Ying

Chapter Two, Take My Hand

I slid and dodged a couple of crowds as I made my way through the overpopulated city; the smell of overwhelming food clouded my nostrils, and the noise of blasting, electric music blanked out my ears. 'God, I hate living in the city... it's always like this, always.' Of course, my attempt at avoiding physical contact with others didn't always work out, I bumped into individuals every once and awhile. An excuse me, or an I'm sorry was simply passed on as if nothing ever happened. Then, there were others who exaggerated the matter, due to the fact they were either intoxicated or an introvert who was afraid of angering anyone. To be honest, I never really said anything in return; not because I didn't enjoy engaging in an indirect conversations, but because I knew I didn't have to put the effort into something that didn't even matter. As I walked on, I did, indeed, stop a couple of times to take a look at some of the ads or commercials displayed on the large, holographic signs. I hated them... no, wait, I despised them. Our humanity was losing themselves in perfection; what was depicted on those signs was not that of reality, but that of a fake human with a body that someone just dreamt up. I cringed at those pictures before turning my shoe to continue on with my way home.

My eyes began hurting actually; the lights and the dramatic flashing were getting to my vision. I had worn glasses for most of my life and this was only one of the couple of times I had left them at home. I enjoyed looking at the things I loved with my real vision and not with some computer that enhanced my vision into imaginative clarity. In this age, in the year 2,993, everything that was actually true about a person could be taken away. No one seems to have carried their own originality, no individual traits that made them unique. Most just looked fake, like a dream to most, but a nightmare to me. I then attempted to shrug off these daunting feelings and ventured on down the narrow streets of the area, my line of sight not staying still for one moment. Everything was catching my attention; everything I saw move, glow, run, talk, would simply lock on with me. However, when I was very close to home, I spotted a young girl, curled up against an overflowed dumpster on the side of the street. I stopped in my tracks, just staring at her as if she was just some strange alien from a different planet. She looked so worn, so tired, and so scared. She huddled against the dumpster even more when she saw I had noticed her presence. 'Is she scared,' I thought to myself, taking only a baby-step forward to get a closer look at her. The young girl had big eyes and dark, chestnut-colored hair; her body was skinny and frail, while her skin was as white as snow. "Hello," I called out in a quiet voice, "What's your name?"

"Don't come near me," she whispered, her feet sliding against the ground as she attempted to back away from me even more. "You're just going to report me to 'Czech' like the rest of my family," the young girl exclaimed in a saddened voice.

"What do you mean 'report' you," I asked, confused. I had no knowledge of what 'Czech' was doing at the time, so I could only get my answers from this poor girl.

"You know, all of you 'people' know! You'll just report me and let me get taken away like the rest of my family! I have absolutely no knowledge of their fate, which sickens me. Did they just take them away for their own torture, their own tragedy," she asked me this as if I had the answers... sadly, I did not.

"I'm sorry, but," I paused, thinking of a way to answer, "I have no clue of what's happened to your family. I'm only a student, probably around your age." The girl looked away from me for a moment, her gaze emotionless as she continued to lose all sense of hope. 'I have to help her,' I thought, curling my hands into fists.

"S-So, would you like anything to eat," I looked over at a fast-food store that was quite close to our destination. I knew I could buy her some food there, since I had always carried a bit of money with me. However, I didn't really carry it for any special reason, it was just for, if I had gotten lost, I would have hopped onto a bus and asked them to drive me home. The young girl said nothing to me for a few moments, as I stood there, hoping she would accept my offer.

"Who... are you," she asked, looking up at me with questionable eyes. My thoughts blanked out for a second as I tried to come up with a response. 'What type of question is that? All I asked was if she wanted to eat a little something,' I thought, looking at her straight in the eyes.

"I'm a friend," I finally responded, feeling confident in my answer. I lent her my hand, my eyes still making contact with hers. I wanted her to trust me, I wanted her to take me as her new friend. I was hoping my words were strong enough, deep enough, and trusting enough. The young girl looked at me, as if she was analyzing me, in a way. On the contrary, to my surprise, she smiled an extremely warm smile, almost crying at the thought of gaining someone she could trust. I'm guessing she sensed a friendly vibe from me, but I've never been able to explain exactly why she took my helping hand.

"Really," she asked, taking my hand. I helped her up from the ground and watched as she brushed herself off. My eyes locked on her again as I could see her a bit more clearly now; her eyes were a bright green and her body was lanky and long. Even though she was the same height as me, she looked to be a bit taller because of how slim she was. Her hair was very long, to the point it actually went a little past her hips. My hair, on the other hand, only went a bit past my shoulders and was a light brown. Overall, her and I looked extremely different, which made me take an even stronger liking to her.

"Yes, really; come on, follow me," I turned my back to her, hoping she would follow and walked over to the fast-food store. I stopped at the door and turned back at her, a smile coming across my face as I saw she was still there. "What do you think you would like," I asked, taking out a twenty dollar bill.

She paused, looking through the window of the store. "I think I'll get... a cheese burger," she exclaimed, actually excited. I laughed at her answer, loving the fact her mind was off the depressing subject of her family for even a little while.

"Anything else? You could get some fries, a milkshake, anything like that." Her eyes brightened when she heard the word 'milkshake', which made me want to laugh again.

"A 'milkshake'? Isn't that like... ice cream or something," she asked, looking at me as if she's never heard the word 'milkshake'.

"Yes; it's basically soft serve ice cream in a cup. I'm guessing you would like to try some, " I asked, a funny smirk going across my face. She nodded her head in an excited fashion, making it clear it was a definite yes. I smiled once more, opening the door of the fast-food store, "Stay here, I'll be out in a minute." As I walked in, the smell of fried food clouded all of my senses. I made my way to the cashier and began making the order, "I would like one cheese burger and a large milkshake." It was a simple task, but talking to an adult always made me feel intimidated somehow.

"That will be twelve dollars, miss," the cashier stated, as his hand slid across the holographic screen directly in front of him. I handed him my twenty dollar bill and watched him as he took out the change. After a moment, he walked off towards a robot that was standing near one of the fryers. His voice was muffled, because of all the bubbling and the other unpleasant noises occurring in the store, but I could tell by the way his mouth was moving that he was giving my order to the robot. Before I knew it, the robot was off creating the burger in a flash of light, as if nothing ever even happened. 'We do nothing anymore,' I thought, as I looked back at the window to make sure my new friend was still there. She continued to stand there and soon noticed I was looking at her; she waved at me with a happy smile and watched as I waited for her order. 'Well... I guess I can't say that. I mean, we make friends... don't we?'