One gloved hand lifted towards my face, a single finger curling under my chin and dragging my gaze back to his. Once again, I found myself sucked into those silver swirls. The color appearing to absorb the shades they took in. Blues, pinks, even a s...
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"Here."
The small stack of cash was shoved into my hands. Even without counting it, I knew it was much less than what we had initially agreed upon when I offered to help him clean his store. Just to be sure though, I quickly added it up.
"This isn't even half of what you told me you'd give me."
"It's more than I should be giving away already. Sorry lady, we're all struggling to get by around here. I got my own family to feed."
The man waved me off, clearly fed up with my presence and just wanting me out. Part of me wanted to argue, the colorful words I had for him on the tip of my tongue until the bell above the front door chimed announcing someone's arrival. He turned his attention from me, greeting the customer warmly and rounding the counter intent on securing a sale as he appealed to the older couple slowly making their way towards me. Sighing defeatedly, I opted to cut my losses, stowing the meager pay I'd accumulated into my pocket.
The store owner and couple hardly paid me any mind as I skirted past them, donning the hood of my coat to semi-protect myself from the rain. Another gloomy day to serve as a direct representation of how I felt on the inside. Not that there was much to bring happiness these days anyway. The world was going to shit, hardly anyone could afford to live, the lack of money forced people to take out more loans they were unable to pay, and our planet was dying. What a time to be alive.
I was simply one of millions just trying to survive. My only concern being how to get by day to day. My eyes scanned a sheet of paper that had been plastered to one of dozens of storefronts as I passed by. The key to our salvation lies with them, it read. I shook my head, pushing my fists a little deeper into my pockets. The number of people who spent their days printing and handing out those fliers always baffled me. I didn't have time to waste on other's problems, let alone how to save this wretched world. It was a wonder so many other people thought differently.
"Rejoice! For they have brought with them a solution!" I jumped at the sudden shout.
The woman in front of me smiled as if she were truly happy to have run into me. Completely unperturbed by the torrential downpour around us as she had taken shelter under a nearby awning I was passing. One arm filled with the same fliers pasted all over the street, the other urging me to take one of them for myself.
"God has forsaken us, and they have taken it upon themselves to answer our desperate plea for help in His stead. The Draas are our future now and we should repay them accordingly."
I tried to hide my grimace at the implications of her words. The Draas were a dying race of extraterrestrials. Supposedly one of many out there. The day we came to know of their existence, they had offered to help us in restoring our planet. Bring it back from the brink of destruction. And in a way, they have. At least for those who could afford it. In the beginning, most of the world was looking forward to all our problems being solved quickly. Famine, lack of clean and available water, shelter. The Draas had an affinity for the elements. Their very ancestors having claimed to be derived from nature itself.
