The Streets Of Ralk

The sky split open and rain poured down on the streets of Ralk.

The residents of the city, mutants, humans and animals all ran to escape the deadly stings of the raindrops. The few unlucky who were not able to find any shelter instantly dissolved to slush with the touch of the first drops of rain.

The rains that came unexpected and frequently decided the fate of the population of Ralk who were not fast enough to run for rain shelters when it started to pour.

Hilina stood under a rain shelter when the first rain started, the third sunset had already taken place and the night was starting to crawl into the city. She watched the two moons make the figure of 8 as they rose to take up the challenge of night.

Her moon gaze was disturbed as a finger poked twice at her bottom in the Ralkian way of greeting strangers. She turned around to see a mutant boy with one fluorescent eye in the middle of his forehead focused at her. The boy was as tall as her and she had to reach around to poke his bottom.

The formalities complete, he lit two cigarettes and offered one to her. Hilina noticed they were Earth made and as rare as a living Ralkian in the city's rain. She took a deep puff and felt the smoke burn her lungs raw, her face turned red and her eyes changed to a deep color of black.

Hilina spun, staggered and stumbled on her feet and splashed face first into the pool of rainwater that had collected at the edge of the rain shelter. The mutant boy stared at her dissolving body, looked at his own cigarette and flicked it into the pouring rain. He took the cigarette packet from his pocket and looked at the earth symbols printed on it. He couldn't read the ancient language but some deep forgotten instinct in his head told him that the words said, 'Smoking Kills.'

The rain kept on falling in the streets of Ralk.