The Littlest Tea Shop in Lower by J Lofton

Author:J Lofton [Lofton, J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-14T04:00:00+00:00

Going through the streets, I marvel at the surrounding luxury. Every few feet are tall poles, firelight dancing in a never ending flame from the tops. The buildings all gleam white in the light, as if the dirt of the world wouldn’t dare to touch such a magnificent thing.

I turn down an alley between two buildings and run my hand along the smooth stone as I walk. The alley bisects into another and I turn and follow that one for a while as well. After just a few turns, I’m thoroughly confused as to where I am.

And thoroughly disgusted.

Piles of trash heap on top of more piles on both sides of the streets. Forms huddle within the trash and after the first few times of seeing them, I realize that it’s High Fae. I see one form peek out behind a pile and realize it’s a small child. Its face is covered in dirt and the bones of its cheek poke through its skin, clearly malnourished. When I come closer, I see a small piece of blanket, a ratty old thing with more holes than cloth, and I almost lose my dinner when I see that the small thing is living here and there’s just the one piece of bedding.

No one is here with her.

My mind whirls. I don’t understand. I’ve seen nothing like this in Lower. When you were young and alone, you went into the care system which fostered you into a family that would help raise you. It’s not the best of lives, but no child is living outside in the cold and going hungry.

No one in Lower lives on the streets. They especially don’t live among the trash and when I see an older man huddle further into a pile near me, I realize they’re using it for warmth from the brisk night.

Tears course down my face and I step towards the small child, my hand outstretched. Her sunken eyes stretch wide and then she bolts. She’s down the street and disappears before I can blink, and I marvel at her speed. When I look back to where she was, my heart clenches at seeing her blanket, left behind in her rush towards what she thought would be a safer place.

Nothing in 6th makes sense.

I continue on through the city. My despair grows. On the outskirts of the Ring, or anywhere it touches another Ring, the buildings are covered in brightness and wealth. Two small alleys away lives a community of people with no homes.

My stomach won’t settle as I continue walking. Eventually I’ve walked so much, and I’ve gotten so lost, that I end up back near the tunnel to Lower. I see the sconces on this side of the tunnel, the bright firelight like a mockery to the pain and suffering of this Ring.

Steps sound from just behind me and without thinking I throw a punch as I turn.

“I almost didn’t realize you were going to do that,” Etana says calmly as she catches my fist in her palm.

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