Key to the World

An Ocean of Sand

"Ugh, this heat sucks, why does the cooling have to break now of all times!?" A short anthropomorphic calico with a high pitched voice spoke up. "Shut up and work, Gearhead, I don't want to hear any lip from you if you want to keep this job." "Yeah, yeah, I got it Bossman."

Yep, that cat is me, Jamie Gearhead's the name, and I guess you can call me the local troublemaker. The other person just now was my boss, a large, fat dobermann that leaves all the effort to me while he earns all the money I should be getting from my quality work. With a sigh I get back to work, disassembling scrap machines for parts to sell. Absolute shit pay, but it's better than trying to sell on my own without a good rep. Nobody would want to buy materials from the brat that stirs up so much shit anyway, so it's better than nothing I guess. I work on autopilot, taking apart robots one after another. You tend to get really good at something after doing it for years.

About an hour passes since then when a bell can be heard, signalling that the sun is going down and the work day is over. Putting on my red jacket, I shout while I make my way to the boss' office. "Boss, I'm clocking out for the day, where's my money?" The hound groans as he picks at his ear with his pinkie. "Alright sheesh, Gearhead. You're lucky that I owed your grandfather a favour. Otherwise I would not have taken you in." Flicking a piece of earwax off to god-knows-where, he points to a table to the side, a small pouch on it. "It's right there, sheesh, it seems getting out of work is the only thing you put any effort into doing." I chuckle, swiping the bag of coin, I wave at him with my back to him as I make my walk out the workshop. "You know you won't get such quality work with anyone else boss. I'll see you tomorrow"

Once outside, I pocket the money and stretch. My eyes strain at the dwindling sunlight due to being in a dimly lit warehouse for the whole day, which reminds me to put on my goggles to protect my eyes from the sand-filled winds. My muscles ache from the hours of continuous work. I shake my body with a yawn, furs bristling and flattening. Suddenly a hooded and cloaked figure crashes into me, dropping me to the floor along with whatever they were carrying on their hands. "Geez, you need to be more careful-" I say while I help them get their stuff together. "-if you ran into anyone else, your shit would've be gone like, yesterday." They thank me profusely before they continue running.

"Sucker." I snort, laughing to myself on the inside. Taking out a fancy-looking padlock from my jacket, I made a brief whistling tone. "Whew, this looks valuable, sure hope they won't be missing this..." I muse to myself as I inspect the purloined item in my hands. The metal was remarkably shiny, like it hasn't rusted at all. "That means it's either brand new, or that person has been maintaining this with major care. But then again..." I twist and rotate it in my hand, getting a good look at it. "With such a beautiful copper colour, and these delicate carvings, even I would treasure it like an heirloom. Well, let's move on."

Wiping the sweat off my head with the back of my hand, I look out into the vast nothingness, an ocean of sand sprawls out infinitely, with chunks of rubble from the fallen civilization sprinkled around the place. Oh, and you can't forget the scrap heaps all over the place, of course!

Suddenly, a muffled and choppy with static voice booms through the PA system of the settlement. "Attention, all citizens of Theta-3, ration distribution is in 30 minutes, please make your way to your assigned station."

"Damn, the incident just now ate up more time than I expected. I need to be quick." I curse to myself. "In that case, let's take a shortcut~" Looking around me, I find a ladder to the roof of a nearby building. Perfect!

Swiftly climbing my way up, I jump from building to building as I make a beeline to my destination. The thought that my silhouette flying over the heads of civilians may draw some attention excites me. But I shake the thought, I better make my way there before they run out of food and water.

I skid to a halt as I land on the ground, kicking up the dust around me. My tip of my tail swishes as I find my balance. Something is a bit weird though. Even the oh-so-amazing me would get a a bit tired from making a full rooftop sprint from the warehouse to here, but I feel oddly vitalized right now. I shrug, maybe I'm just having a good day. I set aside any thoughts I had as I get to the queue. The staff starts barring entry from other people after they confirm my identity and let me in. Lucky, I barely made it! Don't need to go hungry tonight.

Holding a small paper bag, I step into a small and cramped apartment. I unpack it's contents and start eating. "Tasteless as usual." While I munch on the moist cardboard they call a sandwich, I pull out the padlock that I stole along with a few other prizes I 'permanently borrowed' on the way home. My ears and tail idly flick about as I check my spoils for the day. I prop my cheek up on my hand. "Man, was no one carrying their purses with them today? This is basically nothing." With a sigh, I pull out a strongbox disguised as a brick that's holding up a desk with a short leg. Opening it up, I store my spoils of the day. I keep the padlock in my hand while I flop onto my bed stomach down.

Idly twirling the lump of steel in my finger by the shackle, the faint glimmer of the moonlight shines in from the window and reflects off the lock. "But why go to such effort for a straightforward object such as this?" I ask the world quietly. "Oh well, no point in wondering about it." Tossing the padlock into the air, I catch it and place it down on my table before going to sleep.