The Tales of Gehiwian Circle

The Twilight Hounds - Pt 1

October 6th, 2009

Ruthlessness is the law of the world. It takes no prisoners, shows no mercy. Humanity excels in its application. Compassion and understanding are endangered emotions in the modern world. Man now rejects pleas for help. The species is reverting back to self-preservation, the selfish individual. It's survive alone or die alone, the odds stacked against you. Callousness rules.

Three more rejection emails. Atulia hunched over her phone, numb to the stabbing of the job market. It was all the same:

'Given the high standards of all applications, your application has not been successful on this occasion. We are not able to provide individual feedback."

Yep. Ruthless.

The graduate job market was a mess. Skilled workers in science, technology, engineering and maths were said to be in high demand everywhere. Employers fell over themselves to snatch up mathematicians, engineers, chemists and physicists fresh out of university. But ecologists, marine biologists, zoologists? It was strenuous work for peanuts at best, or a job unrelated to her degree, not requiring a degree, at worst. There was nothing she could do but keep kicking doors.

Personal messages lying on her screen, foolishly opened by her impatient fingertips, really stung, especially considering the progress she'd already made on her journey. 

The motorway service station buzzed with families and travellers, driving the length of the United Kingdom for work, holidays, or to see friends, relatives, maybe people who were more...

Queues of empty stomachs snaked from fast food outlets into the central area of the services. The elderly and young bonded over the extortionate prices in retail stores. Modern highway robbery, someone called it. There was always someone passing through the toilet doorway. Everyone was en route a destination. She was meant to be in the same boat.

Not anymore.

'SORRY RUNNING AN HOUR LATE.'

It was from the guy she'd gotten 'involved' with, just before finishing university. Just before moving away to a temporary job, which had now finished. He'd sent it an hour ago, just after she left the last service station.

'SORRY GOING TO HAVE TO CANCEL. HOPE YOU'RE NOT ALMOST HERE. WE'LL REARRANGE SOON.'

No. No we won't.

This wasn't what was promised. University: the doorway to a world at your fingertips. Better paid jobs, friends for life, life-changing experiences. Next to none of those promises held. Not many people had clicked with her while she was there. Not her housemates, nor most of her course-mates. The number of people she could rely on for support at the end of her degree numbered in single digits. And the one person she'd got closest to was half an hour away, and suddenly unavailable.

Dragging herself off the table, Atulia dropped her empty coffee cup into the bin. She couldn't stay. Doubtful thoughts were ganging up inside her head again. Itching her neck underneath neatly brushed brown hair, she began making her way back to the car. Two hours of travel wasted, and God knows how much in petrol.

Weaving through the car park, her green eyes zeroed in on her old red Honda Civic. Slotting the key in the door, she threw it open and climbed in. Turning the ignition, she checked her mirrors as the CD player whirred back into life, blasting out chunky power metal. Two tired, green eyes stared back at her. Guiding her car out the parking space, she made her way back towards the motorway slip road.

***

The thrashing of the distorted guitars, drums beating like demonic hearts underneath shrieking banshee-like vocals, was exactly what she needed to keep the disappointments at bay. The youth of today were meant to have it easy, free of rations and the threat of war. But the people who had lived through those times failed to see how the benefits they took for granted were ruining opportunities for others. Graduates filled the non-graduate job market. House prices were insane. Even her own car cost more to insure than buy, and would be written off by the smallest fault claim. People didn't bond or interact the way they used to. The digital age had leapt ahead, and Atulia was unable to keep up, and not wanting to. That was a disadvantage now, a barrier to interacting with all those that had embraced the gimmicks and marketing.