Project 447

The river

Sam's POV (4:00 AM)

Waking up. What a horrible and wonderful beginning.

 "Sam! Time for school, luv!" My mum exclaimed up the apartment hallway. I slid out of bed and yawned as I stretched out my arms, "Yeaaaaawwwwwwh." I slipped off my pajamas and grabbed my school uniform out of my dresser. After I got them on, I started down the hall to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and used the facilities. "Honey, it's four fifteen! You've got fifteen minutes until you need to leave!" Mum yelled. "Ok, Mum! I'm almost ready!" I shot back, putting my shoes on.

As the next ten minutes passed I finished my morning routine. I fixed up my hair and grabbed my bag. Then, with a satisfied grin of closure, I grabbed my phone and left for the door. I strolled down the hall, through the living room and kitchen, then arrived at the apartment door.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Mum said as I opened the door, apparently alerting her of my intentions to leave already. I turned around to see Mum standing with a puzzling facial expression. She stood near the refrigerator and held up a small brown bag. "You have to eat," She said with a concerned tone and the raise of an eyebrow. I sluggishly walked over and took the brown bag. After putting it in my backpack, Mum gave me a hug and said, "Have a good day, my darling. And, please, be careful." Mum was the only one who I allowed to hug me. I was never one to be fond of physical affection or touching of any sort, but Mum always felt better when she hugged me, so I allowed it. Ending the hug, I separated myself from her and, with a final "I luv you, Mum", slipped out the door.

Our apartment was fairly uniform to those commonly found in our sector. Which if you were curious was the part of Meliacos City section known as the industrial villages. It was primarily made up of clusters of apartments and small local restaurants and shops. This was where my Mother and I, along with the rest of the upper middle class, resided.

The apartment building we lived in was shaped like a metal tree. When you wanted to leave your apartment, you would push a button which would alert the system that you wanted to leave. When it came to your apartment, the branch which it laid on would rotate so that the door was facing inwards toward the center piece of the building. Then the door would be unlocked and the safety rail would engage on the cat walk which led to the centerpiece. Once you got to here, you would step onto a one person elevator which would transport you to the bottom. Once you reached the bottom, the elevator would open and you would be free to leave the building.

Sam was always fascinated by the architecture of the building. She had a love for all things that were built and would often design blueprints in her spare time. She was even studying in school to become an architect.

Sam sighed as she stepped off the elevator into the fresh air of the villages. Her school was only a few miles but she could not get there fast enough on foot. Instead, she used what is commonly known among the middle class as 'the river'. A massive bullet train system that spread throughout the industrial villages. They could take you anywhere you needed to go. But tickets were expensive and so many people thought of them as a waste of resources as they could not afford to use them. They used to go through the whole city before the separation and polarization of the classes. Mum tells me that they still run in the xorminian section, but that they were cut off and no longer connect to the lower parts of Meliacos. The river also led through the whole slums, but a few years back there was an attempt to overthrow the UTN made by a militia of rhens and slunir. The Upper city cut off the river to starve out the rebellion. They soon surrendered when they had run out of food and other resources. As a punishment for the uprising, the slums were split into two sections, the upper garbage slums and the lower garbage slums. The lower garbage slums were forced deep into a ravine where sunlight is barely able to shine through, and the upper garbage slums were placed under martial law. Both of them are now truly depressing places to visit, much less live. Yet many are unable to ever leave and spend their entire lives as rhens (the people of the upper slums) and slunir (the people of the lower slums).