It was noon before I had gotten out of bed. I was extremely tired before I went to bed last night. All of the excitement of Monopoly must have been draining. Before going downstairs, I washed my face up quickly, so I wouldn't look like a tired mess from all the excitement last night.
My mom had prepared me a brunch, which included a couple of pancakes, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. She considered it to be her specialty, and there's a good reason why. It was delicious, and the texture was amazing. You should try it sometime, it might not be healthy, but it is worth it.
That afternoon, after eating my brunch, I helped out with cleaning up. We didn't clean up last night because I wanted to do it later, as I was extremely tired. We cleaned up the Monopoly game first, and it took longer because some of the houses and characters were missing, and were under the table or next to the couch.
As I was vacuuming up the carpet, I was able to start piecing together parts of a dream that I had last time. I don't know why they suddenly came together, but I continued to match up the parts that I was remembering.
I remember that around the beginning, I was in a dark room, sitting on a chair that was placed in the center of the room. The room kind of looked like my bedroom, but some things could have been misplaced. I was waiting in the room for something to happen, as I sat on the chair, unmoving.
After some amount of time, the door opened, as light streamed out, and I got up. I walked over to the door, but before I got to the door, I stopped. Maybe there could be something bad out there. Maybe I could just stay in here and not care. It would be better to stay in here and neglect the open door, but oh, I would love to peek outside.
I peeked open the door, and there was a grassy field outside. The sun sat just above the horizon, and there was a gentle breeze. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad. I stepped outside, and I laid on the grass. The sun quickly faded away though, as it got cold, and dark. I started to shiver, could there be shelter anywhere?
I looked back at the small room I came out from, and now it was bright in there. Light shone from the door and the window. I heard people chatting inside, and I walked up to the door. When I opened the door back up, the sound stopped. The single light on was dim, and below it was the chair.
There was a small, withered plant, in a pot that was placed on the chair. It wasn't there before. Behind me, the door closed, and the wind started to pick up outside, as I heard the walls start to creak.
That's unfortunately all I can remember. I don't understand why I had a dream like that, and why there was a plant on that chair. It was kind of funny for the plant to be there. Regardless of what I remembered
"Honey, I heard that there is a new store that had just opened a few days ago. It sells flowers and seeds. Should we go over there sometime today." My mom said to me as I finished vacuuming up the floor.
My mom really likes plants and flowers, because they can represent how life can bloom even through there could be so much trying to stop it. Plant life showed people that life can thrive even in the most harsh conditions. Some wildflowers were able to bloom years after the explosions, and when she was able to see them, she believed that there could be a way to still live outside of the bunker.
"That sounds nice." I replied. "I should clean the table before we go."
"Yes, that would be helpful." She replied. I cleaned up the table and threw away all the extra cups and wrappers. My friends and I can be so careless when we have so much fun. It's okay to get rowdy sometimes though, as long as you don't severely damage anything.
Once I was done cleaning up the mess from last night, I went upstairs to get changed. I chose a light t-shirt with wavy ends and some simple pants.
I waited for my mom, and once she finished washing the dishes and grabbing her purse, we walked to the floral store. It was a nice, warm afternoon with a few clouds passing by. The store was only a couple of blocks away, so there was no need to take a bus there.
The front of the store matched the colors of the city around us, white, radiant, and modern. I could see from the inside of the shop that it was very different. The two windows that showed the inside were lined with pots, and inside them were flowers, pointed towards the window, soaking up the fresh sunlight. My mom opened the door first while I followed behind her.
The inside of the shop was very radiant, but it was now full of color. Even though it contained lots of red, orange, yellow, and all the other colors of the rainbow, they were somehow able to all fit nicely into one small shop. The inside of the shop was lit up very well, and there were some ultraviolet lights placed above some of the plants, so they could get some light too.
