Tom gets a letter in the mail, inviting him to come to Isla de la Muertos. After staying there for a day or two, Tom is asked to participate in the tournament they are having, which he agrees to. But Tom finds that the tournament is not what he expected or asked for. Will Tom be able to win the tournament? Or will he become the neither the first, or neither to last to lose this tournament and face its consequences?
It was a small, rugged old town that 22-year-old Tom lived in. It was like any old American town that you would come across if you were to be traveling. And you would only be purposefully going there if you lived there or had family that lived there.
Tom had only been living there for a year or so, but he already was liking the town and was planning to stay and grow old there.
Tom was pretty mature for his age. Most people his age would be off at those college bars, getting drunk, and coming home late that night and be hungover every morning. But not Tom, he knows that getting drunk every night isn't going to make his life any better. Tom doesn't like alcohol much. But his friend Bill, who was his roommate, was pretty much the opposite. He was the exact type to go and do that type of thing. Bill was 21-years-old, which was exactly the age where you were allowed to go and drink at bars. And that year, the day Bill turned 21, he went straight for a bar after his birthday dinner. And if you were to take a look at him, you'd think he were to be an alcoholic. And you'd be pretty darn right.
Even though things never happening in this town, there was one day out of the ordinary that changed both of these boys' lives forever. It was about 4:00 in the morning and the crack of blue was starting to come over the horizon. Bill was walking home after an all-nighter with friends. When he got to his and Tom's house, Bill decided to do something a little nice for Tom. Once he got to the mailbox, he opened it and got all of the mail. He closed the mailbox and walked into the house.
As soon as he got into the house, he instantly walked over to the living room and dropped the mail on top of the table in there. Then he nudged slowly over to the couch and passed out before he even hit the pillow.
*A few hours later*
Tom wakes up at 7:00 every morning, and always goes out for a run. He usually runs for an hour or so, then runs back to his house to get the mail. Because the mail usually runs at about 7:45. But when he ran to the mailbox and opened it, he realized that there was nothing there.
"I guess they are running a bit late today", Tom mumbled to himself as he closed the mailbox shut.
He walked back inside the house, and glanced at Bill passed out on the couch. Then he looked down at the mail on the table.
"Jeez, now he decides to do something helpful", he chuckled as he bent down and picked up the mail.
He walked over to the kitchen table, sat down, and started going through the mail. Most of them were bills, some of them were just junk mail. But once he got to the bottom of the small stack, there was one envelope that caught his eye. It was colorful, with black silhouettes of palm trees painted against the colorful red, orange, and yellow background.
"Well, okay, why not see what it has to say", Tom mumbled.
Tom opened the envelope and removed the letter inside of it. Then he unfolded the letter and started reading.
It said: "Hello Tom Hollaway and Bill Jefferson, we are pleased to inform you that you have the opportunity to come to our magical, intense dream location: Isla de la Muertos. Our location is an exclusive, VIP place. But you have been randomly selected to come and stay for 7 days free of charge! To have access to the island, please travel to the nearest airport to your location and show the receptionist the letter you are holding right now. And you will be given your VIP badges so you can have access to enter the island! We hope to see you soon!
-Isla de la Muertos Administration
As soon as Tom finished reading the paper, he instantly made up his mind that they were not going for sure. He 100% thought it was a scam and it was stupid of him to actually believe them. He folded the letter back up and put it back in the envelope and flung it over at the trash can. But he failed miserably at scoring the trick shot. But when he was about to go pick it up, there was a knock on the door. Tom went over and opened the door. It was their landlord.
"You've been late on your payments again Tom", he said.
"Listen, John, we've been having some financial issues lately and-"
"-Whatever money issues you've been having doesn't concern me, Tom. I just want my money that you owe me", John interrupted.
"Can you just give me more time? Please, like at least a week or so!", Tom begged him.
John shook his head.
"No, I want my money right this instant. If you can't, then we might just have to call the police, and I don't think you want that", John insisted.
Tom stared at him for a few seconds, looked down, and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. Tom pulled out 2 one hundred dollar bills and handed them over to their landlord.
"Thank you, have a good day", John said as he walked away.
As soon as he was out of sight, Tom slammed the door shut and kicked the dining room chair.
"I swear that bastard charges us more than anyone else in the entire apartment complex!", Tom yelled angrily.
"Yeah, he does", Bill agreed.
Tom jerked his head over at him. Bill was pacing around, reading the letter that tried to get them to come to Isla de la Muertos.
Tom instantly face palmed himself and started walking over to Bill.
"Don't believe a word these people say, because they are a bunch of lying pieces of shi-"
"-Hang on, there's a backside to this letter", Bill stated as he put his finger up in Tom's face.
Bill started pacing again as he read the letter.
As soon as he read the whole backside, he turned around towards Tom with a smile on his face.
"Hey Tom, you need to read this!"
