Odyssey of the City of Lights

Odyssey of the City of Lights - Book 1 - Chapter 4

I hesitated for a brief second, feeling guilty for imposing on my friend. Part of me wanted to just camp out in the city or find a place similar to the out-of-towners shelter in my village. But I didn't want to walk another 30 miles tomorrow. Plus, this way, I wouldn't have to go door to door till I found Aaron's house. This would make my day easier. Plus, he offered.

I nodded. "Yes, please."

Aaron smiled and waved for me to come. "Hop in. We got a bit more to drive. I bet you're tired."

I shook my head. "Not really. I just don't want to... I'm kinda scared to... walk... in the dark."

As I walked up to the door opposite Aaron, I couldn't figure out how to open it. The tractors we had back home would just pop open when you pulled the door. Or you could climb over. I knocked on the window and looked inside. Aaron laughed, leaned over, and said, "I'll show you how the handles work later. My leg is almost out of juice, so I'm saving the power to make it to my car and not plug it into an external battery. I have the wireless charger in my car, but my boss is..." He glanced at something. "He's a good boss, but he doesn't want to spend the money to install disability equipment that isn't on the list."

I climbed into the seat and nodded. "I have no idea what that means."

The truck backed out slowly, and as we made our way towards the exit of the rest area, I couldn't help but notice how much more comfortable the seat was compared to the tractor back home. It was even more comfortable than the cars we had. As we approached a stop sign, the truck came to a near halt, and suddenly, something beeped.

"Oh, shove it and shut up!" Aaron grumbled, clearly annoyed.

"Excuse me?" I asked, feeling offended and confused.

Aaron laughed and waved a hand dismissively. "Not you, Eli. The... wonderful monitoring device my boss installed."

I raised an eyebrow, still not understanding, but decided not to press the issue. Instead, I turned my attention to the window and realized just how fast we were moving. Faster than I could ever have imagined. As we drove onto the bridge, I was captivated by the breathtaking view of the river and the cliffs. The sky was a beautiful twilight hue, though the stars didn't seem quite ready to make their appearance.

When the bridge ended, I looked over at Aaron. "This is amazing, and we're going so crazy fast!"

He snickered and pointed out the front window. "You ain't seen nothing yet."

I watched as we started driving up a hill, feeling the truck slow down slightly. My jaw dropped as we crested the hill, revealing an unimaginable sight: lights and buildings so vast that I couldn't begin to comprehend their size. These buildings—skyscrapers, really—were at least ten times taller than the tallest structures in my village. They were clustered together with smaller buildings and houses interspersed between them. Parks with ponds and lakes filled the spaces in between, and orbs of light floated around like mini-moons, illuminating various areas. We continued driving through fields similar to those back home as we got closer and closer to the city.

Aaron's laughter snapped me back to reality. "I'm so happy I got that on camera. This is your first time seeing a 'modern' city, right?"

I nodded, suddenly aware that my mouth was still hanging open. "Got on camera? What do you mean?"

He pointed to a small television showing what was going on behind the truck. Below it was a small black circle. "It's part of the dash-cam system. It shows what's happening in the truck as well as in the front, sides, and back. Boss sprung for the better system there... Anyway, I'll show you at home."