There were many rows of plants, flowers, and seeds to look at. The flowers were very beautiful to look at. It's a shame that there aren't many floral shops in the city, because necessities were the most important thing while surviving. That led to people not caring about anything else but what they needed. Of course, people should be caring more about survival than flowers, but I wish their seeds could have been stored.
Anyways, me and my mom both looked at the seeds, plants, and flowers. I don't believe that my mom wanted to have any seeds growing, like pumpkins or raspberries, so I wasn't very interested in them. It was enjoyable looking at them for a short time regardless.
I looked at the plants and flowers next. Most of the flowers were supposed to grow to be big and beautiful. My mom had said that she just wanted a couple of flowers on the windowsill, so there was no use looking at the big ones. I do wish that I could buy one of the big ones, because their flowers were grand, and gorgeous.
I headed over to the smaller plants, which weren't supposed to be flowers. There were some small cacti in little lots, and they were adorable, but prickly. I wanted a soft plant, instead of a spiky one. There were other plants like ferns and tiny trees to look at. They were nice, but it wasn't what I was looking for.
I looked at the small flowers last, because I knew that was where I would end my journey to find a plant. Unfortunately, there weren't many left of them in stock, and I didn't mind much interest in them. Most of them were different color orchids. I wondered if my mom had found a plant of her liking yet.
I walked over to her, and I saw her holding a midnight blue orchid. "Hey mom, have you found your plant?" I asked.
"Yes, I chose this one. I love the pretty blue. Have you found yours yet?"
"No, I've looked around, and I don't really like any of them. I do kind of like the big ones."
"Sorry hun, we can't get any of the big ones. Maybe, one day we can, but for now we should stick to the smaller size. If you're done looking, then we can just check out this one."
"Yeah, I'm done looking." I said. I was a little upset that I wasn't able to find a plant that I wanted.
"We can always come back here later, and find a plant that fits what you want."
"I hope they do." I said. Instead of being disappointed in not being able to get a good plant, I was excited to go here again and see what else there might be.
There was a small line, so we had to wait to get the plant checked out. While we were waiting, I looked at the shelves, which had little packs of fertilizer and potted plants for seeds.
What stood out were little packs of seeds called "Mysteries". I reached out and grabbed a small packet. I read the back, whiched talked about the fact that the seeds inside were a mystery. Over a couple of months, they would bloom to a small-sized flower.
"Hey, mom, should I get this?" I asked. I handed the packet over to her and she inspected the back.
"Sure, it's always nice to be surprised. It looks like it would become a small-sized plant, so you should grab a pot that is filled with soil." She pointed over to the soil and pots. I quickly walked over to grab a pot before it was my mom's turn.
We checked out our stuff, and left the store. Once we got back home, I put my shoes in the closet, and sat down at the table. While my mom placed her plant out on the windowsill, I opened up the packet very slowly, and read the instructions.
I made a small hole for my seeds, and plopped them in one by one. I was very fragile with them so they wouldn't break, or fall onto the ground. The seeds were small, brown, slightly oval-shaped, and very thin. They were almost flaky.
I coved up the seeds gently, and patted the soil down ever so slightly. I picked up the terracotta pot, and placed it next to my mom's orchid plant.
I sat on the couch and further read the instructions. Most of the mystery seeds needed sunlight, and would need to be watered every couple of days. I thought then I should water mine and my mom's plant too, but before I got up, I heard my mom turn on the sink and pour water into a cup. Once she did, she poured some water on both of our plants.
I guess she already had it covered. I picked up the remote, and turned on the TV. I didn't have much to do so I could waste a few hours. I was browsing tv stations until I saw someone familiar on one of the channels. I stopped browsing and I went back a few channels to see who it was.
It only took me a second to recognize her. It was that lady with the red hair and two horns from yesterday. She was much more cleaned up as she had abandoned her brown blanket, combed her hair, and found some nice clothes that matched her. I kept listening to her, as I wanted to find out why she was on the TV.
