World in Fog - Short Story

It was a world like no other. Sad I would say, but no one knew about anyone else. All we knew was traditions and stories so old that no one remembers how many centuries ago they were told about our free world. What made our world so gloomy and sad was the fog. Ubiquitous and dense, it filled every crevice, all the erased space, roads, streets in cities. Sometimes the sun would reach the earth, but none of us saw the sun, at least none of us who came from the last generation. Everything had changed, plants and animals were now adjusting to living in that gray, and how to live without the sun. We were still planting crops, growing poultry, but everything was unnatural and even that segment of life. It is certain that we have changed too. And no one, but no one knows how to improve the current state of affairs. Sometimes, a few years ago, a story circulated that the fog had come when we got our new ruler. Most residents have never seen him, but whenever a natural shift to the throne occurred over time, something in the fog changed.

My family and I lived in a small town, not far from the capital. Emerald City, that's what it's called. Although emeralds have not existed in our mines for centuries, the remains of the once glorious city are still present everywhere. Large and magnificent buildings, museums, castles, villas. Although long known as the capital of commerce, it was now a peaceful and withdrawn city that by no means stood out. The living here was more or less planned, we would go to school at the age of ten, after acquiring elementary education, one would further study for a considerable degree, and some, if talented, would continue their education. I was one of those who got the opportunity to continue my education.

My family once, four generations ago, owned three mines and the remnants of that former power still allowed me and my brothers to live safely but also to get the education we wanted. My two brothers thought that military service was what would bring them the glory they were talking about from childhood. I still chose universal education - that's what my tutors called it. At the age of seventeen our roads parted, I was sent to the capital, the City of Mirrors, and two of them to the nearest military garrison on the eastern border of the Kingdom. The parents rented a room for me in the capital, and prepared everything in advance for my departure and stay in the capital.

The parting was warm, my mother was crying, but it didn't seem to me to be crucial. I made a bad mistake, it was the last time I would ever see them, but we'll talk about that later.

The City of Mirrors was a kind of strange, engineering marvel of our time. Because it was on the perimeter of the Hollow Mountains, the sun's rays were reaching the city more often, and mirrors were placed everywhere on the baths, walls, roofs and towers so that the light of the sun could reach the streets and its citizens. My place of residence was at one inn not far from the west town square, the boss was a balding and old gentleman. The room was clean and tidy, and contained only a basic, one chair, a table, a wardrobe and a bed. The innkeeper, Toyal, directed me the shortest way to the school I had to attend and I went there immediately. These were my instructions, to call back immediately because the classes are individual and start the moment I step on the school floor.

That first step I made in the backyard of my school changed my life.