They're alright, I hear

May 2, 2022

What does the city sound like at night?

The sky used to be inky black in colour. Now it is a smoky grey. If you squint at it, you might just see a star. It can be your imagination, or maybe it's just another aeroplane heading to the north of the city where the airport is. But you can see it there, in the smoky grey sky, if you squint hard enough.

There are also trees. But not the normal ones. They are made of concrete, and bricks and whatnots and they stand tall, almost touching the sky. They are taller than the tallest of the normal trees around here. Humans live in it.

Obviously.

The ground isn't the soft grass it used to be, nor is the ground as coarse and cool. Now it's a hard, tough, black road which screams all the day, as the vehicles run all over it.

If you open your mouth wide, you can almost taste the dust, the gravel, the smoke, the stress. It isn't as pure as it used to be. But that's how it is.

 It's bad for the world, I hear. But that's just how it is.

If you stay quiet and try to ignore all the honking and beeping and roaring of the vehicles running up and down the road, you would hear the humans. Lots and lots of them. They are spread all over the world. You can't not hear them.

They're not good, I hear. But that's just how it is.

There's a family down there, near the bus stop, just past the bakery, 'round the corner. The kids have  pots in their hands, and the pots have plants in it. Green ones. The oldest one is holding a bag that says 'Clean Earth, Green Earth'

They wait at the bus stop. They climb on board and they leave.

Humans aren't all that bad, I hear. But that's just how it should be.