She was at the park in the center of the city, up on a pedestal, speaking out to a small crowd. No one usually just goes outside and makes a speech out in the middle of the park.
"When I was a little girl, I was constantly judged for my different appearance. As I grew up, there was no one who would stick up for me while I was discriminated against and harassed for how I looked. I was able to learn that the people who bullied me didn't need to consume my life, and I was able to move on for them. I was glad that I was able to make myself feel better. It is unfortunate how others cannot do the same for themselves though, and it became a dream of mine to help other people for when they are unable to help themselves."
The story sounded kind of weird. I feel like it would have been harder to stick up for yourself just like that. I think that you just can't grow out of your bullies. They would still torment you, and you cannot just ignore them either.
"I promise to each and everyone of you, that one day, I will help the ones who are in need in the city of Xeinil. I was like one of those people. I was scared, and lost. No one wanted to help me go anywhere. That is until one brave man had helped me out. Now look at me! I am now making the life-long dream of mine come true!"
The camera cuts away to a few people sitting at a desk. "Once we are back from our regularly scheduled commercial break, we will resume broadcasting this honorable, and unexpected speech that is taking place in Central Park."
Commercials start playing. I can't believe it, she really is going to try and make Xeinil a better place! She had even mentioned me, not really though, but it feels like such an honor to help someone out, even if it was just instructions for newcomers.
"Ezra, I'm going to go to the grocery store now. Do you want to come with me?" My mom said as she was putting her shoes on.
"No, I think I'm gonna stay here this time."
"Alright, do we need anything that's not on the list?" She asks.
"Ehh... I don't think so. If we forget anything, I can go there tomorrow or after school on Monday." Before she opened the door, I wanted to ask her something. "Hey, mom."
"Yes?" She turns around.
"The Newcomers, did they ever mutate horns anywhere on their body?"
"Yes, I believe it is somewhat possible. Usually mutations will mean an extra, arm, toe, body, but not really a horn. Why do you ask?"
"Because someone on TV had them." I said.
"Okay, by the way, I might be home around seven, because I have a yoga class today. See you later Ezra!"
"Cya." I said as she closed the door. Then I had realized that I should have told her the person that was on TV. I didn't have to tell her, but I think she would have liked to know that I helped someone on the streets.
I waited for the commercials to be over, and once they were, I paid close attention to her. "With the help of many people here, you can help me, and the new supporters of my charity, we can help the people who are hiding in the shadows. We can help the people who have been tormented and are ashamed. We can help the people who are in need, and are afraid to speak up about it. Together, we will rise, and we will help anyone in need!"
"I have a question, Maya?" Someone in the crowd raises their hand, and Maya, I'm guessing that's the woman I helped, looks at them. "How will you help the people who are in need of assistance reach out to you?"
Maya smiles. "For now, with such a small amount of people helping out at the moment, they will just have to come up to one of my supporters and ask. This isn't a very practical way of doing it, but it's the best that we can do right now. Hopefully, in the coming future, we can start running websites, set up telephone lines, and create advertising for people to learn about us and be able to reach out to us. This might be a slow process to begin with, but I know that if there is good out there, then we will be able to reach our goals."
"What will you do to help these people?" Someone else in the crowd asks.
"It's very simple. People who are in need of help need a few common things. They need attention, social support, like a crutch to lean on to for a while. Most beings need to be social to survive, and if you are hiding something, you will probably tend to push people away. The second thing that they will need is someone to let their feelings out. You build up so much emotion and stress that it is difficult to open up to people and face their fears. They will need someone to talk to so they can let out their feelings. Finally, people need to stand up to what they are afraid of, or what they can't bring themselves to do. This part will be the most difficult to do for some, but with time and effort, we will help these people out."
