Chapter 1: Desperate Hopes by Diana Smith
Page 1
The crumbled pavement still had a large hole in it from the era of the past, the last war, on terrorism had left The City living in a hopeless mix of the very rich, devastation, crime, and petty hopes.
A clump of chipped off pavement jumped up and skittered across the pavement, like a mouse trying to escape it's lonely destiny to be food for one of the other vermin that lived along the street side, discards of the past making a living off of whatever little castoffs they could from the rich.
She was pretty in an innocent kind of way, tears trickled down her cheeks as she clutched a single bottle of pure distilled water. Worth more than gold that was, and the price she'd paid for it, was probably more than many would care to calculate, although most, if they were desperate enough would pay.
She stopped at a shambling apartment, and unsteadily made her way up past the bodies of those who couldn't pay, up to a small apartment where her grandmother lay dying of The Fever. Her little brother was sitting on the floor still in his pajamas with his small toy caboose, it was the only toy left that she knew of from a by-gone era. Their parents had been killed years ago in a terrorist attack, and now they were about to lose the only caretaker they had.
She opened the bottle of water and carefully poured it into the glass by Grandmother's bedside. The doctor, an elderly man himself, a friend of Grandmother's had told her to keep Grandma hydrated with the good water, and some salt, and she might pull through. But he had looked sad when he walked out, as if he knew there was no hope here.
As she poured it, she marveled at it's clear, like glass texture, and smooth fluidity. Like everything else it was a relic from the past when things had once been good. Some of the other children had given it street names. Life Elixir, Unicorn's Blood, it was all the same, grandmother had told her once, it was the life of how the world was once all bottled up in plastic.
She filled the glass to the brim and set it aside, closing the cap on the water that smelled fresh like the first day of Spring. She started to boil the water for breakfast. The predawn light was filtering in, by noon the water would be good enough to drink, but by then there would only be a few ounces left, and that would go to her little brother.
As she cleaned the kitchen the way grandmother used to, and went about making the candles that were their livelihood she tried not to think about the last man she paid a price for a bottle of water. His hands were rough and dirty against her young skin, and she hated the way he had looked at and touched her. She didn't know how much longer grandmother would last, but she did know that she couldn't go on doing this every night.
Maybe grandmother won't live any too much longer, and maybe I won't have to keep doing this... but in her heart she prayed with all her might that her grandmother wouldn't leave her too soon, grandmother was the only one in this world she'd do this for. She'd prayed with her brother for her grandmother every night the way she'd taught them too.
The crumbled pavement still had a large hole in it from the era of the past, the last war, on terrorism had left The City living in a hopeless mix of the very rich, devastation, crime, and petty hopes.
A clump of chipped off pavement jumped up and skittered across the pavement, like a mouse trying to escape it's lonely destiny to be food for one of the other vermin that lived along the street side, discards of the past making a living off of whatever little castoffs they could from the rich.
She was pretty in an innocent kind of way, tears trickled down her cheeks as she clutched a single bottle of pure distilled water. Worth more than gold that was, and the price she'd paid for it, was probably more than many would care to calculate, although most, if they were desperate enough would pay.
She stopped at a shambling apartment, and unsteadily made her way up past the bodies of those who couldn't pay, up to a small apartment where her grandmother lay dying of The Fever. Her little brother was sitting on the floor still in his pajamas with his small toy caboose, it was the only toy left that she knew of from a by-gone era. Their parents had been killed years ago in a terrorist attack, and now they were about to lose the only caretaker they had.
She opened the bottle of water and carefully poured it into the glass by Grandmother's bedside. The doctor, an elderly man himself, a friend of Grandmother's had told her to keep Grandma hydrated with the good water, and some salt, and she might pull through. But he had looked sad when he walked out, as if he knew there was no hope here.
As she poured it, she marveled at it's clear, like glass texture, and smooth fluidity. Like everything else it was a relic from the past when things had once been good. Some of the other children had given it street names. Life Elixir, Unicorn's Blood, it was all the same, grandmother had told her once, it was the life of how the world was once all bottled up in plastic.
She filled the glass to the brim and set it aside, closing the cap on the water that smelled fresh like the first day of Spring. She started to boil the water for breakfast. The predawn light was filtering in, by noon the water would be good enough to drink, but by then there would only be a few ounces left, and that would go to her little brother.
As she cleaned the kitchen the way grandmother used to, and went about making the candles that were their livelihood she tried not to think about the last man she paid a price for a bottle of water. His hands were rough and dirty against her young skin, and she hated the way he had looked at and touched her. She didn't know how much longer grandmother would last, but she did know that she couldn't go on doing this every night.
Maybe grandmother won't live any too much longer, and maybe I won't have to keep doing this... but in her heart she prayed with all her might that her grandmother wouldn't leave her too soon, grandmother was the only one in this world she'd do this for. She'd prayed with her brother for her grandmother every night the way she'd taught them too.
posted by Skaldi at 6:48 PM
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