Imagination City

The woman sat on the rocking chair that was overlooking the vast fields of green. She watched as her young daughter of 12 years, along with her ginger tabby cat, chased around the chestnut squirrels. The squirrels had scurried across the endless road beside their undersized home as the woman's daughter diverted her attention towards the infinite horizon. The sun was setting, painting the skies with warm and vibrant colours. The little girl's dark brown hair flowed in the wind as her body was facing the sunset. The woman followed her daughter's deep brown eyes, which were directed towards the black silhouettes of city buildings and factories. When she saw the shadows of the buildings, she was reminded of her years in the city and the isolation she had felt in that place. Her life there looked seemingly perfect. She had a pleasant-looking marriage, a fine home, seemingly supportive friends and family, and an abundance of riches. Yet she knew that even before this ideal façade had collapsed, she did not belong there. In fact, she knew how much the people in the city disliked her. The people who did not know her personally were envious of her "perfect" life and the people who did know her personally despised her every being, including her ex-husband, who she had suspected to have married her because he was either forced to marry her or he had pitied her. When she had finally thought the detestation of the people was too much of a burden for her, she and her daughter moved as far away from the city as possible. Not too close that people who lived in the city could be able to contact her and not too far that the isolation would endanger her daughter's life. So with her remaining belongings and her daughter, they fled to the countryside where she hoped she could put her mind at ease. Yet she could still feel their judgments and hatred haunting her in her sleep.

When the sun had finally disappeared and the half moon had risen, the mother and daughter were sitting on the dinner table. Silence ensued and only the sounds of crunching and clinking silverware filled their ears. The mother attempted to break the silence. She asked her, "So, sweetie, how are you today?" "Good, I guess...," The daughter replied in an enervated manner. The attempt was a failure, but not a complete failure at that. The daughter had built up the confidence to ask her mother, "Hey Mom, have you seen the city before?" The mother was baffled when her daughter asked the question. "Yes I did. I lived there, remember?" "I know that, but you never told me why you left in the first place." A switch was being pulled when the mother heard her daughter's reply. She felt pain growing in her chest. But she responded, "It's a personal issue, sweetie. You don't need to know right now." "But we never go to the city," The daughter responded. The pain in the mother's chest began to spread to her head but she continued to push her reasons towards her daughter. "The city is filled with smoke. It's hard to breathe and it wouldn't be good for your health especially after you've been so used to the air here." The daughter was impatient for an answer and retaliated, "But you always keep telling me that Dad will come when I was little, and he never did. You keep on saying how he's too busy working in the city so he has almost no time to see us. Why didn't we even bother to visit him? Was it because of Dad we left the city?" The mother had finally snapped. "We left because the city doesn't like people like us! They hate us and they always talk about you badly! You can't even be yourself there. When they think you're not one of them, they'll bring you down. They brought me down, and I don't want them to bring you down. They're evil people!" Tears began to drip on the sides of her red face. Her hands trembled and her pupils dilated in misery. The daughter tried to rush to her side and comfort her but her mother forced herself up. She grabbed her plate and looked at her daughter straight in her eyes and said to her, "They're evil. The people there are going to bring you down. That's why I don't want you to go the city." The mother walked to the kitchen and her daughter went to her bedroom.

The daughter never knew what her mother had experienced when she lived in the city by the horizon. She had little to no memory of her months as a baby in the city. The only memory she had of the city are pictures of her mother and father that her mother showed her when she was a toddler since she would constantly ask her mother about her father, but sometimes her mother would repeat stories and the stories told little of the city's so-called "true" nature. Since then, everyday she would stare at the city and its tall skyscrapers, wondering if the description her mom gave of the city and its people really matched the city she saw from her secluded home. Though she enjoyed the fresh air and endless forestry, she had always wanted to go to the city. If she could go even for just one day, it would be enough time for her to find answers to her questions and hopefully enough time to find her dad. She woke up in the middle of the night from an uncomfortable sleep, took the photograph of her dad that she found in one of her mother's drawers, and lied back down on her bed. She snuck it out of her mother's drawer days before but never had a proper look at the picture. She took off the silver frame that was protecting the photograph and felt the slick front from her thumbs. She stares at her smiling father and felt the smooth back of the picture. She looked at photograph in the light of the night lamp and noticed writing on the back. She flipped it around and saw an address written on it. Is this Dad's address on the back?, she wondered. Only one way to find out. She got out of her bed and began to pack items inside her backpack, but stopped and thought about something: Would this be the right thing to do? She feared that she would get lost finding the city and she worried her mother would panic after finding out that her daughter mysteriously disappeared. Still it was just for one day, and she would be back by the next day. The journey to the city does not take long by bike so she was very reachable. Not only that, the journey would most likely help her find the answers to her questions. Selfish as it sounded, if her questions were answered, it could help her see the city in a different light. Her impatience had reached its peak, and with that she finished packing and took the photograph with the address on the back. She left a note for her mother that said, "Hey Mom, I'll be back by tonight or tomorrow. Either way, I'll return home safely. I just went to get some things. I'll try and contact you through the telephone booth. Sincerely, Your loving daughter." Since she lived in a secluded area, technology was limited to telephones, TVs and radios so she figured the best way to notify her mom was through a note. After putting the note on the counter, she cracked open a window, grabbed her bike, and rode off to the distant road ahead.