I was a little bit surprised about what she said. Dealing with problems wasn't just as simple as that. It did take time to let your feelings out, be able to depend on other people, and face your fears, but not all problems could just be solved like that. It could take many years for people to trust others again, and you can't just force it, or else they won't trust you, or anyone else for longer. You also just can't let your emotions all out. Some people might not have anything to let out in the first place, and they might not trust you enough to let them out in the first place. Forcing people to let their emotions out isn't going to work right away. For people needing to stand up to their fears, I mostly agreed with that, but one thing. Some people cannot stand up to their fears even if they were in a deadly situation. Like my mom, no matter what, you can't just make her forget her experience as a child and a young adult.
Even though I felt confused and bewildered by what Maya had said, I continued to watch. Mostly because there wasn't much else to do in the house.
"Maya, are you going to plan to help out the whole city? What are your plans for the future rather than gathering supporters and being able to reach out to others?"
"It may seem like a big task, but yes, I want everyone to know about what I have to offer. Even in a perfect utopia like this, there may still be others who are suffering inside. No city can be perfect, and not everyone will have a perfect life. I want to help the people who have tried to make the perfect city, and make it even better. Even with millions of people here, I want to make sure that everyone feels safe and welcome here."
The camera cuts again to the few people at the desk. "She is such an inspiring speaker, you know? I wish I could be as charismatic as her."
"She has such a way with words."
"We will see the conclusion of this speech after these commercials."
Those last statements that she made had stuck out from all the rest of what she has had to say, and not in a good way. I cannot believe that she could say that. There are some people who died to make this city the best, and be flawless. My mom and dad worked on creating the city as best as they could!
There isn't anything really wrong about our city. There aren't that many people who need special assistance, or at least I don't think there is. Most of the problems that people had to face were eliminated while making the city and creating the laws. I shouldn't be so miffed by what she says. She has her opinions, and she is allowed to say them.
I didn't want to watch much more of her speaking, but she was going to conclude soon, so I guess I could just watch the end of it. I waited, and checked social media on my phone to pass the time. Once I heard her voice, and put my phone down.
"What was your other question? Plans for the future rather than all the other stuff I talked about? Yes, we have other plans for the future. Rather than just expanding our group and finding more efficient ways to reach out, we might also try some other goals. We can start a charity or something to get enough money for bigger projects. With some help from more people, we can make products to help people without the need of them contacting us. That will require finishing up our main goal."
"What if you are not able to meet your goals. What if there is no one to help?" Someone else asks.
"Why wouldn't there be people to help? With a city with more than five million people, there has to be hundreds of people who might feel down, or like they aren't treated right.If there was some case of a shortage of people to help, we can always move on to other things. Even if the team I had created has to focus on different problems than what was originally intended to be, than that is okay. Everyone here has the capability of being a team, and if we are a team, there is nothing that won't stand in our way!"
"I do not believe there are any more questions, correct?" She looks around, and no one raises their hand. "Great, I do need to start wrapping up anyways. I could be out here talking all day about my dream! I just want to thank you all for asking me such great questions. I didn't imagine that this would go as well as it went." Some people clapped as she paused to clear her throat.
"Hopefully, I can catch up with you all sooner or later. If you want to become a supporter, like some of the people behind me." She says, as she turns around to look at five people walking up to the stage. "It is fairly simple. You can ask any one of us that has this pin on their shirt." She holds up a small badge that says "Supporter of Maya". "They will be happy to give you one of them. Me and my supporters will have a meeting this afternoon to discuss plans and donations."
"I would really like for each and every one of you to become a supporter of mine. Together, we can help the people who are hiding in the shadows. Together, we can rise up. Together, we are strong, and we will become powerful!"
"That is all from the speech that had suddenly taken place at Central Park. As she had said, you can become a supporter by asking any of her supporters."
"We will now resume our daily broadcast with the weather."
I started switching to other channels to see what else was on. I didn't really want to watch the news anymore. I spent a few moments browsing, trying to find something entertaining to watch. I gave up, and turned the TV off.
