The Man In Blue

Chapter 1:What we could be

                                                                      "I wish the world would stop..."

The sun does not shine on the crowded streets of metropolitan sub-urbs , the tenants are yet to find that brightly coloured ball of light and few who do dare are burned in it's flames. So was the reality of Hoax Street a small district in the sub-urbs where light rarely shined and the sun hid it's face from the tightly packed buildings; which barely left any space for light to radiate. The streets  were dull,dark and gloomy , if anyone told visitors that an unworldly being resided in here...They blindly would have believed, and to no-ones surprise there were rumors circulating about a mystical body dressed in navy blue roaming the streets at midnight like a winter breeze.

Most tenants of Hoax Street would dare not go out in the roads at night, as they did in fact believed the being really did exist but unlike her neighbours Ellena Hides refused to believe in such baseless facts. She did nor fear unseen bodies as she had no prior experience with the so-called supernatural. Ellena would wake up early in the morning and walk down the gloomy aisles to get to her part-time job at the bakery a little far from the starting of Hoax Street but not so far to be considered an entity of another area. Still it was a long walk a 30 minute walk from her residence, she was required to sacrifice a little bit of her sleep to get there in time and usually would reach there at 6:30 am. Ellena had been working there since she had started attending a University away from her hometown in the countryside, she was in the 2nd year of pursuing her degree in Sociology at the Radiant University, 15 minutes from Burning Oven's; the bakery she worked at. Just like any other day Ellena woke up at 4:00 am, did her assignments, ate a piece of expired bread that she had stolen from the bakery, she looked at her fridge which was mostly empty, it had just enough to get by a week and then began to walk towards Burning Oven's down the aisle.

"We'll be opening soon Elly, go to the counter." said Mr.Ingrid the owner of the bakery in an ignorant manner which most would find offensive but not Elly because she has gotten used to it or she might have just needed money to get by and this was one of the few jobs available to her. The bell attached to the entrance of the bakery rang, customers started flooding in, it has been opened for business. Some people from Radiant University were also there to buy their morning meals, nothing new as the university was only 15 minutes away, often people from her department would also come by and unfortunately rude people would; making Ellena's life more miserable than it already was. But instead of not liking those people, she envied them as she could have never imagined how great their lives were, born with silver spoons; it was like a dream half world away from her. Despite all the troubles she kept working tired and frustrated waiting for time to go by and finally reach 10 O'clock; her efforts did pay off as it was already time to leave. Ellena made her way towards her University, an exhausting but thankfully short journey. Another war waited for her at the doors of her class as she again had to battle the loneliness and outcast treatment she received by her classmates but this too she had conquered as she has gotten uses to being alone from an early age, this too was nothing new. She would have fought a dragon if that's what was required to pursue her passion, though she was lacking behind with all the part-time work she hardly managed to study. Even after the lecture was over she could not rest, she had to go back for an evening shift.

Again in the same bakery, it was this time she would start feeling sick like she had travelled all night trapped in a car, a disgusting vibe of  motion sickness. Ellena barely standing had to work for another 6 hours till it was eight. The clock was moving slower than ever but only 15 to 20 minutes were left, but breaking the sweet silence a customer began complaining to Ellena about how the bread she received was not hot enough when the very name of the bakery was Burning Oven's, she demanded compensation, shouting and screaming the lady in green was not ready to listen, she wasn't  even letting Ellena speak and was expecting an answer? Ellena who now just couldn't hold back said in a calm, small, barely audible yet sharp voice "How do you expect the bread to be warm when you were busy being glued to your phone for an hour instead of eating it madam." Ellena knew this as she had been observing the bakery and what she said was nothing but the very truth which the lady in green could not digest and shouted "Call the manager!!!" Mr.Ingrid seeing the gravity of the situation came and asked Elly to apologise for her behaviour, he too seemed a bit displeased. "What a useless worker, do you even have manners, how could you talk to your customer like that, you will never succeed in life ." these harsh remarks made by the lady in green broke every little piece of strength and hope left in the already void Ellena. Mr.Ingrid pushed Elly forward to apologise , she in a breaking and trembling manner, gathering all the shattered strength said "I am....sorry...". The lady still not willing to accept it was gone when Mr.Ingrid offered her some free buns. This is how Ellena's long day turned even longer and the work which was suppose to end by eight ended 30 minutes late and it seemed that Mr.Ingrid was planning to fire her and he really did with an envelope of money.

The unfamiliar dark aisle seemed darker today and the journey more breathless, her head was so heavy she could not see the beauty of the shinning moonlight or of the stars. Slowly fading in the darkness she reached her residence and with heavy legs walked up the stairs towards the rooftop room. She could barely open the door, barely could she stand anymore, her world had collapsed, no job, no money, ... no dreams. When flakes began flowing, it was snowing, a magical first snow strong enough to stop time, the first snow of winter, it was December. Snow covered her pitch black loose hair as she cried, the soothing wing blew passed her face as if embracing her. Nearly falling on her feet did she notice an odd envelope stamped with "MAN IN BLUE" and a card inside with writings "GIFT CARD: TO MISS.ELLENA HIDES". A sudden strong wind came and her money flew down the road, panicking she ran down to save what little she had left , when she heard a mysterious voice"Miss.Hides". The wind blowing softly towards the voice as if pointing it, she turned around. It was as if the world has stopped or as if the snow had crafted a paradise, she for the first time in her life, first time in Hoax Street....

                                                                            She saw a Light.