The Prosperous & The Penniless

Prologue

Living in this generation was excellent for the children of the rich. There were certain rules set by a new government that had risen up only a few years ago. The rules were odd and a lot of people were not entirely grateful for them. One of the rules included that parents now had the power over who their children got married to, meaning the children of the rich would marry other people from rich families and they would continue to roll in money for the rest of their lives. The new government also had new rules regarding tattoos and piercings and anything else that made someone an individual. Anyone with those individual markings should be looked down on and regarded as poor and on a lower level to everyone else. No one should ever ask about things like gay marriage because they were classed as illegal and anyone caught trying to carry out a wedding between two people of the same sex can face jail. Anyone who even mentions feelings for someone of the same sex is faced with some serious consequences. The new government was extremely strict and frankly, completely unfair.

Mounthill was a very large island and before the new government rose into power, it was one large place where everyone mixed, whether they were rich or poor. No one had any issues with someone for being different but over the past few years of the new government, it had split into two parts. One side of Mounthill was uptown, the upper side of Mounthill, the rich side. This is where people who are part of the new government and people who have enough money to bathe in it live. Even uptown was separated though. There is one side that believes in the rules of the new government and the other side is trying to fight against them. However whatever their political beliefs, they all have more money than they could ever count. People who live here dress in certain ways and stick to strict rules. There is only one or two who are brave enough to venture out and get tattoos, people who aren't scared to be different. Those people are the ones who try and fight against the government. Even then, they are told to cover everything up so they can look acceptable.

Then there is downtown, the lower area of Mounthill, otherwise known as the poor side. This place is basically the place where people who the new government look down on and hate live. They call it the poor side because no one is necessarily rich but definitely poor to those who live uptown. People in this area can be generally identified with tattoos and piercings and have a fun sense of fashion. A lot of illegal acts occur downtown but none of which are horribly bad. It is known that people of the same sex get married here and parents allow their children to be their own person and marry who they want. People of downtown are fond of living the way they used to and they follow the old rules. They, of course, find the new rules unfair and offensive. It's easier to get away with those things downtown as the rich don't like to go there. Just like the people of downtown don't like to enter uptown. However, the rich people in the government will venture downtown every once in a while and cause chaos, making sure that there are no gay marriages and all rules are being followed. The people of downtown have become incredibly crafty at hiding things from the new government so they don't worry too much.

Jaxon Adams, a young man of twenty-two and son of a man who is a very important part of the new government and their rules. He lives a clean and easy lifestyle filled with expensive clothes and parties. However, this doesn't mean he is happy. He has never agreed with the rules the government had set but being the son of one of the men who had helped enforce these rules, he was never allowed to voice his opinion. There would be serious consequences for him and his family if he did so. He doesn't see himself ever being happy under his father's rules. His father will choose who he marries and what he does with his life and he will have no say in it. He hated it. He doesn't believe in happiness.

What he doesn't know now is he will rebel against his father when he meets a colourful young lady one night when he breaks the rules and visits downtown. He will fall in love with this girl very quickly and she will open his eyes to exactly what his father and the new government do to those who are like her family.

For now, he lives an unhappy life in the shadows of his dominating father.