I wondered how Gabriel is doing. I picked my phone back up and started to text him.
Are you feeling better today? I get up from the couch and grab a drink from the fridge.
Yeah, a lot better compared to yesterday. What are you doing right now?
Just chilling. I don't really have anything to do this weekend. I got a plant today. There was also this speech that was going on at Central Park today. Have you heard anything about it?
Not really. With our only tv not connected to any cable, there is basically nothing to watch. Why do you ask?
I was just wondering if you saw the speech and thought anything of it. Maybe you can look it up later or something. I was also thinking that maybe we should hang out tomorrow or go somewhere, since you weren't able to come to the party.
I don't have anything to do tomorrow, so I guess that's fine. Does noon work?
Yeah.
I opened the fridge back up to see if there were any snacks left. There were a couple of biscuits left, so I grabbed those. I walked upstairs and sat on my bed. There wasn't really anything else I wanted to do today, I was lazy and watched some videos.
That evening, while eating dinner with my mom, I kind of wanted to tell her about Maya. That feeling though had faded throughout the day. I wasn't all that happy about what she was talking about. Maybe my mom wouldn't be either. She says that all life is worth protecting, but how about people who insult you for not being perfect? Or making you feel like your hard work isn't good?
I felt a little ashamed now that I had helped her back up. Yes, she was going to help these people in the shadows. She also wanted to start a charity and bring people together. I just don't really support some of her ideas, and I can't really trust her. There's something about her that is making me wonder why she wants to do this.
At the end of her speech, she had said something about rising up, and becoming powerful. If she wanted to help other people, why does she need to be powerful? Why does she need to rise up when she is wanting others to rise up so they feel better. I feel like she isn't trustworthy enough.
I decided to not talk about it to my mom at dinner. Maybe she already would understand why I don't like her. She's probably heard about it already while she was out getting groceries. The news station that I was watching loved to talk about her.
The next day, I met up with Gabriel at my house. We do not usually hang out at his house anymore, because of his parents. They don't like me talking about all the stuff on social media. Humans can sometimes not believe or like stuff that we use every day. I don't know why, but only older humans do this sometimes.
"So, what did you do at the party? Gabriel asks as he comes into the house.
"Nothing much, it was just your average, normal party. We did play Monopoly though."
"I bet you didn't win." He said jokingly.
"Oh, no one won. Kyle flipped over the board after he went bankrupt."
"Yeah, Kyle's the person to do that. If he doesn't get this way, he'll ruin it for everyone else." He sighs.
"Come on, he's not that bad." I say.
"Ehh... Anyways, have you played Mineblox yet?" He asks.
"Not really. It costs money, and I wasn't all that interested."
"Maybe you'll get more interested when I show you it. I promise, it's a great game, and it's very addicting. I can show you on your TV." He gets up and plugs his phone into the TV Connector. He also grabs the TV Touchscreen so he can control it.
He boots up Mineblox, and he uses the touchpad as a cursor to play the game, which is shown on the TV. "Mineblox is a game where you can play on other people's games, and host your own for free." He logs onto another account. Before he is able to enter his world, he needs to set his connection if he wants to host publicly or privately. He sets it to private.
"It's really easy to play. Just grab some blocks from your inventory, and place them down. You can also mine, craft, kill, and all of that great stuff. If you go online, you can play with other people, and literally do anything you want. It can get very addicting, because I sometimes play it all night."
"I don't want it to be addictive, because I don't want to procrastinate with it."
"Yeah, but it's addicting in a good way. It's not like the game is trying to brainwash you into playing it all the time. It's a good game, and it's very peaceful. Here," He hands me the Touchscreen, "have a go at it. I know that you will like it."
I start moving around in the three-dimensional world. I hold down the blocks around me to break them, and then I place them back down. "So, is this all I can do?" I ask.
"Not right now, stupid. You have to take time to get to know the game. If you're looking for something more exciting, then we can go to multiplayer. I don't think any of my friends are on right now, so I probably won't go and host a server right now."
