Urban Renewal

The City slumbered, restless. Her human inhabitants, once her lifeblood, had become a parasite, a virus, wreaking havoc as they rampage through their tiny lives. The leeches leave nothing but destruction in their wake.

The human cells treat each other as poorly as they treat their host; however, the City feels no comfort in this knowledge. Her ears ring with the cries of victims; victims of crime, both illegal and immoral; crimes committed by both strangers and loved ones. These crimes are as cold and desperate as the perpetrators themselves.

Even at this late hour, the City's veins and arteries - once so calm and serene - thrum with activity. Feeling hindered by the pace of their legs, the human cells had devised increasingly inventive delivery methods to speed the spread of their violent mayhem. Now, harsh metal boxes jockey for position in the city's streets, spewing toxins and noise, choking her with pollution.

The City fondly remembers a time when lighting was soft and sparse, lending a beautiful and mysterious allure to her streets and parks. Now, she has to keep her eyes closed against all the harsh lighting, designed to highlight the ugly, vandalised facades of her aging buildings that were once so pristine and striking. 

The City weeps for her lost youth and beauty. The ravages of time and humanity march across her littered landscape. She feels tired; tired of the constant struggle to nurture her ungrateful human inhabitants, and weary of fighting to maintain a symbiotic relationship. These struggles weigh so heavily on her. It was time.

The City rose, shrugged, and sloughed off her human skin.