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There was a star that shone brighter than the rest above the sprawling metropolis. Even the electric teeth of a million streetlamps could not snap out the light of that single star. Its warm glow bathed the houses on the outskirts most kindly, but as the light approached the neon fortifications of the city, it proved too much. Yet it still remained in the sky like an exiled god waiting to be readmitted. Inside the heaving city a thousand weary souls worked on in the fairylight buildings that formed the angry sky line of the city. She stood in the middle of the pulsating traffic island, walled in by the high-rise offices and apartment blocks. Seated on a wooden park bench, waiting. Cars passed by with their irritated splutters and coughs, from time to time a human being would march through the park to maximise travel-time efficiency according to the Berhmann co-efficient. They held their briefcases like the knights of old held shields and off they marched to battle a series of facts and figures that were preventing the crusade against inflation.
She sat and watched and waited. Above her head poorly-concealed power cables ran through the trees. Their rhythmic hum filled the air like a death chant, and the soldiers of the city marched on to their own funerals. The park in which she sat reminded her of home, far away. She had lived outside the city, in the fields of her father's farm far away. The electric allure of the city's artificial brightness had drawn her in and held her there. The park's centrepiece was a fountain, where the water murmured soothingly, as this had been statistically proven to lengthen the average worker's working life by 10.56 hours. The plastic grass underneath her feet felt hard. Not like the lush green fields in which she had lain as a child and watched the heavens. She was content to bide her time and watch the manic world pass her by, as the soothing murmur of the fountain healed her.
The loud electric hum suddenly stopped. The fairylights of the skyline went out one by one. The city seemed breathless for a moment. She waited. Ten minutes elapsed and the reassuring noise of the electric powered fountain did not return. The back-up generators had usually rescued the city by now. She rose to her feet and looked to the sky. That one solitary star shone brightly, illuminating a path through the frozen metropolis. She looked towards it, and then back to the fountain, but her feet had already started to walk towards that glow and she left behind the safety of her bench. Cars had stopped still on the 6 lane roads through the city. Their energy had been sucked from them and their occupants rested heads in shaking hands. The work of five and a quarter days would be undone by the malevolence of this power failure. She walked through the centre of the traffic lanes, ignored by all the drivers. The star was beckoning her on to a route that would lead her far outside of the city. Gradually her timid steps became bolder, and her strides became purposeful and she started to worry that the generators could kick in at any moment and rob her of her guiding star.
The streetlights remained blackened. Gone too was the familiar hum of the city. Then in the distance at the end of the block she saw a crowd gathering outside the electrics store. Workers were clamouring to see the window. As she passed, she stopped and saw a single television screen in the whole display still working. It displayed no picture, just a glowing screen. Drivers were abandoning their cars and running to see this life-sustaining sight. As she watched the crowd fell to its knees as the bright glow subsided. She turned and hurried towards her star. It glowed yet brighter to show it had forgiven her momentary betrayal. The roads of the city still lay sprawled in front of her, but the challenge did not seem as epic as it once had.
Nearing the edge of the city centre, the air seemed stiller, and quieter than before. Not the tranquillity of the outskirts, but the deathly quiet of the powercut. Workers stood motionless in place, looking too scared to move in case they should somehow be made scapegoat for the power failure. She looked at them despairingly and their shifting eyes only spurred her on. As she turned her eyes back to her route she saw a line of people that might block her way. They had seemingly materialised from nowhere and were cued long into the distance but for what she did not know. As she drew closer she began to see clearly the origin of line, a manhole cover in the centre of the road. The workers were being ushered in two at a time, into the sewers. As she approached the line she heard the rising struggle of voices to be heard over the top of each other. Snatches of statements reached her ears, the hydro-electric plant... the sewers are still lit... the lights. She tried to push through the line but it shoved her back violently, no pushing in - I've been waiting here an hour! She stopped and waited, as two by two the workers entered the wide hole into the rancid green sewer water, which cast eerie reflections on the wall of the overhead lighting. She stayed on the surface, until the line had diminished enough to let her past. Her star shone with a reaffirmed radiance.