I hand him the Touchscreen, and he exits the world, and switches to multiplayer. He finds a game that he can play on, and once it loads, there are other people moving around. "You can do a lot of things on this server, like play Survivor, or Mystery Murder, or Friend Wars. I'll join Survivor to just show what Mineblox can do.
He proceeds to play a very long game of Survivor. It was a game where you played a minigame, and voted someone off, which kicked them out. I played after him, and I could see why he liked it.
"So it was fun, right?"
"Yeah, I guess I should buy it. I'll have to ask my mom tonight."
We hear a low battery notification coming from his phone. "I guess that's enough of playing Mineblox today."
"That's too bad." I was genuinely interested in the game after he showed it to me.
"I'm hungry. What do you have to eat?" Gabriel asks, and gets up to unplug his phone.
"We have the Bits, Cheese Puffs, and maybe some yogurt. My mom didn't get much at the store."
"What about ice cream? I'm kinda craving that."
"Probably not. I didn't see any ice cream in there last time."
"Maybe we should go out and get some from that small frozen-treat shop."
"Yeah?" I stand up. "That sounds nice, do you have any cash on you?"
"Nah, I don't have any this time. Do you have any, or are we gonna have to steal from your mom?" He jokes.
"No, I have some in my room, I'll be right back." I hurry up to my room, and grab ten dollars out of my wallet, which is under my desk, and I run back down the stairs. Not too quickly though or else I would fall, and that would be bad.
"So are we gonna take the bus, or just walk?" He asks.
"I want to take the bus there. I don't really feel like walking today." I reply.
"Yeah, agreed." We both put our shoes on, and we walk out the door, and wait a few moments for the bus. It felt a little chilly outside, which was abnormal for Xeinil, since the wear can be controlled around the city. A small change in temperature wasn't a big deal though, so I didn't worry or fuss about it.
Once the bus had stopped, which the ride wasn't that long because of the lightning speeds of the busses, we got off. We had to walk a couple of blocks to get to the shop.
"So, what are you going to get?" Gabriel asks.
"Probably something with mint or chocolate in it. I have been there a while, so maybe they have new things on the menu that I might want to try."
"I think I'm going to get... hmm. I don't know. Maybe something with cherry to represent the blood of my enemies!" He jokes.
"I don't think that they will allow that." I reply, and chuckle.
We both entered the building, and noticed that there was a small line. We waited, and I looked around for something interesting. There were a few pinball machines that had bright, blinking lights on the outside and inside of them, and multiple radiant colors painted on. The walls were mostly white, with some red to compliment the white.
"Ezra, look at the menu so you know what order, doofus!" Gabriel says to me and points to the menu, which is now seeable from where we are at.
"Sorry, I'm in nowhere land goofing around." I sarcastically explained. I examined the menu and squinted to see better. There were a bunch of items on the menu. There were ice cream sandwiches, push-up ice cream, and Frozo Dots. Not many things I was really looking for. I landed my eyes on the cones and cups section. I decided to get a Mixed Order, because you could choose what you want on it.
"Do you know what you're getting?" I ask.
"Kind of? I can't really decide what I want. Maybe I should go for a Candy-rock Avalanche. Or maybe a Cookie Dough Dream? Or I could just get something simple? Oh, I don't know, there's so many good flavors!" He complains.
"You should choose, because we're ordering now." I say as we move up to the ordering spot.
"Hello, what would you like to order today?" The cashier asks, who is a girl with short, red hair.
"I would like to order a medium Mixed Order."
"And what would you like for that?"
"For the ice cream, I would like chocolate-chip mint ice cream, and then coconut shaved toppings, and chocolate syrup on top, please." I explain.
"Alright, how about you?" She looks at Gabriel.
"Uh... I want a medium vanilla cone, please." I look at him. He really couldn't order anything else?
