⋆｡ recommended song - wires by the neighbourhood ⋆୨୧˚
Maia
"3 for the price of 2!"
"Fresh melon straight from Sweden!"
"Find out more about the new school system in this week's news!"
Heat burst into her face. The marketplace was chaotic; bustling with people eager to finish the day's tasks before it got too hot.
Vibrant cloths hung off racks and vegetables of all sorts decorated the tattered, worn out wagons. Bright lights were scattered on the ceiling, outlining long metal columns that ran from each end of the building.
This is where she thrived. Where she could get lost in the crowd, and no one would go looking for her.
Where she could never get bored, twisting in and out of the carts, and into quieter, secluded corners.
Where there were a million faces; a million untold stories from people she would never know.
Maia snaked through the crowd, her eyes scanning it. Looking for someone that stood out, someone who was lost amidst the chaos.
There.
In the far corner, a woman was leaning over a wagon, admiring the carved wooden sculptures on it. A silk-like dress flowed off her lean body, and her wrists were decorated with chunky, bright jewellery that caught the glow of the lights above.
She wouldn't miss a couple coins.
Suddenly, Maia picked up her pace and prepared herself for the embarrassment she was about to endure. And then she tripped, slamming into the lady's arm.
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Maia purposefully stumbled over her words as she reached into the young woman's pocket, feeling around for the familiar metal rust of gold.
"Are you okay? I'm so clumsy." She continued rambling, grabbing a hold of something metallic and cold.
"What is wrong with people like you? Useless girl." The lady grumbled, her voice thick with a posh, southern accent, before jumping back away from her.
"People like me?"
"Yes. From outside the walls. I mean, it's a wonder the government hasn't done anything about this yet. How did you even get in here?" Disgust dripped off her words.
Patting down her dress, the lady looked up and instantly sneered. "Just look at the state of you, you vile creature."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"Oh I get it. You're one of those people. You hypocrites spend all day drinking your tea and eating your biscuits in your nice and warm homes. You go on and on about how we must 'all join together to save the needy children' yet when you actually come across the 'needy', you can't bear to be within five feet of them, let alone look at them in the face. And I'M the creature here? Genuinely, you're such a stuck-up, spoilt, snobby bi-"
"Maia!" A familiar voice shouted from somewhere behind her. It wasn't long till someone was pulling her away from the crowd that was already forming.
Shit. Not again.
A tangled strand of hair flew into Maia's face as she spun to face two hazel eyes glaring at her.
"Hey Ariah. How are you? It's been so long since we-"
"Girl, don't even try that with me. How many times am I gonna have to pull you away from these situations?" Ariah guided her away, and out into the blazing heat.
"I'm sorry, Ari." Maia followed her back towards the tunnels. "I'm just sick of this. It's not my fault I wasn't born into fucking royalty."
Even before they were finished, the walls became a symbol of the wealthy.
In theory, they had been a great idea. Tall, stone walls that ran across the border of Zone 3, protecting everyone from floods or bandits, and keeping the paradise formed in their heads safe from the outside problems.
In a matter of weeks, they had made Zone 3 one of the wealthiest and most populated zones in the entire continent. However, only a certain number of people can fit in an enclosed space.
As the threat of war and destruction loomed over the Zones, the government made a decision that still haunted Maia to this day. Kick out all the homeless, poor and ill people out of Zone 3 and move them outside of the walls. To where they weren't BOTE's problem anymore.
At first, everyone approved. It was a way of 'improving' life and focusing on those less fortunates, singling them away from everything.
However, as time went on, the need for change grew less and less, to the point that her people had been forgotten.
Discarded. Just like that.
"It'll get better, honestly." Ari responded, but her empty promise bounced off the barren walls. They both knew it wouldn't. That it was pointless to even hope.
"You have to stop starting fights with other people though. She was just concerned for you."
"She can stick her condolences up her nonexistent ass." Maia muttered back.
"Maia!"
"What?" She grumbled, having had enough of this conversation.
"Focus on what you need to do. Don't get caught up in all of this. Not again. You can't afford that right now. We can't afford that right now. You know that." Ariah whispered.
"Yeah, I know. I'm trying, I really am."
"It's alright. I know." Her eyes softened slightly, glimmering as they exited into the sun. "Enough of this depressing shit. Did you find anything today?"
Maia reached into her pocket and pulled out the rusting metal. A pendant. All that for a small chain and moon-shaped picture frame that she couldn't even sell because of the water damage?
Wow. The stars were out for her today.
"She's gorgeous. I'd die for her hair." Ariah mumbled. Maia followed her stunned gaze down to the photo, its edges crinkled and torn.
A girl's sparkling green eyes stared back at her, long, red curls framing her face. Freckles dotted her scrunched up nose as she laughed.
She looked like a real life princess, ones Maia had only heard about in stories her mum used to recall reading.
However, that wasn't part that had her attention. The girl stood in front of an arch with the words 'HERE'S TO 2010'.
"I wonder who she is." she glanced back to Ariah. "I mean, 2010? That was before everything."
Would she have known what was coming? That the world she lived in would be torn apart. That the people she believed in, that she trusted, might turn their backs on her. Would she even be-
"Maia look out!"
Before she could register Ariah's words, she came face to face with two eyes burning into hers.
"We have got to stop meeting like this."
word count: 1015
edited: no
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fallen stars
Dla nastolatków"It was never meant to turn out this way." she whispered into the darkness, to anyone who was listening. It's been 2 years since her world ended. Since those bells rang out, echoing through the streets. 5 years since everything was shut down. 1 year...
