Day 1
Take us through a written walk down your street and to your favorite place through the eyes of somebody else.
It was hot. Not only was it hot, but it was hard to breathe. Ideally I should have been used to the smog like most everyone else, but I was one of the few unlucky ones with genetics too stubborn to evolve with the times.
Thus, I was paler than most and lankier than most. No one in my family was able to absorb much nutrition from the genetically modified plastic the government convinced the nation to believe was food. Less nutrition meant a compromised immune system...which meant less ability to properly absorb nutrition.
I wasn't really sure how our family line persisted.
Even though it was hot out, I still couldn't see the sun. Towering freeways and floating apartment complexes stood shrouded by the seemingly permanent, thin - but somehow heavy - clouds of pollution. It was loud. There were cars zooming around and honking.
Of course all of the traffic noise was coming from up above. Only those with the money to afford to live in teh sky could afford a car.
The rest of the noise came in the form of babies screaming and couples arguing. That kind of dysfunction mostly existed only in homes not insulated with wealth.
A familiar soft voice piped up from behind. "Hey Shawna," it said.
Vex had a soft, relaxing voice. It was happy and rich, as if it were made of the same silky smooth chocolate which made up her skin.
"What's good, Vex." I'd turned to dap her up and brought her in for a hug. She was soft, even if her appearance was hard.
"What's good. Hey, you catch up on that homework from the other day? Mrs. Johnson keeps asking me when you gonna turn it in."
I blew a raspberry. "I don't even know why she acts like she cares. Doesn't she get the picture? I'm not going back."
Vex looked mildly disheartened. Well, mildly more disheartened than she usually did. "Bruh, you can't let nobody mess up your shot at getting out of this place. She's not going to let her best student throw her life away. And frankly, I won't either."
My muscles tensed up. I felt my hands curl into a fist as tears welled up. I held them down, though, and let out a deep breath instead.
I opened my mouth to tell her to give up on me just like most everyone else, but instead the words "did you see that...rabbit?" fell from my lips instead.
Vex looked at mea s if I'd grown another head. "The fuck are you talking about? You know its been at least...I dunno, a hundred years since anybody down here seen any type of animal."
I had focused on teh rabbit that was completely still, save for its rapid breathing. I knew Vex was right before she even said anything so I refused to look away lest it disappear and prove I was crazy.
Vex, noticing that I hadn't blinked, turned curiously and gaped at the furry tan-colored rarity just across the crumbling street in a clearing that hadn't been there before. "Yo..."
There was grass. And the color green. And trees. Instead of Mr. Williams sitting on the porch smoking cigars and laughing loudly with Skippy.
The rabbit quietly hopped along the road, taking its magical world of colors along with it. Vex and I found ourselves following it without saying much other than an occasional "woah."
As the rabbit traveled it revealed more trees and more colors. The once crumbling houses that lined the street were renewed, revealing cozy-looking homes with grass lawns instead of concrete. There were driveways. There were cars in teh driveways. And there were garage doors on the garages instead of bricks that weren't quite as dirty as their surrounding brick cousins. The old park once littered with beer cans and faded memorials for lost children was replaced with a thicket of trees and plants with leaves bigger than our heads. There was an unfamiliar brightness spreading.
It was making me squint. Suddenly I felt more energized. It no longer felt like a small child was padding atop my lungs. I felt lighter.
"Yo Shawn, look!"
I looked briefly at Vex, not wanting to lose track of the rabbit. Her awe and the brightness of her expression distracted me from the annoyance and panic that had started to bubble within me in response to her distracting me from the rabbit. I followed her gaze to the sky.
It was so blue. The sky in the pictures from the old books in the library weren't nearly as blue. And the clouds weren't nearly as white. Or as fluffy.
It was quiet, save for some unfamiliar chirping noises. A small brilliantly red blur zoomed past me and into the nearest of yet another thicket of trees. It moved a bit and made the chriping noise I'd heard but not recognized.
It was a bird that didn't look like a rat with feathers. That didn't "coo." It looked sweet and precious.