"And rainbow sprinkles." He adds on.
"Okay, your total is eight and a half dollars." She replies. I give her the money and she gives me back the change. Me and Gabriel stepped out of line to wait for our order.
"You really just attempted to order a plain vanilla ice cream cone? Talk about unoriginality." I joked with him.
"I didn't get time to decide my order, and that's all I could think of! At least I didn't order something that sounds like a special menu item from Stardeers."
I chuckled. "Okay, that is true. I did have a big order."
"One vanilla ice cream with sprinkles and a chocolate mint custom is done!" Someone says. We both take our ice cream and exit the frozen treat shop.
We walk this time instead of taking the bus, because why not? We chat as we walk down the streets as we pass by houses, buildings, and people. We waved to friends as we passed by them. Around halfway through our walk to my house, I hear a familiar voice faintly shouting from a distance.
The voice was too faint to be able to decipher what they were saying. "Do you hear that noise?" I ask.
"What noise? I don't hear anything."
"Listen carefully, it's a voice."
We stay quiet for a few seconds and we walk. "Yeah, I do hear someone. Wonder why he is talking so loud."
I keep listening as we seem to be getting closer to them. "I think that it is a she."
"Oh, well then why is she talking so loud?"
I started to recognize the voice more and more as we approached closer to the center of the city. Then, I recognized the grand, charismatic voice that I had heard yesterday, that was broadcasted right at Central Park.
"It's the woman I was talking about yesterday, she is doing another speech." I am no longer able to hear her, she must have stopped talking.
"What? Who are you talking about?"
"Remember yesterday when I told you about a speech that was on TV? It was her. She's trying to raise awareness of her idea of helping people out."
"That sounds like a good cause to speak up about."
"Yeah, I agree, but I don't really like how she is presenting it. She is downplaying the builders of Xienil and saying that they didn't do their job correctly so she could be able to make the city perfect."
"Nothing can ever be completely perfect though."
"Yeah, but you can try your hardest to make the thing that you are working on to be as close to perfection as possible."
"That's right. Like what I want for my order."
"Attempting perfection like that may not be totally possible with a city like this, but my mom spent so many years planning it out. Then someone could come along and say your proud work isn't as good as it seems and they are going to fix it up while criticizing you the whole time. Doesn't that sound a little weird?"
"I guess it does. That tactic was used a lot for the election for mayor a few years ago. It works for some reason."
"That's weird. I don't get why that works."
"It's to prove they are the best one for the job. It's pretty simple if you ask me."
"No, well yeah it makes sense for the election, but why does Maya, her name's Maya by the way, want to use that tatic? There is no one going against her for her beliefs or to try and get it done first, basically everyone is on her side, and no one is protesting against her!"
"It sounds like you want to protest against her."
"I wouldn't do that. She has a good idea."
We hear Maya start talking again, and we are very close to Central Park, so it is easier to hear her. "It seems as if we are back from our small break. As we have discussed earlier in the day, we have collected many hundreds of dollars of donations, on our first day! I didn't imagine that we would be able to raise so much money so quickly! We also have a large rise in joining supports, which is incredible. It is amazing how all of us together can quickly raise awareness to this newfound problem that has been secretly hovering over the city, under our noses this entire time!"
"Over the next few days, we will be organizing more meetings, speeches, and ways to reach out to the people who are in need of help. Our website and telephones lines will be available tomorrow morning. Personally, I didn't expect us to be able to get to his point over the course of two days. It shows that we are strong as a team, and stronger with our cause!"
"Today, we will be having some of my great supporters helping others with getting their badges, and try to get more supporters who haven't thought of being one yet. Remember, together, we can help the people who are hiding in the shadows. Together, we can rise up. Together, we are strong, and we will become powerful!"
She ended her speech the same as last time, and there was an eerie silence over the city and the city's faint applauding stopped. The shadows that are starting to gradually turn orange-ish were creeping over the city as the sun was moving across the sky.
