Year 2020.

 

Irene wipes her forehead with the back of her hand as she lifts a few planks and place them on her shoulder. Labor work. Tiring on the body and mind, but it's good pay for her. That's the only point of why she is working on this job anyway.

 

"Good work, newbie!" A middle aged man gives her a thumbs up as she moves the planks to the elevator lever where she would pull on it. It would bring her up to the very top of the construction structure where she would build the skeleton of a new floor.

 

It's her seventh job on working as a construction site worker. She moves and fixes things that are out of place. Sometimes she even gets to venture on landscapes that haven't been dug up before in years.

 

In years. A lot of things happened. A huge catastrophe. She is over it, though. But a small part of her refuses to let go of a dream. It's the reason why she is working as a construction worker.

 

After work, she receives her daily pay and leaves the construction site, on foot after changing out of her construction gear. She is determined to finish what she needs to complete today. She picks up her pace and starts to run when she sees the sky has started to become pitch black.

 

Time is running out. She can feel her breath shorten as she runs. She can't stop now. Her head is getting lighter and lighter with each step. But she won't let her body rest until she reaches her destination.

 

 

 

A dumpster. She slams her fist against the gates, in hope that they haven't closed yet.

 

A man with a bushy beard pops his head out the gates and sees it is Irene.

 

"Again?" He says.

 

It's a common sight for him to see her at least four to five times a week. He normally closes at six, but for Irene, he will wait for her until seven in the evening. Irene is a valuable customer to him.

 

She nods and tries to catch her breath. She is surprised that her body hasn't fallen apart on her after all these years. Looks like the fruits of labor work paid off. But it carries a heavy toll on her health.

 

"Yes. I have the money here." She hands her pay for today to the man.

 

"You only have half the cash required to buy a ticket." He scoffs.

 

Irene won't give up yet.

 

"I know that."

 

She stares at the man, despite knowing that she will be turned away. A strand of hope lingers in her heart. She will do anything to get through this gate.

 

The man eyes her and sighs before tucking the check into his shirt pocket. 

 

"I'm only doing this once, because you're a special one." He motions her to step back as he leaves his post to open a small metallic door on the gates.

 

"Thank you." Her voice is small. But the man knows that she is sincere with her words.

 

"Go ahead. You've got 10 minutes." He points to a machinery equipped with a head gear and an arm chair.

 

Irene mutters another gratitude of thanks and hurries. Each second is precious to her.

 

As she puts on the head set, she takes in a deep breath before pressing a red button that will bring her to a whole new world. A world that she dreams of living in one day.

 

As she opens her eyes, she is in a blank space. The world around her is all white. But not for long that a figure is standing behind her.

 

"You're back."

 

Irene turns around to see Wendy barefoot in a pure white dress.

 

"Yeah. Just to see you again." She smiles as Wendy claps her hand and laughs.

 

"How was your day today?" A bright smile.

 

There's nothing better than a loved one willing to hear what you did for the day.

 

Irene blinks. She doesn't have the energy to rant about the unfair treatment among her workers for the day. She never does.

 

"Tiring. But you had fun, right?"

 

"When you and I went on the ferris wheel?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Or do you mean when we first went on a yacht ride together?"

 

"Yeah. That too."

 

"Of cour-" Wendy smiles.

 

Irene nods. She knows, she remembers everything she did with Wendy. She even written every little detail down on paper. It's all she has.

 

Suddenly, the image of Wendy becomes blurred and soon it's pitch black.

 

Irene's time is up. She sighs and curses under her breath as she has to leave already. She has to work harder tomorrow so she can visit and stay with Wendy again.

 

"Are you coming back tomorrow too?" The man asks as she makes her way to the exit.

 

Of course she will.

 

"Yeah."

 

"...I see. Good night." He bows his head as she steps out the gates again.

 

It was too short. She can feel her muscles ache. Her fingers throb. Her knuckles bruised. But her mentality has yet to be worn out.

 

"I already miss you, Wendy."

 

She looks into the vast, black sky that was once blue. She can feel her stomach growl. She can endure this until lunch tomorrow. It's always been like this.

 

She starts to take slow steps back to the construction site to sleep for the next few hours.

 

And the cycle begins again.