Gradually the densely packed streets became dispersed. She was into the final stage of her escape. The streets seemed deserted. She imagined the whole workforce basking in the overhead lighting of the sewers, while the rats and parasites devoured their lifeless bodies. Finally she saw the friendly sight of the wooden signpost that marked the way back home. The outskirts were almost in reach. Then a familiar hum filled the air. The lights sputtered a little and then blazed down again. She watched as her star faded from view under the electric onslaught. But she kept walking. There was only fifty yards between her and freedom. Just before she steeped over the city limits she turned and looked back at the metropolis she was to leave behind. The cars still had not started. The city seemed oddly lifeless, and in the quiet hum, the faintest of murmurs beckoned her back to the park bench. She turned defiantly and crossed the boundary, her star suddenly came into view, burning incandescently.
Her house stood at the foot of the hill she was approaching. From the field below an angry voice called out,
"Aurora! Where have you been?"
"I'm sorry I was lost" Aurora replied
She entered the house and immediately felt at home in the gentle heat of the fire, which lapped against her. The ebb and flow of the waves echoed through the windows from the sea. She moved through the glass doors and on to the beach where He was sitting lost in thought. The sand was soft as she sat down next to Him. Wind whispered. Waves crashed. Silently.
And in the still air she inclined her head towards His ear and softly sobbed "I'm home now"
THE END
She sat and watched and waited. Above her head poorly-concealed power cables ran through the trees. Their rhythmic hum filled the air like a death chant, and the soldiers of the city marched on to their own funerals. The park in which she sat reminded her of home, far away. She had lived outside the city, in the fields of her father's farm far away. The electric allure of the city's artificial brightness had drawn her in and held her there. The park's centrepiece was a fountain, where the water murmured soothingly, as this had been statistically proven to lengthen the average worker's working life by 10.56 hours. The plastic grass underneath her feet felt hard. Not like the lush green fields in which she had lain as a child and watched the heavens. She was content to bide her time and watch the manic world pass her by, as the soothing murmur of the fountain healed her.
The loud electric hum suddenly stopped. The fairylights of the skyline went out one by one. The city seemed breathless for a moment. She waited. Ten minutes elapsed and the reassuring noise of the electric powered fountain did not return. The back-up generators had usually rescued the city by now. She rose to her feet and looked to the sky. That one solitary star shone brightly, illuminating a path through the frozen metropolis. She looked towards it, and then back to the fountain, but her feet had already started to walk towards that glow and she left behind the safety of her bench. Cars had stopped still on the 6 lane roads through the city. Their energy had been sucked from them and their occupants rested heads in shaking hands. The work of five and a quarter days would be undone by the malevolence of this power failure. She walked through the centre of the traffic lanes, ignored by all the drivers. The star was beckoning her on to a route that would lead her far outside of the city. Gradually her timid steps became bolder, and her strides became purposeful and she started to worry that the generators could kick in at any moment and rob her of her guiding star.
The streetlights remained blackened. Gone too was the familiar hum of the city. Then in the distance at the end of the block she saw a crowd gathering outside the electrics store. Workers were clamouring to see the window. As she passed, she stopped and saw a single television screen in the whole display still working. It displayed no picture, just a glowing screen. Drivers were abandoning their cars and running to see this life-sustaining sight. As she watched the crowd fell to its knees as the bright glow subsided. She turned and hurried towards her star. It glowed yet brighter to show it had forgiven her momentary betrayal. The roads of the city still lay sprawled in front of her, but the challenge did not seem as epic as it once had.
Nearing the edge of the city centre, the air seemed stiller, and quieter than before. Not the tranquillity of the outskirts, but the deathly quiet of the powercut. Workers stood motionless in place, looking too scared to move in case they should somehow be made scapegoat for the power failure. She looked at them despairingly and their shifting eyes only spurred her on. As she turned her eyes back to her route she saw a line of people that might block her way. They had seemingly materialised from nowhere and were cued long into the distance but for what she did not know. As she drew closer she began to see clearly the origin of line, a manhole cover in the centre of the road. The workers were being ushered in two at a time, into the sewers. As she approached the line she heard the rising struggle of voices to be heard over the top of each other. Snatches of statements reached her ears, the hydro-electric plant... the sewers are still lit... the lights. She tried to push through the line but it shoved her back violently, no pushing in - I've been waiting here an hour! She stopped and waited, as two by two the workers entered the wide hole into the rancid green sewer water, which cast eerie reflections on the wall of the overhead lighting. She stayed on the surface, until the line had diminished enough to let her past. Her star shone with a reaffirmed radiance.
