[Short Story] Dread

(Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction)

In the heart of this metropolis you will find only despair; the varying minority groups of society are pushed around by the ironclad justice. No need to be a thief or a killer to be served this world's justice. The homeless, the black, the yellow, the... you get the point, get judged, however here the law is rotten beyond rational, the minorities aren't worth a dime for the people wearing suits, in fact here they are worth less than nothing, they repulse the people in their high towers. If you live here and belong to a minority you will be thankful for every second that you live, though, if it's life worth living is another story.

I gave the tabloid an unsettling glimpse, a man had murdered his son, his daughter, his wife and lastly himself. In reality I shouldn't feel pity for such, after all the man was one of the high class, not like me, he wouldn't have clue what kind of hell it is here on the streets but I guess he is in worse hell now. I shook my head in discomfort but the irony made my face twist into a grin. I continued to search for any leftover food that wasn't repulsive and filled with disease. The hunger to get a bite off of anything was enormous, distorting gutwrench in its wake. I walked along a random alley shifting through every garbage bin with no luck, I was just too hungry to bear the feeling anymore, I took couple more steps, the flies buzzing around my ears sounded like they were bombardiers from World War II, the surroundings started to change into a blurry smudge, then a black empty hug - I had fainted.

When I regained my consciousness I had no clue how much time had passed, only thing I was sure about was that it was getting dark, almost unbearably so. I tried to pull myself together but my intestines felt like they were making knots out of themselves. It felt like every bit of energy was leaving my body, cold sweat across my face. The atmosphere was frigid, every breath made a hazy cloud emerge. The fall was slowly moving towards the winter, not that there's much environmental indication in a place like this before the snow starts to fall.

Agonizing on the hard concrete floor, I was barely clinging to life, I just knew if all went black again I wouldn't return. I was waiting for a miracle - I was waiting for anything positive to happen. I screamed for help with what little power I had. What I was feeling was the ultimate despair, all because I'm homeless; no money, nothing to eat, barely having "things" to put on and call clothes. The rich can eat all they want every day, even throwing half of the food into the trash, all I knew was I hadn't eaten for a few days, I hadn't drunk much either lately since all the water I could find was from random puddles piled against the cement sides of the roads. In any case I had nothing of value, I couldn't find anything of value and my basic needs to go on hadn't been met for enough long time, the strain grasped me unbearably now, leaving me squirming on the grey surface - losing my consciousness yet again.

My body was discovered the next morning by the officials and was put into a black plastic bag with no emotion. Why would they care about a lowly bug like me or the others like me? I was just another corpse with no meaning for them. I had always wished there was a better place in afterlife, but there was nothing. After all that had been a struggle to live, hoping to stand up - I was granted the dreaded unmeaningful death instead.