The shortest street in Capital City, only a hundred and twenty meters long, was not only referred to as Short Street – it was also its official name. It was located in the very center of the city. It connected Cypress Avenue and Olive Avenue, in the part where the two streets were closest to each other. This is why Short Street was always full of pedestrians and cars.
It was also narrow. It only had one lane going in either direction. The sidewalks were not very wide either. The few restaurants and cafes could only put two small tables outside.
Shops selling the most exclusive and most expensive were the norm on Short Street. Anyone who bought anything in any of the shops on Short Street could be certain of seeing envy in the eyes of people they knew. This is why Prince Kaella kept the highest price of rent in all of Capital City for offices on Short Street.
Short Street also had another characteristic. Motorcades carrying important individuals from the State or the Company very often took it, in order to shorten their route, and therefore the time that they were exposed to potential attacks. It was not always required to cheer and wave these motorcades and the important individuals in them. Only on State Day, on Company Day and of course on the birthdays of Mr. Kaella and his son Prince. Of course, there were exceptions. Today was such an exception, due to the electoral speech. It was necessary to wave to President Xing’s motorcade.
Short Street was ideal for this purpose. The television crew needed only one crane to shoot the crowd of excited admirers which looked even larger in this small space, with wide and sincere smiles, children on their fathers’ shoulders waving balloons painted like the planet Earth, two young people happily handing hands, a grandpa holding his arm around grandma’s shoulder, while the love for the important individual sparkled in her old wise eyes. And of course, unavoidably, in a space specially cordoned off for them in the middle of Short Street – the pupils from one of the elementary schools.
YOU ARE READING
The Grasshopper
Science FictionImagine living in a world where Consumerism is the constitutional order, and where the Inspectorate is in charge of destroying goods whose season has passed, so as to maintain the Balance. In this world you can survive only if you work and buy goods...
