then his father’s warning echoed in his mind:

  “Every cause has an effect, and every effect has a cause.”

  “So if I change something… something else must shift in return.”

  Kai rubbed his face, sitting back down heavily.

  “No wonder when I tried to save the motorcycle guy, Leo almost died. I was pushing on reality, and it pushed back.”

  Kai looked around at the books lining the shelves, the glowing light of the room casting soft shadows.

  “So this is what I’ve been doing all along.”

  “Using my thoughts to shape reality. Sending out waves like ripples in a pond.”

  “But every ripple touches something else.”

  His hands rested on Stalking the Wild Pendulum, like the book itself was still vibrating with the truth inside it.

  Standing slowly, Kai looked back at the doorway, knowing what he had to do next.

  “I need to be careful with what I imagine. With what I feel.”

  “Because if reality is like a pendulum… every move I make will swing back to me.”

  He walked to the door, whispering the words to close it, feeling the weight of his growing knowledge settle on his shoulders.

  “No more careless wishes. No more reckless changes.”

  “I have to learn to move with the pendulum… not against it.”

  If you’re enjoying the story, please consider dropping a follow, leaving a rating, or writing a quick review — it really helps more than you know!

  And hey… maybe a comment too? I read every single one.

  Thanks for being here — seriously.