MILA

Part 1

Written by Ana Irenea B. Olmedo

College Of Business

Mila was a little girl who isn't the most attractive compared to all the other girls in her neighborhood. She was skinny, dark, and was born with green hair. One day, as she was standing by the road a man came up to her. "Beautiful day isn't it?" the man said. "It is," Mila replied before taking a deep breath of fresh air in her lungs. "What good is a beautiful world if you have no one to share it with," the man said. Mila simply smiled at him and continued to enjoy the moment until she heard a ripping sound. She noticed that it came from the direction of the man. He was holding a yellow container-like item with some brown colors over it, but it was thin and shiny both on the outside and inside. He was even picking some yellow round pieces from the container and placing them into his mouth. It made some crackling noises as he move his jaw up and down. When he was finished, he crumpled it up, threw it at her feet and left without another word. Mila just stared at it wondering what it was. Later, two girls were walking to her direction and another object similar but of different color was thrown close to her feet. "Hey don't throw your plastic there," one girl said. "Why not? Someone already did," the other girl replied. That's when Mila knew that the shiny object was called a "plastic."

A few years later when Mila reached thirteen, she noticed black clouds in the sky. At first she thought it was going to rain but it seemed to come from a specific source. The black clouds came from a tube-like structure in the far distance. She was lost in her thoughts as she was staring at the black mass that she didn't even notice a man came up to her. It was the same man from years ago, and he was smiling brightly. "I have a job now," he said. "That's great, where?" Mila asked. "See that factory over there?" the man pointed to the tubes excreting black clouds. "We make beverages in there and place them in plastic containers." "That's great," Mila smiled at the man.

Summer came and Mila loves to put flowers on her hair during that season. The flowers were yellow, and it looked very pretty on her hair. That day, the man came again and sat on the bench. "My mother bore a child today," he said to Mila. She couldn't help but be excited. "Congratulations! Is it a girl or a boy?" she asked. "A little baby sister," the man replied. "That's so cute!" Mila couldn't suppress her excitement. She pictured a little girl running around her feet playing. She knew it was going to be wonderful having a child around.

Soon after, the man came again but he wasn't smiling at all. He had a bottle in his hand and he couldn't walk straight. He slumped at the bench as he sat down. His eyes were swollen and had dark rings below it. "What happened?" Mila asked. "My sister-," he began to speak with a shaky voice. "My-, my sister-, she's dead. She died." "What? Why?" Mila asked again. "She wasn't healthy enough. Like what kind of prank is the world playing?" the man said. "What?" Mila was too stunned to say anything else. She was imagining a little girl in a little coffin next to lit candles. A woman was walking by and she stopped in front of the man, "I'm so sorry for your loss Clades." The woman touched his shoulder before walking away. "She was perfectly healthy when she came out." The man kept talking but Mila blocked him out. She was surprised when he suddenly screamed and threw the bottle at her feet. The shattered glass didn't cut her but it hurt her somewhere else deep inside.

Clades took out a small box from his inside pocket, and from it he pulled out a small stick with three fourths colored in white, and the other part orange. He took out a lighter and lit the stick that was now placed at his mouth, held together by his lips. When he pulled it out, white smoke came out from his mouth. The smell was kind of painful to the nose and lungs but no matter what, Mila cannot escape from it. The man did not leave until he had used up all his sticks.