...
Earth's population have reached the trillions, forcing mankind to fit themselves in the remaining spaces of the planet. They have used the underground and the skies for agriculture, housing, roads, parking lots and other establishments. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
Blu was a seven-year-old boy living in a shoebox apartment with his grandmother when he learned the value of space. He dreamed of being so rich that he can have one hectare of space all to himself and his grandmother. He would often ask strangers at supermarkets, "Why don't we create more bills enough for everyone? So everyone can be rich?"
His questions had always been left unanswered. The adults are too busy living their own lives to spare a glance at a curious child. While his grandmother shoplifts, he would talk to random people.
Even so, Blu didn't stop asking the same questions.
Until the day came. Someone finally answered his question. She wasn't an adult or a kid like him. She doesn't walk and she wore colorful clothes. But the most intriguing part of her was that she was floating.
"Wow, are you a genie?"
The girl flipped her pink hair and drew nearer to him. "Creating bills requires money. So, that's why everyone can't be rich."
"Is that so?" Blu pouted.
"Yes, but I know a place where space is infinite! Do you want to go with me?"
The boy glanced at his grandmother who was limping between rows filled with instant noodles. "How about grandma?"
"She will be picked up by a friend. I can only take one person at a time."
Blu flashed his incomplete teeth. "I'm going."
The girl stretched out her hand and the kid grabbed it, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
It was then.
Blu watched as his feet left the ground. He's now floating like her. "I'm flying!" The boy giggled.
They flew to the ceiling and pass through it as though they are ghosts. They glide through the sky like eagles, free and unbounded by the limits of their physical bodies.
They played among the gray and sad clouds, flying anywhere they wanted. It was a liberating and out of this world experience for a boy like Blu.
"There's plenty of space here!"
"Do you want to see more space?" The girl's eyebrows wriggled.
Blu nodded expectantly. He wasn't even questioning how suspicious the situation he was in. How can a human fly?
He held on the girl's hand and they flew upwards, higher than his eyes could reach.
The next thing he knew, he was floating in a dark place, where he can see the stars even though he's pretty sure it's still daytime.
He looked at his back and saw a giant ball. It was gray but when he turned to another direction, he saw the sun.
"Where are we?"
"This is space."
"All of this is space?"
"Yes."
"Is it infinite?"
"Yes."
The girl's smile didn't falter even with his questions. His grandmother would beat him if he talked too much.
"Why did you take me here?"
"To make your dreams come true."
"Why would you do that?"
"'Cause you're dead." She messed his hair and for the first time, her smile was gone. "A poor boy who died out of hunger."
YOU ARE READING
Why Fiction? (Short Stories Compilation)
Acak'Cause magic don't exist in real life.
