I'm back

A young man sat in front of a large industrial machine, wiping the sweat from his brow with a towel he kept in the back pocket of his overalls, and sighed tiredly before looking at the clock on the factory wall.

His gaze was fixed on the hands of the clock and its periodic movement, every second a slight 'click' that was masked by the noise of the other steam engines still running and the loud conversations of the other workers.

He didn't have to wait long for the larger hand to strike nine, signaling the end of his shift and the time when he could finally go home to rest after a long and tiring day's work.

Quickly getting to his feet and grabbing his briefcase, Nathan walked quickly towards the exit of the factory, but not before saying goodbye to some of his colleagues who were also finishing their shifts.

Among them was an older man with grey hair and a beard of the same color. The older man walked up to Nathan, put a hand on his shoulder and said calmly, "Hey Nathan, take a week off. You deserve it"

Hearing the man's words, a smile appeared on Nathan's face, and he made a small bow to the man and said: "Thanks boss!"

After saying goodbye, Nathan left the factory and ran to the nearest railway station. Once there, he bought the cheapest ticket and got on the first train that arrived at the station.

He sat down on the uncomfortable chairs in the economy carriage, put his briefcase on his lap and closed his eyes, relaxing every muscle in his body. He couldn't allow himself to fall asleep as he never knew who might be in the carriage and try to take advantage of him to steal it while he was taking a nap, so he stayed awake and alert until he felt the train begin to speed up.

The train's horn sounded, signaling that the doors had closed, and it was ready to leave the station. Nathan tried to ignore the loud noise and the conversations of the men in the carriage.

"Ahh, we have it rough. How I wish I had been born into the Imperial family" sighed a man wearing the same dirty overalls as Nathan.

Not only this man, but most of the men in the carriage were dressed in the same way. As the cheapest ticket, it was the only one available to factory workers like them, who had to endure the unbearable heat and coal used to power the steam engines on a daily basis.

"Idiot, we have the emperor to thank, it is thanks to him that we can work in peace. Besides, they have their own problems" said another worker, echoing the other's words.

The former worker looked at him with annoyance and grumbled: "So what? I'd rather wake up with a beautiful woman by my side, have breakfast and solve my problems with a glass of wine, over than wake up early and have to go to the factory just to have enough money for soup and a piece of bread"

The two men continued to argue, with others joining them, while Nathan closed his eyes in silent thought.

'At least we have food...' His stomach growled at that moment, forcing a sarcastic smile on his face. 'Yes... at least'

Suddenly Nathan felt a stabbing pain in his head, which disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, causing him to open his eyes and look around in surprise.

The workers were still talking around him, but no one was paying any attention to him. No one seemed to notice his behavior, so Nathan just sighed and looked out of the window next to him.

The train was just passing through a tunnel, so all he could see through the window was pure darkness, but it wasn't long before they were out of the tunnel and Nathan could see the view.

Above them was the night sky, lit by the stars, while below them was a great canyon, and inside it a great city, lit by hundreds, if not thousands, of lights.

The train passed right next to the edge of the canyon, travelling at high speed along the entire length of the canyon.

Nathan stopped looking at the city below him and looked up at the other side of the canyon, where there was another city, completely different to the one inside the canyon. In contrast to the wooden houses and large factories spewing black smoke from their chimneys, in the city on the other side of the canyon he could only see huge white houses with streets so wide that two carriages could easily pass side by side.

The width of the canyon that separated him from the city was at least a dozen kilometers, and this was surely the closest he would ever get to walking on its clean streets without smelling the unpleasant odor of smoke and horse excrement.

Before Nathan closed his eyes again, waiting for home, his gaze fell on the most prominent building in the white city. A great palace stood majestically with its great towers and impressive windows, guards watched over the entrances to the palace, and inside people dressed in elegant and fine clothes danced while they ate meat of the highest quality and drank old wine... or so Nathan imagined, for he could not see that far ahead.

He had only heard stories of life in the White City for 24 years of his life... 25 years if it was 12 o'clock at night.

Anyway, Nathan was preparing himself for the few hours it would take to get home, so he listened to the even more heated conversation of the workers and lost himself in his thoughts.

A couple of hours passed, and the train's horn was sounded again, and its speed gradually slowed before it came to a complete stop.

It was the last stop of the train, so the carriage was almost empty, except for Nathan and other workers who seemed to live there too. There were even some workers who had fallen asleep and missed their stop.

Nathan did not bother to wake these workers and stepped off the carriage, stopping on the last step as the train came to a complete stop. As the cold air outside hit his face, a shiver ran through his body, but instead of feeling uncomfortable from the cold, he was thankful for the clean, unpolluted air entering his lungs.

He took a deep breath, tasting the clean air, then exhaled slowly, one of the train conductors looking at him with a tired look and dark bags under his eyes.

"If you're ready, please step out of the carriage"

Nathan was surprised, looked at the guard a little embarrassed and apologized: "I'm sorry"

Without giving him a second look, Nathan jumped off the last step and walked through the empty, dark station before stepping out into a small, poor town where the streets were dirt and the wooden houses threatened to collapse at any moment with the slightest breeze.

Many of the houses had their lights out, while others still had signs that people were awake, with dim candlelight or fireplaces illuminating their interiors.

Nathan walked through the dark dirt roads and into the village, heading in a particular direction.

He had spent over twenty years in this town, it was impossible for him not to know the few streets.

Needless to say, there was no electricity in the village, no lamps or steam engines on every corner, just a rural village without the intervention of technology, except for the new railway station that had opened a few years ago.

A few minutes later, Nathan arrived at a house where there was still light inside and looked out of the window next to the door to see a family of four eating in silence, their expressions subdued.

Nathan smiled and climbed down from the rock he had been climbing before standing at the door and raising his hand to knock.

'I wonder how they'll react... I can't wait to see their faces' Nathan's fist reached for the door, but before he could knock, he felt a twinge of pain in his head again, forcing him to stop.

'Ugh' Nathan put a hand to his head, but the pain was gone as if it had never existed.

'What's wrong?' Nathan stood there silent and somewhat stunned, not understanding the sudden sting of pain, the second of the night.

Sighing and shaking off his thoughts, Nathan prepared to knock on the door. 'Anyway, when I get back to town, I'm going to see a doctor and have a check-up... although I don't know if I can afford it' Nathan shook his head, preventing himself from getting lost in his thoughts again, then finally knocked on the door and waited patiently for the door to open.

A few seconds later he heard footsteps approaching the door and stood with his back straight as the door opened and a young man who looked very much like Nathan stepped inside and asked: "Who is it?"

Nathan stood silently smiling as the young man's dull and bored expression changed second by second until a broad smile appeared on his face and he called out: "Brother!"

The young man did not wait a second and walked out of the house to hug Nathan, who accepted his hug with open arms.

After a few seconds they separated and held each other before Nathan said warmly: "I'm back"

Nathan's brother blinked several times, as if he did not believe that Nathan's presence before him was real. He tightened his grip on Nathan's arms and asked: "Weren't you supposed to be working in Black City? Don't tell me they kicked you out?"

Nathan scoffed gently at his brother's assumption and replied: "Not at all, they just gave me holidays. I guess my boss isn't a soulless person after all!"

His brother laughed at his answer and then more footsteps were heard approaching the door. A beautiful woman looked out from behind his brother, her eyes widening as she realized what was going on and the reason for the shouting.

Nathan looked at the woman and said warmly: "Mother... I'm back"