Gradually the densely packed streets became dispersed. She was into the final stage of her escape. The streets seemed deserted. She imagined the whole workforce basking in the overhead lighting of the sewers, while the rats and parasites devoured their lifeless bodies. Finally she saw the friendly sight of the wooden signpost that marked the way back home. The outskirts were almost in reach. Then a familiar hum filled the air. The lights sputtered a little and then blazed down again. She watched as her star faded from view under the electric onslaught. But she kept walking. There was only fifty yards between her and freedom. Just before she steeped over the city limits she turned and looked back at the metropolis she was to leave behind. The cars still had not started. The city seemed oddly lifeless, and in the quiet hum, the faintest of murmurs beckoned her back to the park bench. She turned defiantly and crossed the boundary, her star suddenly came into view, burning incandescently.
Her house stood at the foot of the hill she was approaching. From the field below an angry voice called out,
"Aurora! Where have you been?"
"I'm sorry I was lost" Aurora replied
She entered the house and immediately felt at home in the gentle heat of the fire, which lapped against her. The ebb and flow of the waves echoed through the windows from the sea. She moved through the glass doors and on to the beach where He was sitting lost in thought. The sand was soft as she sat down next to Him. Wind whispered. Waves crashed. Silently.
And in the still air she inclined her head towards His ear and softly sobbed "I'm home now"
THE END
;-)
I like the star idea.
(pssst - read my 'Two sides of the same heart' topic and tell me what you think!)
Hehehehe!
I like the star idea.
(pssst - read my 'Two sides of the same heart' topic and tell me what you think!)
Hehehehe!
I've never played Final Fantasy... but if that's a good thing then cheers :-)
Nice - Reminds me of Aeris in FF7!
There was a star that shone brighter than the rest above the sprawling metropolis. Even the electric teeth of a million streetlamps could not snap out the light of that single star. Its warm glow bathed the houses on the outskirts most kindly, but as the light approached the neon fortifications of the city, it proved too much. Yet it still remained in the sky like an exiled god waiting to be readmitted. Inside the heaving city a thousand weary souls worked on in the fairylight buildings that formed the angry sky line of the city. She stood in the middle of the pulsating traffic island, walled in by the high-rise offices and apartment blocks. Seated on a wooden park bench, waiting. Cars passed by with their irritated splutters and coughs, from time to time a human being would march through the park to maximise travel-time efficiency according to the Berhmann co-efficient. They held their briefcases like the knights of old held shields and off they marched to battle a series of facts and figures that were preventing the crusade against inflation.
She sat and watched and waited. Above her head poorly-concealed power cables ran through the trees. Their rhythmic hum filled the air like a death chant, and the soldiers of the city marched on to their own funerals. The park in which she sat reminded her of home, far away. She had lived outside the city, in the fields of her father's farm far away. The electric allure of the city's artificial brightness had drawn her in and held her there. The park's centrepiece was a fountain, where the water murmured soothingly, as this had been statistically proven to lengthen the average worker's working life by 10.56 hours. The plastic grass underneath her feet felt hard. Not like the lush green fields in which she had lain as a child and watched the heavens. She was content to bide her time and watch the manic world pass her by, as the soothing murmur of the fountain healed her.
