Flash Fiction: Sky

“Mom, I can’t avoid it any more. I can’t see any road forward.”

“Kid, that is life. Just like a basketball, your life bounces up and down. There are times when you can see nothing but darkness.”

“Darkness is all I can see, mom. Day in and day out.”

I sat with my face buried in my hands. It was dinner time and I was venting out my frustrations to my mother. I was not lying about the darkness. I spent my entire day working in The Factory. Almost all of us did. We, the surface dwellers had no other choice. As per the system created by the Sky-people, it was our only source of income. However, the darkness was not confined to the factory.

We lived in the lowest  foundations of the city. Miles and miles below where the privileged sky people lived. There was no greenery, no colour here. The very air was laced with darkness. We lived in areas where no sunlight reached, ever. In fact, I had never seen the sky. That was the dream I chased after every day. To live among the sky people, witnessing the vast and beautiful blue yonder that we had only heard of in legends and seen on the internet. My mom placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“Keep faith in your dreams, son.”

I looked upward at the concerned face of my mother.

“I did so, mom. It does not help. I just wish I could live among the sky-people.”

I clutched the ruby heart locket that hung around my neck.

“Be careful how you use those wishes, ruby hearts know what is in your heart.”

“It’s just a crystal.”

“Just remember be careful, whatever you believe.”

I got up from my seat.

“I wish I could live among the sky-people.”

There was a bright red flash, and lo! I found myself floating in the sky. However, the sky was not what I had expected. It was completely filled with clouds of smoke. This is not what we were told. All the legends were a lie. The ruby transported me back to my house. I turned to mom, my eyes were full of tears.

“I made the discovery that there is no up in this life. For the sky is the very source of darkness…”

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Word Count: 390

Prompts:

Worth A Thousand Words #4

3TC 20th July 2018: Discovery, Lace, Basketball

Purpldragon’s Image Writing Prompt #239

5 Words Prompt 20/07/2018: Green, Upward, Factory, System, Avoid