DELERIUM

Saturday

5:00 AM: Anticipating the unknown is always more fun than finding out what the mystery is. What began with so much optimism ended in disillusionment. If what happened to her had happened back home, it would have been on the evening news. Hell, come to think of it everything here would be on the evening news. Depending on your nationality and job tittle it was either a brave new world or the zombie apocalypse. The place was akin to an amusement park, except if you were not an attendee you were part of the attraction and the rides never closed. Maybe that's why she thought she was special. She rarely heard the word no.

The expatriate different from all the rest. Cooler, calmer, more open-minded than any that came before. Approaching her 6th year here she couldn't tell if she was lucky or desperate.

The lucky ones were the ones unbeknownst to them hit the jackpot. Individuals barely qualified to touch a fax machine making a fortune.

The desperate ones were the ones that cannot leave. Ironically, they are enabled to thrive by the locals they detest, because for them "expat" equals the best of the best. When it's in fact code for the worst of the worst.

She came her to reset. Not to get paid an ungodly amount of money to teach English as a second language to a bunch of teenagers who could care less. Truth be told after the first year she was reset. After the second she was reenergized and ready to go. It would've been one thing to have a plan and not have it fall through. It was a whole other thing to not to have even tried to formulate a plan at all. She has never even looked into leaving her magic treehouse.

Why?

Because some part of her believed she is one of the lucky ones. Some part of her still believes, after 5 years, it would all work out. Hannah has always been in it to win it. This is why when she first met him, she believed everything was working out exactly as it was supposed to. And it was, just not in her favour.

What made her think she was special enough to act and dress like everyone else but not count as everyone else. Worse, why did she think he would see her differently. Aside from his money, which was only heightened because of her unfamiliarity, there was nothing special about him either. In fact. She never would've noticed him if there anywhere else but here.

Maybe it was a fetish. "No," "Yes," "Open the door," "Don't leave," in his mind, she was akin to a dog.

Every day that passes by here is another day wasted. A nut-less monkey could do their job. And soon they would. In a few years, the locals will be educated enough to get her job themselves forcing her to go home demotivated, deskilled and spoiled. They were here to buy

the time. Hannah believed her service was worth more. At least it should be worth more than an overpriced plane ticket home. Someone should do something. Call the news media back home and start a riot. Better yet, get the laws changed so they cannot be kicked out at whims notice. Wasn't the easiest way to get what you want is to force the other person to do what you want? I mean they need us more than we need them, right? Hannah couldn't believe how bitter and jaded she has gotten since being here. Every year it gets harder to separate yourself from everyone else. Every year it gets more imperative to separate yourself from everyone else. Maybe that's why she's never been able to translate her Starbucks order. the normalcy of expats was frustrating. She was common here because they were common.