The city is a sprawling labyrinth of ash and steel, its skyline serrated like teeth of a beast. The air tastes metallic, laced with the faint bitterness of decay, and the sun is nothing more than a memory, hidden behind a veil of perpetual smog.
People move like shadows, their faces drawn and pale, they shuffle through the streets that shout promises of salvation through obedience. Consume. Conform. Continue. The slogans echo endlessly, their glow cast a sickly light on the crumbling facades of abandoned buildings.
Beneath the city’s surface, resistance brews like a storm on the horizon. The whispers of rebellion are faint but persistent, “where can we find light in this never-ending shade?”
But dreams are dangerous in this world. Hope is a spark, and sparks can ignite. The regime fears the fire, and so it smothers every ember it can find.
Photo credits: Selective Focus Photo of Road by Misael Garcia, Pexels.
Merril hosts at dVerse and invites us to write inspired by a line from “The Hill We Climb” by
Amanda Gorman. Come join us! 💜
Bravo! In such a world, to dream is to be a rebel.
Thank you so much, Mrityunjay 🙂 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
A fabolous description of a the worst part of a city that sounds all too real.
Hope is a spark that can ignite, love that.
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad the prose resonated with you 💄❤️
Oh, this is so good, Sanaa! You should write more fiction. 💙 I think there are many such places right now.
Aww gosh! Thank you so much, Merril 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
(and thank you for the lovely prompt) 🥂
The city can actually be a lonely place. I think you’ve captured this aspect of its ‘otherness’ very well
“Dreams are dangerous in this world”……in your powerful descriptive narrative ..that sentence really jumped at me..
Sanaa the recent attempts to extinguish voices on social media is like the embers you mention. Powerful write on a contemporary topic.
You had me with this opening line!
“its skyline serrated like teeth of a beast.”
Bravo! Sanaa a poignant reference to current situations in LA.
Much♡love
Brilliant, Sanaa! There is so much truth in your depiction of society.
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
I have to concur with all that this is a brilliant write, Sanaa!
Sanaa, to me, your depiction of a city under control feels both oppressive and alive with quiet rebellion. The tension between the regime’s grip and the spark of hope resonates deeply.
Much love,
David
That sounds like Los Angeles!
Maybe it is time to leave the poems born out of the secret that you disclosed in OLN (and which you can’t tell your Mother lol)and write on darker subjects for you have a powerful voice Sanaa…
Wonderful prosery Sanaa, evocative – I live in a country town now – not happy in the city, your prosery names much of my dislike.