Nightcrawler (MOMO X SANA)

2. Aspire

Momo reached home late at night. She went straight to the television and turned it on. She began to flick through the channel one by one until she found what she was looking for.

" There were reports of a major fire on one of the expressways downtown tonight. Annie Anderson, a 32 year old woman, was driving her Mercedes when suddenly her engine caught fire. As you can see in the video provided by cameramen, two brave police officers are attending to her and have successfully saved her from what could be a tragedy..."

She flicked off the television and sat silent, thoughts running in her mind. What better career than to be a camerawoman for crime journalism? Her work will be noticed and it could be easy money, assuming if her work will be noticed at all. No, she could learn, she has to. Perhaps, she could have found a career that she was passionate about.

The next day, Momo headed to the beach near her home. As usual, there were many people enjoying themselves. It was always bustling with activity. People were swimming, have picnics, riding their bikes... Nobody ever seemed out of place.

Bikes. She remembered what she was here for.

Standing up from the bottom of a tree, she took a deep breath and dusted herself. She looked to her right and saw a teenager leaving his bicycle on the grass before racing off to meet his friends.

Fifteen minutes later, she was at a bicycle shop.

" This is a custom racing bicycle sir. Designed for competitive road racing. This bike has a light-weight, space age carbon frame and handlebars positioned to put the rider in a more aerodynamic posture. It also has micro-shifters and 37 gears, and weighs under 6 pounds."

"800 is as far as I can go," The owner of the store replied.

" I got this for 8000 new"

"850"

"5000"

"900"

"2000"

"That was my highest price"

" Can I have 1000 in store credit? "

" What exactly after you after?"

"A camcorder and a police scanner." Momo said and smiled.

Later that night, Momo bought the gear she required to begin her work. She wondered what the first crime would be. She just hoped that it would be something that would provide a stepping stone for her in this line of work.

" We have two cars crashed on Anton street. I repeat, two crashed cars on Anton street. Can officers on duty report to the scene immediately."

Momo jerked her head up in interest. This was her big chance. She stepped on the accelerator and drove off at a high speed. She was oblivious that she was soon going over the speed limit but that did not matter one bit. Her car zipped past other vehicles as she expertly navigated her way through the dark streets and at last, she arrived at the scene.

There were already police officers and paramedics at the scene and she immediately opened her camcorder. Stepping forward, she lifted her camera up and started filming. She walked closer and closer until...

" What the hell do you think you are doing!!??" A police officer stepped into her line of view.

" Im sorry sir. Im filming!"

"For what?"

"Television!"

" What are you filming?"

"I... I dont know? Whats happening?"

"Get out of here before we arrest you for obstruction."

" I do believe that what im doing is legal sir. Im trying to do my job"

"Do you think Im playing with you?"
He advanced menacingly and Momo knew she had to retreat. She hastily turned around and headed back to her car. There goes her first opportunity! How would she improve? She was convinced of her ability to be successful in this career. No, she could not give up now. She must never give up. Failure is the mother of success and Momo knew that she will eventually find that success. It will take time and she was willing to be patient.

Driving home, she racked her brain for ideas.

She stepped inside her home and switched on the light. There was not much in her apartment. A sofa, a bedroom, a television, a bathroom and her laptop was all she had. There were no decorations on her wall. It was completely white. Her plain, solidary and quiet lifestyle could be reflected in this room.

Momo switched on her computer and googled for the different police " numbers" that the local police uses in occurrences of crimes. She scanned through each one of them and realized that these numbers represented different types of crimes like homicide, home invasion, car crashes, fires and etc. She spent the next few hours committing as much as she can to memory.

The sun was up all too soon. Momo realized she fell asleep on her table. Stretching, she yawned and rubbed her eyes. She stepped into her bathroom to brush her teeth but before she did that, she tested herself on the information she memorised yesterday night. To her happiness and relief, she managed to remember almost all of it. It was time to move on to her next step. Smiling once again, she headed to her table and switched her laptop on.