The city never stopped moving. That is the first thing that was
different. Back home, the city was
bustling, to be sure. But it also had its
quiet hours. At a certain time of night,
the whole city would descend into a fairytale dream, only to emerge when the
sun rose. Here, no such sanctuary could
be found. This place did not provide
even a moment to breath, to center oneself.
Steven once paused too long at a walk sign and five people brushed into
him in apparent contempt of his inability to move faster.
Everyone
here had somewhere else to be. To be
rooted in one spot was apparently lethal.
It was as if the whole place was a long assembly line, and the cogs mustn’t
stop, for any reason, for any amount of time.
Steven just wondered where the line eventually ended. Not that he was interested in going
there. Steven just wanted to cope with
this new world enough to not be destroyed by it.
Susan was
the reason he was here. She got a new,
well-paying job that required a significant relocation. Of course Steven agreed to go with her, one
does not easily give up a woman so forgiving of ones flaws. The new arrangement put Steven in several
uncomfortable situations, however. He
was no longer the bread winner in the relationship, and he now lived in a city
of 8 million strangers.
The first
thing was not terrible to get used to.
It just required a bit of humility, which was an easy enough emotion to
feign. The second was much more
difficult to overcome. Steven had always
cherished the control he had in his life.
Back home, every little aspect of his routine was coordinated for his
optimal suitability. He found himself
having to leave his apartment, and interact with people every day. He no longer had his car, so he had to take
the subway. That was a metal death
machine like no other.
Susan
constantly told him that change is ultimately good, but Steven had his
doubts. Why did things need to change
when they were already perfect? This new
world would be the death of him. He just
prayed no one would bump into him if he moved too fast.