5 minutes of Happiness

I

In this beautiful and dark jungle of concrete and steel, time moves like a merciless storm. It devours feelings, bonds, and love.

Elsa grew up within this chaos, eking out a meager existence within the bowels of the city. In the morning, she endures the scalding heat from the noisy engines and the virulence of the dirty exhausts. In the evening, she bears the cold touch and bitter hardness of the corporate pavements. This is the world where she was forced to thrive. This is where she learned the harshest lesson of them all: Survival.

And for today's lesson, Elsa has to learn quickness and stealth so that she can survive.

She sat on a metal bench underneath an enormous section of the metro train that roared overhead. Before her were curtains of ghastly signs, colorful neon lights, and translucent haze caused by public transportation and cars blurring past her in vicious speeds. Across her, she glared at her target, a huge trash can painted in sickly green paint and filled to the brim with garbage.

In her left hand, she held a sack of PET bottles and plastic utensils. She focused at the trash can across her with intense tunnel vision that she started unseeing everything else: the unsightly structure painted in red and yellow behind it, the shadowy figures of people darting around it, the faceless vehicles blurring past before her left and right, and the tall wire mesh fence in bright pink and blue paint between her and the trash can.

She felt acid gnawing at her intestines and a low rumble emanated within the pit of her stomach. But Elsa relented and thought this is not her primary concern at the moment. She has other priorities beside her hunger which she has learned to endure.

Across her, she didn't saw a dirty metal trash can , but rather a treasure trove which only her eyes can see worth. She was puzzled that no one else has raided the trash can for it's PET bottles. Those bottles, once crushed, would all fit into her sack and would weigh several pounds, fetching a hefty price in any recycling shop. 

She then gathered her resolve and after mustering a heap of determination, decided to go for it.

In an instant, her tunnel vision widened and she surveyed the obstacles before her. Foremost is the metal fence made of meshed wires that spanned the length of the highway and separated it into two lanes, and in both lanes were the dangerously oncoming traffic from both sides. Beyond the metal fence, the trash can stood beside a wide pile of granite steps, and across it stood a life size statue of a smiling, anthropomorphic bee with it's arms outstretched towards the steps. The cheeky bee statue had an inviting grin and a pose that would make anyone fall enamored with it's cuteness. It stood there as if inviting children to take their parents and come inside the geometric building inside it. To Elsa, the statue seemed to invite her not into the building, but to help herself on the trash can just across him on the other side of the steps. "Go for it. Help yourself", the figures seemed to say.

Elsa clenched her fist and swallowed her spit as she stood up to take on her first obstacle. She slung her sack over her shoulder and began to sprint as soon as she caught a glimpse of the traffic thinning. She felt the rushing air mixed with the exhaust as she raced towards the middle of the highway. Thankfully, she was swift and agile and every vehicle missed her by miles while crossing. As soon as she reached the wire meshed fence, she swung her sack and tossed it over the structure. The decrepit sack gave cluttered thunks of empty bottles and plastic upon falling on the other side of the fence. As she prepped herself to climb over the fence, she can't help but notice the enormous sign beside her which read:

WARNING: DO NOT CROSS. VERY DANGEROUS.

The sign was written in huge, bold, letters against the same drab of blue and pink paint. To her, the sign's warning was futile and served no purpose than to bar her from getting a firm foothold on the diamond shaped meshes. 

As soon as she reached the top of the fence, she decided against scaling the other side of the fence and instead, jumped off from the top.

An empty PET bottle rolled out of her sack when she landed on it to soften her fall. The wayward bottle rolled off into the surging traffic before her. It swayed and turned in the air currents produced by all the vehicles whiffing by. It was only one bottle but to Elsa, it was worth a fortune. She held her breath as a surge of energy overtook her.

She dashed across the highway, without thought or hesitation, and made a beeline toward the bottle. The moment she lurched to grab it in the shortest, sweeping motion that she could, a 16 wheeler truck emerged from the corner of her eye. The massive vehicle, in that split second, loomed over her like a predator. Elsa surged forward and escaped into a narrow space of air between the rest of the traffic before her and the mechanical behemoth behind her. She felt the strong, rough wind rush around her brought by the 16 wheeler pushing air around it like an unstoppable beast in a rampage. Elsa's black hair trounced about in the air as she shut her eyes while clutching the PET battle she retrieved and her sack of bottles and plastic. As soon as she realized that her surroundings have stabilized, she opened her eyes and pressed on past the remaining lines of moving cars and motorcycles.

She felt shaken by the almost brush with death earlier. The adrenaline rush that made her faster and more agile lingered around. In moments, she found herself teetering by the sidewalk and surrounded by walls of faceless figures. They all meandered around her as if they were all aware that there was a mundane obstacle before them. To be ignored and shunned always made Elsa depressed. 

She rummaged through the waste can that was almost as tall as her. She stretched her arms to reach all the PET bottles she can see and almost tripped into the can due to her small, thin body. As she took her haul and placed them hurriedly into her sack, she saw an enemy coming for her.

This enemy slowly arose from his white flimsy stool made of plastic. He lumbered towards her with a disgusted scowl. "Hey!", the man in a security guard uniform, made tight with his pot belly, bawled at her in a gruff voice which sounded close to grunting. Elsa caught a glimpse of the man and adrenaline rushed through her body again. She felt the beads of sweat trickle down from her forehead and unto the sides of her face, which continued down to her one arm which is desperately digging through the trash bin.

"You! get out you smelly brat!" Elsa heard the stern warning as he approached her. For every glance behind her shoulder, she scooped two to three PET bottles from the trash bin, clutching the necks between her fingers. It hurt her dainty fingers but she was not about to let go of the haul.

"I said GET OUT!!!", said the enemy in an angrier and deafening tone. Out of desperation, the guard kicked the side of the bin. Elsa almost stumbled to the side, clutching whatever bottle she was able to retrieve from the bin. She frantically picked up the ones that she accidentally dropped and chucked them inside her sack. She felt the guard's malicious glance as she scampered toward an alleyway. Her throat went dry as she breathed through her mouth. Her thin body wavered as she almost tripped, realizing that her sack has become heavier. She felt triumphant as she realized that she has collected a lot. With a huge heave, she swung her heavy sack to her side and slung it over her shoulder while shetraversed alleyway which lead to the other side of the city block.