A girl with unearthly beauty stood in the midst of her colorless, gray world. The only sign of life able to be seen in the quiet land were the huge, metal buildings which surrounded her. Shimmering, the dress made up of fine strings of steel reflected the weak, dim light, glistening with her movements.
Click. Click. Click.
The clicking of pure alloy high heels echoed through the lifeless city. The shiny, polished ground reflected the ashen sky above. Lifting her arm, she touched the icy walls of a structure as she passed by. Towering spires of buildings created long, eerie shadows across the landscape. A tiny breeze, a ray of sunlight, a cool drop of rain. None of them were reality in this harsh world of steel.
The teen did not originally live in the city. She used to live in a world where joy and sorrow coexisted. She was even named Crystal, after her platinum hair color.
"Mom. Dad. I had the same dream again. The one with the officers taking me to the City of Steel," Crystal worried.
"Crystal, don't worry, as long as we are alive, we won't let the officers take you," her parents always comforted.
In Raina, parents were given an invitation to send their kids to the City of Steel if they looked appealing. If given the signed letter back by the parents, the officers took those with astonishing beauty to the city where they would live forever and never feel pain. At school, kids were taught that entering the place was a great privilege.
"Crystal, don't you want to go to the city? Everyone says you’re beautiful, and I too agree with them. Surely, you're qualified to go there," a boy cautiously asked.
"Luke, I told you," Crystal laughed, "I don’t want to go there. I'm perfectly happy to live here where my family is. Where you are!"
Luke slightly blushed. "I'm embarrassed to be one of the reasons you're not living a privileged life in the magnificent city. Well, anyways, my only wish is for you to be happy, Crystal," he shyly admitted. They both shared a lot of laughter before Crystal had to go home.
The city had never appealed to Crystal until one day when disaster struck.
Dark gray clouds filled the sky. The roaring of the rain filled the car as Crystal and her family drove to a beach for vacation.
"Too bad we won't be able to swim," her mom regretfully murmured.
"Yeah, but when the family is together we'll have an amazing time no matter what," Crystal assured.
"Of course," her dad grinned.
The car was lighthearted for a few minutes before it happened. It started to become harder to see out of the windows. A lightning strike hit a tree and before Crystal's father had time to react, the car swerved into the tree hard. The world went
dark.
When Crystal had regained consciousness, she found herself in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around her head. Nurses started to shout when they saw her try to sit up. Soon, she was surrounded by white-cloaked doctors and nurses. They attempted to ask her some questions, but Crystal persistently asked one question that they desperately tried to avoid answering.
"Where are my parents?" she demanded.
"Miss," a nurse looked at Crystal pitifully, "your parents did not make it. We're sorry."
She suddenly felt dizzy as the world spun. She covered her ears in an attempt to drown out all the overwhelming noise. The only other thing she remembered after that was crying herself to sleep.
After about a month, the hospital finally let her go. She was immediately picked up by Luke's mom and questioned by her friend.
"Are you okay?" Luke constantly asked. She felt numb, and was unable to answer. It was as if her emotions died with her parents that day in the car crash.
After the whole incident, Crystal went through a period of grief and sorrow. She wondered why she was alive. Why the doctors even bothered to try and keep her alive.
Sometime later, she explained these thoughts to Luke.
"Please, Crystal, you know you won't be feeling this if you were in The City of Steel," Luke pleaded.
"I would live forever with the memory. Dying here might be easier for me," Crystal whispered. Luke only looked sorrowfully at her. He then hugged her tightly once before the two went their separate ways.
The next day, the officers came.
"Why are you guys here?!" Crystal demanded.
"Your signed invitation has been returned. The City of Steel awaits you, Miss," one officer affirmed.
"My parents are dead! That's not-" the girl stopped shouting. My new guardian, Luke's mom. Worried, Luke must have sent the invitation to the officers. Crystal slowly stopped struggling and let the officers take her out of the house.
Funnily enough, the moment she stepped into the City of Steel, her past life seemed like a dream from long ago. One might've found the city captivating, but to the girl it was an eternal prison. People told her she was blessed for her beauty. To her it seemed as a punishment. A flash of memory crossed her mind. The memory of a boy, careless and happy, laughing in the sun. Her unused muscles protested as the girl sadly smiled at the thought.
City of Steel. They said it was a utopia. A world without pain or sadness. If a realm lacks negatives, positives cannot exist. Happiness is not possible. A state of emotionlessness. The natural balance ruined to create a simple, silent society.
My home is the City of Steel. Who is Crystal? I don't know. Familiarity radiated from the cold, steel buildings around her. Raina is forever a place of my imagination. Then, the girl steeled herself for the ongoing monotonous life which awaited her.
Lorencia Park