The Universe of Nothing (collection)
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Everything went as it always did.
Alexander was also questioned. Knowing his rights, the young man quickly got out of this situation and went about his business. Although, to be honest, he was always uneasy at such moments. Alexander walked around the city and looked for different kinds of newspaper counters to read what was the latest in the news and thereby understand what would be on the agenda at the moment. Discussing pressing issues, making suggestions, while maintaining proper speech ethics, often led him to promotions and other rewards at work. Officials like it when their assistants and secretaries also understand what is being said.
Alexander was sad to watch what was happening around him and he wanted to change everything for the better, to fix everything.
Factories that once buzzed and people who created new horizons were now just skeletons, crumbling under the onslaught of time. The abandoned streets were littered with debris and vegetation, turning them into dense slums, where the wind carried fragments of the once well-fed past. Once noisy squares resembled theaters of happiness, but now only whispers, moans and rustles of strangers, coming as if from nowhere, remained audible there.
Alexander made his way through these ruins. He had the feeling that each distance covered was not just a physical movement, but an immersion in a story that remained beyond his perception. Citizens passed each other with distrust, their eyes seeking support, but finding only a reflection of their own grief.
At the corner of one of the streets, a glass stall where books were still displayed caught his attention. The forgotten pages were waiting to be restored, and he felt that even in this desolate area, it was possible to find sparks of hope. Each line read could become the beginning of a new narrative, and the city that, despite the destruction, continued to live in the heart and memory of its inhabitants could still be restored.
Human Police in a ruined city
And there's always a chance
Defend what you love,
Solve all the pressing problems,
Tell me you won't back down,
When the cold hits
And you will have to accept the changes.
Tell me what you know by sight,
The ones with the dead eyes,
But the brave ones.
Tell me you can't back down,
When the future is young
Their future family waves.
Oxygen was on the agenda. This vital gas was priced out – oxygen purity levels were falling all over the Earth due to the huge amount of waste and people. People generated waste, and the waste went to all the poorer regions and fed new people. A terrible chain of events. Judging by the news, very soon people will have nothing to breathe. And Alexander felt it: it stank everywhere, and he involuntarily covered his nose with his hand as he walked around the city and accidentally suffocated. In this respect, of course, he missed his grandfather and the clean rural air.
Sasha stood on the corner of the street, lost in thought about the task ahead. Suddenly, a deafening sound broke the silence – the explosion of a bus. A bright flash blinded him, and in the next instant, a cloud of dust and debris surrounded the figures rushing to help. Alexander was thrown back, but he fell nearby and, like a miracle, didn't break anything. Like…
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