"That really is a speech." Gabriel said.
"Her speech was like that yesterday as well, but it didn't end so late."
"I can really see why people agree with her and support her. She's really trying to lure them into her idea, and it seems to be working extraordinarily well."
"Lure them in? What do you mean?" I ask. I didn't think that she was actually luring people.
"Once you get past her idea, you can see that she is looking for fame. She is telling her supporters that they are amazing, and are doing such much for her. Then she is trying to spread her idea as fast as the city can with her supporters and website. It a shame that people will fall for such scams"
"Scams?"
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't say scam just yet. I really don't know what a supporter of Maya is like. It does seem though that she is trying to make people be a part of this pyramid scheme where they ask for recruiters, as the supporters seem to become more powerful. Maya is the only one in true power."
"Wow, that is right. It does sound like that. What do you think will happen to them?"
"I dunno. Maybe someone will rise up and tell them that they are dumb."
We continue to walk as we go past Central Park. Before we arrive home. We see a small group of people out of the streets, with the golden supporter badge.
We attempt to walk by normally, but one of them stops us in our tracks. "Hey, you two. Are you interested in making Xeinil a better place to live in?"
I looked at Gabriel, and he looked at me. I don't think that either one of us wanted to speak up. We probably didn't want to become a supporter anyway. "...Yeah." I spoke.
"Great! There is an easy way to help people in need. It is very honorable to help people who may be suffering on the inside. All you need to do is wear this little pin on your shirt." She hands us both the gold pin. "Then, tomorrow at noon, you can visit us at Central Park to get instructions from Maya, our coordinator and leader of this entire project."
"This sounds great and all, and I'd really like to be there, but we have to go to school tomorrow, and both of us-" Gabriel kicks my shoe, and I get the message he's trying to send.
Before I can change my words, she starts talking again. "That's okay! People are invited to come until four in the afternoon. We have already made plans for people who need to stay and work until later in the day."
"It is such a disappointment that we have to go to work and not have to help others." Another supporter says to us three. "I wish that we could help people out and be useful instead of doing a job."
"Look, me and my friend gotta go. We will... be there tomorrow, yeah." I say as I start to back away.
"Goodbye! Hope you will be there, because together, we can dominate." She says as I turn around, and Gabriel follows me. I put the pin in my pocket.
"You aren't going, right?" Gabriel asks.
"No, of course not, it's just that they are very nice, and I didn't want to be rude." I explain.
"I understand." He says, as we finish our ice cream, and continue walking to my house. Then, I heard Gabriel's phone buzz, and he grabbed his phone.
"Ugh, I got to go home soon to eat dinner. I wish I could eat over at your house, but you know my parents. Have to be controlling and overprotective."
"Yeah, you can take the bus from the station that's next to my house." I say, as we near that station. "Oh, I guess it's right here." I say.
"Well then, see you at school." He says as the bus arrives, and the doors open up.
"Cya."
When I close the door behind me, my mom is cooking something on the stove. "Hello, Ezra, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing good." I say. "What are we having for dinner?"
"Just some lasagna. I didn't feel like making much tonight." She replies.
"That's okay." I reply, and walk up the stairs to my bedroom. I sit down on my bean bag and take out the pin. I wondered how Maya was able to make these so quickly. Did she get access to someone who had made pins, or did she somehow already get enough cash to get workers to make these?
I didn't want to be a supporter though. Maybe if Maya's group grew bigger, then maybe I would. Or maybe I would join after school is over, so I could help contribute to her idea more. Regardless, I threw the bronze pin into the trash beside me.
YOU ARE READING
Supernatural Book 4: Ezra's Story
על-טבעיEzra is a young teen who enjoys his life at Xeinil, the biggest and most developed city after a nuclear bomb had brought the planet to grinding halt. He is the best player on his soccer team, has many friends, and has a bright future ahead of him, o...
