"NEXT!"
The young man just stood there in silence. The guard, not satisfied with the retort, or rather the lack of it, just humphed and continued on...
"A Reporter, eh? You knows that them reporters and media persons are forbiddened here, right? You'd gonna need'a get another job. And TRUST ME, you gonna have a hard time tryin' to find one." He said, unconsciously rubbing his silver hammer and chisel pin he received upon his promotion into a customs officer. As a nobody who struggled his way to this high, he personally knew how hard it was to find a job in the city without proper credentials, let alone a stranger.
A quiet boy with a ruffled sack walked up to the customs office. He took out his papers and put it on the counter. It was instantly snatched away.
"You's From Sky City, eh?" snickered the fat man behind the civic counter as he checked the young man's credentials. "Ha! Why didn't you's fly over the wall with your little flimsy whatchamacallits...flighters, right. Them flighters."
The young man just stood there in silence. The guard, not satisfied with the retort, or rather the lack of it, just humphed and continued on...
"A Reporter, eh? You knows that them reporters and media persons are forbiddened here, right? You'd gonna need'a get another job. And TRUST ME, you gonna have a hard time tryin' to find one." He said, unconsciously rubbing his silver hammer and chisel pin he received upon his promotion into a customs officer. As a nobody who struggled his way to this high, he personally knew how hard it was to find a job in the city without proper credentials, let alone a stranger.
Again, the youth just stared down silently. The guard sighed. By then he is starting to pity him a little.
"Y'know ya can still head back, right? The you's not officially technically in the city until customs. And tellya a little secret... the ride counts only 'til you go inside city grounds, so yer ticket's still valid. You sure ya still wanna stay? In the city, I mean."
The guard waited for a response. Slowly, he lift his eyes to meet the guard's, then, as if his spirit was previously absent and had just been returned to him, he opened his mouth. With a low but almost youthful voice, he returned...
"Thank you for the warning, but I'm afraid lost something very precious to me, that's why I need to go in the city."
"Okeys then. Here ya go." He said as he handed back the papers to the young man. "Have a safe trip, boy!"
"Thank you, my friend." replied the youth as he fumbled to stuff his paper back in his sack. The guard looked on, curiously.
"Hey, kid."
"?" The youth looked back.
"What, by chance, did ya lose during your travels? 'Cause y'know, we have a p-pretty large Lost and Found office on the back and stuff..."
He expected something sour, like the others before, but instead, the kid just smiled the widest smile at the guard, as if to say "thanks, but it's not that simple", and walked on, leaving a dazed guard behind.
What a strange kid... The guard thought happily, a smile still in his face... friend...eh? I could use some of that
Then, back to reality. The guard readied himself to the next stranger.
"NEXT!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a small narration of the main character Ethan's past. He's from Sky City, y'know =)
No comments:
Post a Comment