Here in the middle of a pile of dirt, trash, broken glass, and many other sorts of rubbish, I find myself looking up at the fog-filled sky that cannot even be considered a sky anymore. It’s more like a black cloud that reflects the hearts of the people living on this forsaken planet. I think how wonderful the world would be if it were a little different. What if there were no severe health conditions because of the smog, or no kinds of cancerous skin sores? If life wasn’t filled with pain, disease, and turmoil, how much nicer could it be?

A loud horn blows, signaling the end of the break, and I get up and grab my shovel to dig through the trash again. My arms are sore from shoveling trash all day, but I push through it for the sake of my little brothers and sisters. My parents do their best as well, but there is only so much they can do now that they are at the end of their lives. You see, people don’t live long outside the bubble. The world is a disease-filled place that takes your life and plays with it.

I came across a small book in the middle of work today. Reading was something that had much value in my life. At a young age, I was taught to read by a lady who was kicked out of the bubble. She was a wise old lady, but she only lasted a year and a half outside of the bubble. She cared deeply for me, and if I were to have ever met my grandparents, I would assume that they would have been a lot like her. She gave me the greatest gift that anyone could have ever given me. Although many people who live outside the bubble consider reading a useless skill to have I see it as a way to exit the world that I live in and find myself in better times. I have learned so much from the discarded books that I have found. These books talk about another world, a world where everyone goes to a place called ‘school’ to learn how to read and write. A place where there are things called trees that grow from the ground and give people food. This world gives me books about flying into the sky and looking at different planets. Every discarded book from this world is a treasure to me.

  This day was a pretty good one in my mind. I found two good-sized books and one of them is about space. Oh! The wonders of space, and how I wish to go there someday. The books of space show wonder and amazement. Sadly going into space here only leads to death. Only the worst criminals can go in the experimental pods leading into the glory of space. The officials who want to get off of this planet have sent so many criminals in search of the world that the trash comes from, hoping for the day that they will finally be able to get off of this god-forsaken planet.

  I sometimes wish to be sent to this other world, but at the same time, I am responsible for taking care of my family. I don’t know what they would do without me. My siblings are either too young or too sickly to do anything, and it kills me to think that they would die without me. So my dreams are lost to the vacuum that is called space, and my wants are left to rot with the rubbish I call home.