1 Space is our future, the only future.
*Splash!*
Water splattered in every direction. Lila sat on a stool, working a soapy lather into one of many dress shirts that needed to be done by the end of the day.
"Why!?" Lila threw the soapy shirt in her hands into the bucket with the rest of its kind, to be torture by Lila's stomping feet.
"Why do I have to be on laundry duty again!?" Lila yelled at no one particular but received an answer nonetheless.
"Because you can't keep your mouth closed long enough for your brain to remind you to keep it shut," Kara replied to Lila's question as she placed another load of laundry next to the current empty one.
Looking at the extra loads Lila's face went dark.
Following the hands that dropped the extra load, Lila came face to face with her frenemy's laughing face, making her face become several shades darker.
Kara was the opposite of Lila in almost every way, everyone always says so.
Where Kara was of fair skin, Lila was of a golden wheat. Where Kara has dark small phoenix eyes, Lila has big almonds-shape light brown eyes.
Kara is tall with hints of womanly curves, while Lila has always had a petite stature.
As Kara long straight black hair got lots of love, Lila's texture hair only got sighs.
The reason Kara and Lila were always being compared to one another is due in part to their arrival at the orphanage at the same time.
The difference was how they arrived at the orphanage.
Kara was carried in by military personnel, as Lila was left on the doorsteps by someone.
"Look I can't help it if no else was willing speak their minds." Lila rolled her eyes at Kara before continuing to go about her task.
"Ms. Joy was wrong, if she is getting paid to take care of us then why do we have to do the chores? It just doesn't make sense." Lila mumbled underneath her breath.
Kara took a seat on the empty stool, giggling at Lila's reasoning.
"Besides, she said we can always come to her with any problems we might have, only to turn around and give me, and only me, laundry duty every week! Is that fair?" Finally having someone to hear her complaints Lila let loose to her heart content.
"Notwithstanding, that I can't go anywhere until this task is done...and what does she says is the reason why? 'Lila, you need to learn gratitude. One must be humble in life'." Pulling off a great impersonation of Ms.Joy, Lila continued to stomp out her frustration on the clothes.
"F*** that! I want my Saturdays back!"
The one and only Ms. Joy overheard Lila's statement when she walked over to give the last batch of laundry.
And of course, Kara wouldn't be a frenemy if she notified Lila of this approaching peril.
"Lila! Such language is inappropriate for a young lady." Ms. Joy abolished.
Ms. Joy's tall shadow encased Lila from behind.
Heart jumping, Lila realizes she has been caught cursing.
Ms. Joy walked from behind Lila to place a load of laundry on the ground.
"Lila, I know you think that me giving you laundry was to punish you for speaking your mind..."
It wasn't!? You could have fooled me, Lila thought.
"We are trying to teach all the children here how to take care of themselves. You all will grow up and become adults going about your lives, leaving this place forever."
Ms. Joy turned to Kara when Lila had nothing else to say against her arguments.
"Kara, have you finished all your chores, if so you may have your free time."
Getting permission to leave, Kara didn't wait any longer and went to find her friends. Ms. Joy followed close behind as she went back inside the orphanage's housing.
Unbeknown to both of them, at their retreating backs two small middles fingers were sending on their way.
"Ugh!..." Lila struggled to hang the last baby blanket over the clothesline. Popping the wrinkles out, she secured it in place with clothespins.
"Don't know what they are feeding these infants to make them poop and puke this nasty green-brownish color, but they are worst than the food stains from the elementary kids' clothes." Lila glared at the lines of infant blankets and clothes she had to wash twice because of those stains.
Looking up at the sky, Lila realized there was not much time left in the day if she desired to leave she had to go quickly.
Dropping the equipment in the janitor's closet, Lila left for the front gate, towards freedom before Ms. Joy could find her for more laundry.
Making it out the gate with no one stopping her, Lila turns to walk a familiar route to her favorite store.
"24-7 store, you are the best." Pushing open the door, Lila entered into the customary smells of ready-to-eat food and air freshener.
As orphans are forbidden from being outside by themselves until they have turned thirteen, Lila had no inkling that this wonderful store existed.
The first time she entered she was overwhelmed by the sights before her that it took forever to buy something.
Now, it's her go-to store for all her addictions; chips, candy, sweet and all her favorite ready-to-go meals.
"Okay, the countdown is about to start." Lila's attention was taken from the food lining the aisles to the television screen positioned at the ceiling corner.
"We are 'Live' from Country M's launching site, where Country M has made numerous attempts to get their ships into outer space. Succeeding only once, to get to our remotest planet. Though they are only ones to reach there, their country's astronauts perished on the way back...Let's listen in as they ready to launch..." The newscaster had the 'Live' feed widen to fill the whole screen.
In the store, all the customers' eyes were glued to the screen. They watched as then men on the ground communicated with the staff in the spacecraft. No one spoke, only watched and waited, leaving the store eerily quiet.
It wasn't like this wasn't a common occurrence in the past two decades. It just that space is our future, our only future.
