It has been 15 years since the great uprising.
People are happy in this city, an emotion almost forgotten in the years of war
preceding the uprising. No one dies fighting for food or water anymore. It's
peaceful in the city. The great ruler is the most benevolent of them all, the
one who showed mercy to all these people and allowed them in the city of Rylai.
The city provides what people want for and thus people stay in the city. What
is the alternative? Live out in the vast stretches of barren land outside?
Radek went on his usual walk in the evening,
there wasn't much to do in the city of Rylai after all. He saw Spencer as usual
on his bench reading the book he always read. He always considered spencer to
be quite unusual. But so was everyone else in the city of Rylai.
The thoughts of the past often clouded the
mind of Radek, the days before the great uprising were long,gruesome and
unforgiving in his memory. It was hard for the people before the uprising. Food
was scarce, water was limited and mouths to feed were a few too many. He wanted
to rid himself of these thoughts once and for all. That was decades ago, when
people died of hunger and diseases, fights over a bottle of water were common,
surviving was what mattered and humans were more animals than sentient beings.
The city was the most lively and dull place at
the same time. No one had to work for anything. Everything was given to
everyone. Those vans were the only connection the people had with the
bureaucracy. Vans would be an understatement, they were big trucks to be
precise, laden with all sorts of goods and valuables. Each week one would come
in front of your house and deliver all that you could need for the coming week.
Where they got all the food no one knew. Farming was almost not possible before
the uprising and most sources of freshwater were nonexistent. But something had
changed with the coming of the new age. Food was suddenly available for all and
so was everything else. But it all came at a price, a deeply held secret only
few knew. It was the most sacred of things to the ruler and the city, the
fundamental on which this utopia was built, without which the conditions would
return back to what it was before the uprising.
Radek kept on walking, there was not much to
do in the city after all. Sleep was crucial to the citizens with cases of
people sleeping for days on end. What else are you supposed to do when all your
days are the repetition of the same mundane tasks. Boredom was an issue but not
a price people wouldn't pay to live in this great city. But Radek wasn't one of
those people. He lived his life like his mother taught him before the uprising,
sleeping only at night and always protecting and taking care of his little
sister. He was only six years old when the uprising happened, the memory clear
as day to him. The only person he cared for other than his sister, died that
day, but her face was one thing he could never forget. All the lessons she had
taught little radek still fresh in his mind came back from time to time as if she
were speaking them herself. Radek often tried talking to the people of the
city, but somehow they all seemed too happy all the time as if they had
forgotten about it all. The rumors were always what he thought about. He had to
avoid the rumors if he had to protect his sister but he never could. Preston
had always told him that they were what everyone thought of them to be, just
rumors but Radek could never believe it.
He finally came upon it, his humble abode
which he shared with his sister. Every family got one house in the city. There
were too many of them anyway and too few people to live in them. The
destruction which followed the uprising took away most people in the world, at
least that's what they all said. Leaving the city was always a very exciting
proposition for Radek, seeing what was left of the rest of the world but he
knew he never could. Once you enter the city you never leave, everyone knows
that.
This was the land of dreams for some people, a
place where there was no economy, everything was ripe for the taking and
suffering was nowhere to be seen. This was the city of Rylai, home to the
survivors of the destruction. Everyone was happy and no one was sad because
there wasn't anything to be sad about. You want a toy kid? You got it right here.
You want to eat candy? Take as much as you like. You want a new house? Plenty
of them in the city. All you had to do to fulfill your dreams was enter the
city. But always remember, once you enter the city, you never leave.
No comments:
Post a Comment