Short Story: City of Grey

My name is Azul. But my friends call me Az. I was your run-of-the-mill orphan in 2088, nothing but with an all-grey jumpsuit and a tracker embedded in my arm to make sure I didn’t escape.

Yeah, it sucked.

Sure the Great Ceiling more often than not rained flesh-melting chemicals and a walk in the dark could mean losing a spleen, but this little orphanage that I call prison is above all that. Well technically below, as all things in the Cramp (imagine a shanty town built into the collective basement of skyscrapers). We’re nestled like Static-Bugs in a rug under the green and picturesque sprawl of the Gardens, where the air isn’t recycled by barely functioning machines that pollute just a little less than they clean, and the soul degrades every day. Every day the air gets harder to breathe and people get nastier.

Except for me, though. I

Thats me, Azul Untitled, color-wielding, and (self-styled) badass

Now you know who I am, we can get to the good stuff.

My story starts the day I was almost killed for the above-mentioned powers.

WEEEEEEEE! WEEEEEEEE! I jolted awake to the sound of the morning alarm. 

“Ugh,” I groaned, “Another day in purgatory.” 

“Come on Az! We’re gonna be late!” said Elf, she slept two bunks down the hall where all the orphans slept.

“Can’t I sleep a little longer Elf?”

“Your butt gonna be tossed in the Blank, not me.”

The Blank was a room that was a completely white cube, so while it looked like infinity, take a couple of steps in a direction and you’ll slam face-first into a wall, while this is just incredibly boring for most people, my enhanced ability to see colors makes it even more mind-numbing.

“Fine.”

I rolled on my back and tried to sit up. And succeeded in banging my head on the bunk above mine. Which happened to belong to the biggest jerk in the whole world (and maybe beyond), Thrash. And jerks hate me just as much as I hate them. A big mouth and too much sarcasm don’t make a lot of friends.

I swore.

He dropped to the ground next to me and grinned. Thrash hated me since I got here, and was always looking for an excuse to fight me.

“Well, Well, Well, looks like someone is due for a little lesson in manners,” said Thrash. He cracked his knuckles and went to grab me.

“Come on Thrash, it was an accident!” yelled Elf. I shook my head at her. “It’s all right Elf, Thrash just needs to assert his fragile masculinity.” I said with a smirk.

His face turned beet-red with anger. “Shut up!” He said, turning away from my bunk and shoving Elf to the ground, “Stay out of this!” A crowd of kids had gathered by now, and a few muttered at this. Elf was well-liked, and Trash could sense he was losing the crowd whoops, I meant Thrash; however Thrash knew that the crowds love violence over being decent people so he resumed dealing with his original target, me.

“I’m gonna give you a lesson you won’t forget any time soon, blue boy.” He went to grab me but I slipped around him and into the ring of orphans all hungry for blood. He grunted in anger and raised his fists and started to close the distance between us.