Slum

one~Little Did You Know

Chapter One
Little Did You Know
A few weeks ago, the Governers decided there were to many people in the city of Hakket. The streets were constantly jammed and the houses and apartments were not accommodating as many people as their were in the territory. Hakket's territory wasn't big, in fact the populous cities size was the third smallest territory, out of all 8 in the country. The government needed a permanent solution to the temporary problem, so they came up with what is now simply called the "Census Movement Act". The simple idea of this act is to reduce the population of Hakket. Nobody knew how they planned on decreasing the numbers, all they knew was it was going to be dramatic. About a week ago, they posted a decree that there would be a ceremony were they would announce the changes. People were calling this the issuing. Rumour has it that names are gonna be drawn and the chosen are going to be moved to the biggest territory, Vashter, which is also our countries Capital. Their are multiple scenarios going around about what is going to happen, some completely ridiculous but some plausible.

Our population is split into three groups, the Governor's, the Wealthy and the Slums. The names being pretty self explanatory, you have to fall into one of the groups. The most desirable category is the Wealthy. Having money puts you in a good place in Hakket, you will have running water, you will have a car, you will have food, you will live in a proper house with your family and your children. The Slums are the people that have nothing, or next to nothing. Most scrape by with a small, damp apartment shared with at least three other people. These are the luckiest of the slums. The few with no apartment to live in, due to the population problem, no food, no warmth, they are the starving people who line the streets on their side of the border, begging for food that the wealthy gladly give, but of course never in person, because no Wealthy should ever go to the disgusting filthy Slums. The Wealthys mainly give food just to brag that they have food to give away. The Governor's are probably placed in the ranks somewhere between the slums and the wealthy. Laiden with responsibility, they spend hours on end trying to make Hakket a better place. They are the ones who make all the laws and are telling us about the solution to the population problem in a week's time.

I am a Wealthy. My life is good. I work, I hang out with my friends, I give food to the Slums, but not for the reasons that the others do, I seriously want to help them. I don't think it's fair that they were born into this poverty, and have no choice out of it. One of the Governor's first rules; you stay in the group you were born into. For the Slums it means no chance to work. The lucky are granted with food from the Governor's, but the homeless ones aren't, and have to scrape by themselves. I do all I can to help. Every Saturday afternoon, I volunteer at a children's hospital, and help the other kind hearted Wealthy's that chose to become doctors, look after injured and abused little children.

My name is Flo. I was born into the Wealthy 19 and a half years ago, and already my name is known all around the territory. For good things or bad I don't necessarily know. I've done some bad things in my time, but they are only bad according to the Governor's messed up idea of the society. In Hakket, its against the law and punishable by three years in prison to talk to a Wealthy without them talking to you first. Some of these rules are completely daft and over dramatic.

I live in a nice house, almost on the border of the Slums and the Wealthy. I live in luxury, but each day when I rise in the morning, I am sickened to my stomach, with what I see happening across the border. Some of the Wealthy take up jobs as the police force to the Slums, and are much harsher than they need to be. Constantly punishing people and killing them for doing the simplest things wrong; accidentally talking to this person or mistakenly taking something that's not thiers. If I had my way, the world would be much simpler and kinder than this. Their would be no hierarchy, everyone would be the same class. The poorer kids would have a chance to go to schools and also the parents would be allowed to work, to provide for their kids. As I mentioned earlier, my name is already known by many of the Governors and the Wealthys, mainly because I started a Charity when I turned 18. It was meant to simply help one or two of the struggling families across the border, but it has turned into so much more. Enabling the Wealthy's to give anonymous donations to the charity, we get almost 200 donations a week, all of large sums of money. When I say we, I mean my team. Paisley, Jemma, Alex, Finley and me, Flo. Our team of three girls and two boys are generously trying to make the side across the border a better place.