The loud electric hum suddenly stopped. The fairylights of the skyline went out one by one. The city seemed breathless for a moment. She waited. Ten minutes elapsed and the reassuring noise of the electric powered fountain did not return. The back-up generators had usually rescued the city by now. She rose to her feet and looked to the sky. That one solitary star shone brightly, illuminating a path through the frozen metropolis. She looked towards it, and then back to the fountain, but her feet had already started to walk towards that glow and she left behind the safety of her bench. Cars had stopped still on the 6 lane roads through the city. Their energy had been sucked from them and their occupants rested heads in shaking hands. The work of five and a quarter days would be undone by the malevolence of this power failure. She walked through the centre of the traffic lanes, ignored by all the drivers. The star was beckoning her on to a route that would lead her far outside of the city. Gradually her timid steps became bolder, and her strides became purposeful and she started to worry that the generators could kick in at any moment and rob her of her guiding star.
The streetlights remained blackened. Gone too was the familiar hum of the city. Then in the distance at the end of the block she saw a crowd gathering outside the electrics store. Workers were clamouring to see the window. As she passed, she stopped and saw a single television screen in the whole display still working. It displayed no picture, just a glowing screen. Drivers were abandoning their cars and running to see this life-sustaining sight. As she watched the crowd fell to its knees as the bright glow subsided. She turned and hurried towards her star. It glowed yet brighter to show it had forgiven her momentary betrayal. The roads of the city still lay sprawled in front of her, but the challenge did not seem as epic as it once had.
Nearing the edge of the city centre, the air seemed stiller, and quieter than before. Not the tranquillity of the outskirts, but the deathly quiet of the powercut. Workers stood motionless in place, looking too scared to move in case they should somehow be made scapegoat for the power failure. She looked at them despairingly and their shifting eyes only spurred her on. As she turned her eyes back to her route she saw a line of people that might block her way. They had seemingly materialised from nowhere and were cued long into the distance but for what she did not know. As she drew closer she began to see clearly the origin of line, a manhole cover in the centre of the road. The workers were being ushered in two at a time, into the sewers. As she approached the line she heard the rising struggle of voices to be heard over the top of each other. Snatches of statements reached her ears, the hydro-electric plant... the sewers are still lit... the lights. She tried to push through the line but it shoved her back violently, no pushing in - I've been waiting here an hour! She stopped and waited, as two by two the workers entered the wide hole into the rancid green sewer water, which cast eerie reflections on the wall of the overhead lighting. She stayed on the surface, until the line had diminished enough to let her past. Her star shone with a reaffirmed radiance.
Gradually the densely packed streets became dispersed. She was into the final stage of her escape. The streets seemed deserted. She imagined the whole workforce basking in the overhead lighting of the sewers, while the rats and parasites devoured their lifeless bodies. Finally she saw the friendly sight of the wooden signpost that marked the way back home. The outskirts were almost in reach. Then a familiar hum filled the air. The lights sputtered a little and then blazed down again. She watched as her star faded from view under the electric onslaught. But she kept walking. There was only fifty yards between her and freedom. Just before she steeped over the city limits she turned and looked back at the metropolis she was to leave behind. The cars still had not started. The city seemed oddly lifeless, and in the quiet hum, the faintest of murmurs beckoned her back to the park bench. She turned defiantly and crossed the boundary, her star suddenly came into view, burning incandescently.
Her house stood at the foot of the hill she was approaching. From the field below an angry voice called out,
"Aurora! Where have you been?"
"I'm sorry I was lost" Aurora replied
She entered the house and immediately felt at home in the gentle heat of the fire, which lapped against her. The ebb and flow of the waves echoed through the windows from the sea. She moved through the glass doors and on to the beach where He was sitting lost in thought. The sand was soft as she sat down next to Him. Wind whispered. Waves crashed. Silently.
And in the still air she inclined her head towards His ear and softly sobbed "I'm home now"
THE END
She sat and watched and waited. Above her head poorly-concealed power cables ran through the trees. Their rhythmic hum filled the air like a death chant, and the soldiers of the city marched on to their own funerals. The park in which she sat reminded her of home, far away. She had lived outside the city, in the fields of her father's farm far away. The electric allure of the city's artificial brightness had drawn her in and held her there. The park's centrepiece was a fountain, where the water murmured soothingly, as this had been statistically proven to lengthen the average worker's working life by 10.56 hours. The plastic grass underneath her feet felt hard. Not like the lush green fields in which she had lain as a child and watched the heavens. She was content to bide her time and watch the manic world pass her by, as the soothing murmur of the fountain healed her.
