'Splash!'
I woke up from my dream in a confused state. I saw water soaking my work clothes.
"Wake up! You're an additional worker here, but why is your work just sleeping?" the bald boss snapped while carrying a bucket of floor-cleaning water. I quickly stood up, folding my hands behind my back as I looked down.
"Hurry up and clean floors in this entire office! One more mistake and I'll fire you from here. Make sure of that, Radivan!"
"Yes... Sir." I stammered to look scared, but I wasn't scared at all. You must know that I did that only because I still needed a job here.
The boss with the slippery head left with his shoes squeaking.
How come I didn't sleep? Last night he forced me to work overtime to clean up the remains of his son's lavish birthday party. Meanwhile, today I was forced to come in earlier than usual.
I've wanted to quit this company for a long time, but finding a job isn't that easy. This is the year 2156.
I'm the breadwinner of the family. I have to pay for my younger brother's school fees, rent, and feed my parents. Let it go if someone says that I'm too calculating. That's just the way it is.
I'm working as a cleaner. While my salary was low, I had to be prepared to work a lot.
I started doing my job, mopping the entire room until it was as shiny as the boss's bald head.
***
The holographic clock already showed 10:00 PM. It was time to go home. My coworkers and I started to leave the office that was located in the metropolitan city of Indonesch, Jacycart, the most underdeveloped city in Southeast Asia.
Once outside the office, the stench of rotting garbage immediately assaulted my sense of smell.
A line of beggars in shabby clothes kept reaching out to beg pedestrians. Some held their stomachs and said they hadn't eaten in days.
The number of beggars in Jacycart has reached alarming numbers. There is more and more every day. International organizations can't help much, and aid from neighboring countries can't be expected.
The trade war is the main cause of this mess. It is only slightly worse than the WW3 prediction. World economic conditions have deteriorated sharply over the past five years.
Food crises occurred everywhere, not even the superpowers. The economic recession made money worth nothing more than a pile of paper. It was too late to realize the importance of agriculture.
I arrived at a bus stop full of garbage and street beggars. Again, I jostled with the other passengers.
Everyone at this bus stop was a lower-class person. The upper-class people take the air transportation that passes between skyscrapers. It's all about how 'moneyed' you and your family are.
***
For thirty minutes I stood at the bus stop, and the bus finally arrived. To my delight, the bus had no passengers at all! I didn't have to jostle with other passengers anymore.
The bus door opened, we all boarded the bus, and I quickly found a seat. To hell with giving in to women. I was already too tired to stand.
As I sit here for a while, sleepiness starts to set in. I couldn't bear this sleepiness anymore. I looked at the young man sitting next to me. He's young and geeky and doesn't look like a bad guy at all. So, I wanted to ask him to remind me of when I got to the bus stop. Meanwhile, I was going to sleep. With my courage starting to gather, I spoke to him.
"Excuse me, Brother. Can you remind me when I've reached the East-GTF stop? Sometimes the notifications on the bus are not loud enough to wake me up, whereas I am very sleepy at the moment. Can you do it?" I said.
"Of course, Brother! I'll also get off at that stop," the young man said politely and kindly, making it easier for me to put my trust in him. And that's what I would regret later.
I leaned back and started to close my eyes.
"Sir? Wake up, sir." Someone woke me up. It must have been the geek sitting next to me to remind me that I had arrived at the bus stop. Finally, I could rest at peace at home.
"Arrived already, huh? EH! You're not the one sitting next to me here? Then where is he? And where's my bag?!" I became hysterical when the geeky boy was nowhere to be seen and my bag disappeared too. Did I get robbed by that geeky boy?! I thought he was a nice guy! Damn it!
I checked every corner of the bus as a last desperate move, but still, I couldn't find the bag. Inside the bag was enough money to support my family for the next few weeks.
The person who woke me up was wearing a special driver's uniform. It seemed he was the driver of this bus. He looked at me with confusion. I tried to catch my breath and stay calm.
"Where am I now, sir?" I asked.
"You are at the final destination."
The man's words made my breathing irregular again. The distance between this final destination and the East-GTF stop was far! It would take an hour if I took the bus from here. SHIT!
I looked at the digital clock on the ceiling of the bus. At 1:02 A.M., there were no more buses. And even if there was, I didn't have the money to pay for it.
Would I have to walk? Oh, no, that's too bad.
"Thank you, sir. I'll go." I quickly got out of the bus. I'll walk while hoping that someone will be kind enough to offer me a ride, even though in this day and age trust between people has almost completely disappeared.
***
I walked for an hour while asking for a ride, but no one would give me a ride. The reasons varied. Some feared I was a thief, others said their wives were about to give birth, and so on.
The entire sidewalk was mossy and smelled of urine. Beggars have also been seen sleeping huddled in the cold on makeshift cardboard mats.
The thought occurred to me to become a beggar for a while and use the money I earned from begging to go home. But I buried it deep, as there was no one walking on the sidewalk at this time of day but me. In the middle of the night, there were so many robberies. If I had been carrying a bag, I would have been targeted earlier.
The grand building looks very nice on the top, but they don't care about the dirty and very shabby courtyard. This comparison is like earth and sky.
Discrimination is also rampant. Where the police only defend the wealthy while beggars are always oppressed. Justice is not served in this world, with the rich living in luxurious buildings and having enough electricity, while the poor only get the rest. There are murals on the walls that say,
The people are just maggots picking up doughnut crumbs from demi-gods.