Absent lights

1

It's the start of another uneventful day.

The sound of my alarm clock tells me that it's time to get up. I'm then greeted by gray clouds and light rain outside my window. Tch, typical. When you're living in the dreary country of England, this is to be expected.

*** I guess I should start my morning routine. I got out of bed to prepare breakfast, which consisted of the usual breakfast tea and slightly burnt scones because I can't be bothered to prepare something heartier. Nowadays, it doesn't even taste like actual food. It's just that redundant. After eating, I took a quick shower and later put on my typical, bland work clothes along with my mask, a neutral expression with disinterested green eyes, thick furrowed brows, and a small annoyed frown. ***

• • I might as well explain why I have a mask and why do I have to wear it. In the recent years, society as a whole started to gain a resentment towards expression in terms of facial indications and actions. Basically, many activists, as well as numbers of people in the government, claimed that the expression of human emotions causes detrimental effects to the way other people function. It may sound ridiculous in retrospect but if you think about it, the way you look at or speak to people does affect what they feel about you, especially if they take it the wrong way. • •

**There are many instances they like to use as justification for their belief. Such cases include people being two-faced, being emotional and dramatic, and being themselves. Sometimes, people have to present themselves as the best version of themselves but when others realize who you really are, they get upset and start bashing the person for not being themselves. On the other side of the coin, if you pour out your emotions and feelings in your words and actions and show off your real self, people then tell you that you should not be like that because they don't like it because it doesn't meet up to their standards . Simply voicing opinions or sending your view through the way you express your self is bound to cause aggression, even if you didn't mean to. To put it short, these incidences served as proofs that human individuality and sentiments are hindrances to the progression of society.**

## Overtime, as more people started to become more easily offended by just one look or expression and thus leading to one argument or fist-fight after another, governments in almost all nations started to mandate the usage of masks to cover up people's identities and emotions when they're in public. They assigned these masks to only have blank, neutral expressions so that people wouldn't see and know what expression the person is really wearing. They also obliged people to modulate their voices and body language so that our emotions won't be susceptible to others. ##

• •Many disagree with this mandate, which is only logical since it restricts freedom of expression and creativity. It's like censorship that makes life even more dull than it already is. As much as people fight back against it, they won't listen to what they have to say. Despite a number of wide-scale striking or rallying, only a small dent was made to their closed minds. They believe that through this law, our society can become a utopian paradise if people didn't express themselves thus lessening opinions and fighting due to opposing beliefs when in reality it only isolates people more and makes them secluded in themselves, thus making it difficult for society to function as a whole. • •

*The rain started to grow stronger so I went to grab my umbrella and struggled to open it. One of the downsides of wearing masks is that it obstructs most of your field of vision so even doing simple tasks can be difficult. It's a good thing that we're allowed to take off our masks when we are at our workplace or else work would be more difficult to do. We don't interact much in the workplace so it's fine that we go around mask-less.*

*I walked out of my apartment building into the wet streets of London to catch the train to my 9-to-5 writing job. I work at a newspaper agency where I proofread the articles to be published and see whether they are good enough to put in the newspaper or not, it depends on the content of the article especially when it concerns the masks we're obliged to wear. Opinionated articles are not allowed to be published if they don't meet or are against with what the ideas the government imposes. A lackluster job but suitable for some boring fellow like me. It's not the best but I receive enough pay to be able to live in this city so I can't really complain. *

I joined along the crowd of people rushing to get to work. Despite the bad weather, the city was busy as always. To a bystander, they'd see a sea of umbrellas moving along to different places, like some sort of sight from a movie. To me, I only see the tunnel that leads to the London Underground as I speed walk towards it. I could only hope that there won't be any long lines or complications to deal with today. It's already 8:30 am and I can't risk being late because even if it's rainy, the boss wouldn't allow tardiness.

After some time, I got in the train to my relief and got to St. Paul's station in a nick of time. The building where I work at is just around the next street. I dashed through the throngs of people, nearly bumping into some of them. Of course, since I'm wearing a mask, it's hard for me to see things clearly. It's almost a miracle that I didn't stumble. Perhaps Lady Luck is by my side today.

Or not.

To my misfortune, I eventually ran into someone. I was thrown back and landed on the wet pavement, nearly dropping my things and my mask. I looked  up to the person I collided with, hoping that they won't be too angry. "Sorry!" I said, as I quickly stood up and reached my hand out, "I was in a rush and I didn't see you. Are you okay?". I might get late today but I have to at least apologize to this person rather than just immediately leaving. That would be a rude thing to do.

"Non, it's okay. I'm fine. Merci." The man said with a strong foreign accent. Ah, he's French, a tourist perhaps considering the luggage he's carrying. He got up and brushed himself off, "I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry about that.". I then realized that I had let go of my umbrella and I was already getting drenched by the rain and the same was already happening to him. Looking around, I couldn't find my own umbrella.

"Is this yours?" I turned to the stranger who was holding my umbrella above my head. His expression was hidden by his mask but I can almost feel the awkward smile on his face.

# The man was around the same height as me, only a few inches taller. He's also blonde like me but his hair is a few shades lighter compared to my own hair. He was slightly muscular too, his soaked clothes showing off his well-built frame. It would also seem that even other countries took in the mandate as well since he was also wearing a mask like everyone else. His mask was painted with sharp yet amused blue eyes, a stubble, and a slight smile, which I found odd since it's not common for people's masks to have a smile considering it was obligatory to keep their expressions neutral. Maybe the law is slightly different in France, who knows. #

"Err, yes. Thank you, mister uhm...".

"It's Francis. There's no need to be formal." He said, handing me my umbrella and reaching for his own on the ground. I suddenly realized that I'm really running late for work now.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, I best be going now." I hurriedly said and I continued on my way.

"Wait!" I stopped on my tracks when he called for me, "Can I at least know your name?". I suppose it's uncouth for me to just leave without telling him who I am after he told me his name.

"I'm Arthur. I apologize for not telling you earlier but I really need to leave. I'm going to be late for work." I shouted back yet not bothering to glance back at him. I'm not even sure if he heard me but I don't have time to even wonder about that. I reached the door to the building, closed my umbrella and hurriedly went inside. Immediately, I rushed to the elevator and pressed the button to the office, sighing in relief. Hopefully I wasn't too behind schedule for today.

# I thought about what happened earlier, with the foreigner. In the scene of overcast skies, rain, and blank-faced people walking by dull-colored buildings, he stood out like a source of light in a dark room. I can't really explain it but the way he presents himself doesn't feel restrained like many, like me. Even though we're not allowed to be expressive in any way, shape, or form, that man's presence felt like as if he is trying to voice out something even if he wasn't doing anything particularly unusual, like an open book. That or his mask. Maybe his nationality even. I can't tell. #

The elevator door opened and I snapped myself back to reality. After leaving my drenched umbrella in the reception area, changing my wet jacket, and getting chewed out by my boss for being late, I sat down in my small cubicle and received the first article to be reviewed. There is a lot of work to be done so I took off my mask, allowing myself to breathe after having my face covered up for so long. I placed my mask aside and got my pencil as I started reviewing the article.

I guess it's nice to break out of routine sometimes.