The loud electric hum suddenly stopped. The fairylights of the skyline went out one by one. The city seemed breathless for a moment. She waited. Ten minutes elapsed and the reassuring noise of the electric powered fountain did not return. The back-up generators had usually rescued the city by now. She rose to her feet and looked to the sky. That one solitary star shone brightly, illuminating a path through the frozen metropolis. She looked towards it, and then back to the fountain, but her feet had already started to walk towards that glow and she left behind the safety of her bench. Cars had stopped still on the 6 lane roads through the city. Their energy had been sucked from them and their occupants rested heads in shaking hands. The work of five and a quarter days would be undone by the malevolence of this power failure. She walked through the centre of the traffic lanes, ignored by all the drivers. The star was beckoning her on to a route that would lead her far outside of the city. Gradually her timid steps became bolder, and her strides became purposeful and she started to worry that the generators could kick in at any moment and rob her of her guiding star.
The streetlights remained blackened. Gone too was the familiar hum of the city. Then in the distance at the end of the block she saw a crowd gathering outside the electrics store. Workers were clamouring to see the window. As she passed, she stopped and saw a single television screen in the whole display still working. It displayed no picture, just a glowing screen. Drivers were abandoning their cars and running to see this life-sustaining sight. As she watched the crowd fell to its knees as the bright glow subsided. She turned and hurried towards her star. It glowed yet brighter to show it had forgiven her momentary betrayal. The roads of the city still lay sprawled in front of her, but the challenge did not seem as epic as it once had.
Nearing the edge of the city centre, the air seemed stiller, and quieter than before. Not the tranquillity of the outskirts, but the deathly quiet of the powercut. Workers stood motionless in place, looking too scared to move in case they should somehow be made scapegoat for the power failure. She looked at them despairingly and their shifting eyes only spurred her on. As she turned her eyes back to her route she saw a line of people that might block her way. They had seemingly materialised from nowhere and were cued long into the distance but for what she did not know. As she drew closer she began to see clearly the origin of line, a manhole cover in the centre of the road. The workers were being ushered in two at a time, into the sewers. As she approached the line she heard the rising struggle of voices to be heard over the top of each other. Snatches of statements reached her ears, the hydro-electric plant... the sewers are still lit... the lights. She tried to push through the line but it shoved her back violently, no pushing in - I've been waiting here an hour! She stopped and waited, as two by two the workers entered the wide hole into the rancid green sewer water, which cast eerie reflections on the wall of the overhead lighting. She stayed on the surface, until the line had diminished enough to let her past. Her star shone with a reaffirmed radiance.
Gradually the densely packed streets became dispersed. She was into the final stage of her escape. The streets seemed deserted. She imagined the whole workforce basking in the overhead lighting of the sewers, while the rats and parasites devoured their lifeless bodies. Finally she saw the friendly sight of the wooden signpost that marked the way back home. The outskirts were almost in reach. Then a familiar hum filled the air. The lights sputtered a little and then blazed down again. She watched as her star faded from view under the electric onslaught. But she kept walking. There was only fifty yards between her and freedom. Just before she steeped over the city limits she turned and looked back at the metropolis she was to leave behind. The cars still had not started. The city seemed oddly lifeless, and in the quiet hum, the faintest of murmurs beckoned her back to the park bench. She turned defiantly and crossed the boundary, her star suddenly came into view, burning incandescently.
Her house stood at the foot of the hill she was approaching. From the field below an angry voice called out,
"Aurora! Where have you been?"
"I'm sorry I was lost" Aurora replied
She entered the house and immediately felt at home in the gentle heat of the fire, which lapped against her. The ebb and flow of the waves echoed through the windows from the sea. She moved through the glass doors and on to the beach where He was sitting lost in thought. The sand was soft as she sat down next to Him. Wind whispered. Waves crashed. Silently.
And in the still air she inclined her head towards His ear and softly sobbed "I'm home now"
THE END