Ying

Chapter One, My Starry Sky

"Where are you going," was what broke through my lips as I stretched my arm out to the grey sky. Specs of ash from the fires that burned within the factories rained down upon my face as I witnessed the stars disappear behind the dark clouds. "Will you come back," I whispered once more, my fingers twitching slightly at the disturbing sight of ruin. I was alone at the time, upon a hill that sat directly under the starry sky; however, it wasn't so 'starry' anymore. I clenched my teeth as I watched another aspect of life that I loved so much get ripped away from me, knowing it will never return again. "Why," I yell out, standing up on my small, skinny legs. "Why must you take all that I have, what more do you want from me?" I put my hand to my chest, my body shuddering from the immense emotion that flooded into my heart. 'Why did this corporation, 'Czech', have to come into my life anyway? They stripped away the air, the ocean, the sky, and the planet itself. People only favored them due to the fact that created so many things, so many things that continued to destroy what Earth once was. I understand they created our advanced schools, our enhanced mobile devices, and the robots that ensure our safety, but why does that give them the right to create such an ugly world? I look around now, and all I can take notice to is the glass buildings, the cars, the nonexistent trees, and the futile smell of oil and smoke. I used to love visiting the ocean, I used to love to feel the breeze upon my very face as it pushed through my hair, I used to love looking up at the stars and identifying the constellations. Now, all of that has been taken away from me; I lost all of that, all of which I used to run away from society.' All I wanted to do in those moments were to scream towards the horizon, but I realized all my pain was meaningless. I sat myself down once more, before looking up at the darkened sky that now towered over me as if it were a shadow. Apparently, all that I loved was soon going to wave at me with an almost invisible goodbye. I'll always have to forget and move on... that's the way it will always be. I hugged my legs close to me before putting my hand against the dead grass I sat upon; to be honest, I've never seen what 'green' grass looks like. It's almost as if that color doesn't even exist on this planet anymore.

I stood up from the hill, my sight remaining locked on my feet as I stumbled downward to meet steady ground. 'What time is it,' I asked myself, looking ahead at the tall structures out in the distance. No, those aren't trees, those are the glass buildings I spoke of earlier. I brushed off my pants, sighing lightly as I then began to approach the structure ahead. It was probably time to go home; I swallowed hard, dreading the encounter with my upset parents. Let's just say I wasn't doing the best in school at the time and the reports were just being released to all guardians. Every year it was like that, every year I would fail my parents because I continued to receive 'B's' in all my classes. All of their friends would have their children receiving nothing less than a 'B', while I stood there, being the fault in the crowd. On the contrary, I've never liked school; I see it as something that keeps us from the true world, the world teachers attempt to tell us about. I'm constantly thinking, 'Why can't we just see it for ourselves,' but I've always been too scared to ask.

I continued to walk back home, analyzing the broken nature that surrounded me. I stared across at a pond that was once flooded with fresh water, but it was nothing but a dried up ditch. I looked to the ground I took my steps upon and found no grass grows anymore, it just consisted of dirt and rocks. 'I, a fifteen year-old girl going by the name Ava, already recognized the world around me as bitter and heartless.' I hardly paid attention in class since I often found myself flying off into a world of my total imagination. I dreamt of a world that actually had life, I dreamt of a world where actual respect was shown. Humans treated nature with respect, humans treated one another with respect, and humans especially treated technology with respect. I believe we abuse its capabilities and give it extremely high expectations when put in use. Sometimes, I found myself witnessing the abuse of robots themselves, where their 'owners' actually raised a hand to them. I understand the world I lived in had always been violent, but it had gotten out of hand far too quickly. My world was far better than that... that's why I found myself drifting into it so often. It occupied my 'starry' sky, my calm ocean, and the 'green' color I wished to see.

I kicked a rock as I made my way onto the main road, where it flew into the middle of the street, but was soon taken amidst by the thriving line of cars that went by. My hair flipped with the direction of the cars, showing just how fast they were really going. I looked up to the flashy buildings I call home as I waited for the light to turn the dreadful color, red. Millions of lightened signs shined down on the civilians of the city, horns of cars rang through the thick air, and thousands upon thousands of conversations both started and ended. People continued to walk by me as they chatted or either texted upon their phones; I was the only one who stood their, looking across at these structures as if they were a nightmare. My eyes wide, the colors flashing and crossing my very pupils, and the cars 'zooming' by me. I was frozen, I was frozen at how amazing, yet how horrifying my world was becoming. I had never ventured away from home that far before, so I never actually pictured the city would look like that. To think this was only minimal of the world I lived in, to think there was more of this technology ravishing the world with its addicting entertainment and power. 'How much more of you can there be? Just how much?' This is when the light quickly turned red and all the cars that were approaching came to a halt. I was finally enabled to make my way off the sidewalk, so I took my first step and hurried across as I saw the timer quickly ticking on the holographic sign. When I arrived to the other side, I soon felt the rush of air from passing cars hit me once more. The timer on the holographic sign had just ran out when the tip of my shoe touched the other sidewalk. The drivers within this city seemed to have absolutely no patience when it came to waiting for others to cross the street. However, I couldn't really say that was entirely their fault; on average, a person here works constantly, and is expected to be on time no matter what the costs are. I sighed, putting a hand through my bangs to get them out of my line of sight. The noise was louder than ever now as I came closer and closer to my destination. This part of the city seemed to have the largest percentage of the population, which is strange since it was surprisingly a small area. On the contrary, I didn't really mind all the commotion; somehow, it seemed to replace all of the sick issues going on with the world outside this one. It blocked out the decaying nature that was always on my mind, it blocked out my loses... it blocked out my reality.