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Lana Bengston Advanced Placement English 5-6 Period 3 February 20, 2006 Void A thin sliver of a moon tries uselessly to light the streets below. Its few shafts of light cannot penetrate the depth of the shadows--shadows of buildings toiling over their meaningless products; shadows of trapped men and women; shadows of the things forced to live off the rest. Protruding into the dark sky, the smoke stacks of a tireless factory stand like the horns of a malevolent beast. Their immense weight tests the strength of the decrepit building. Debris layers the worn roof like the scales of a thick skinned monster. This faceless building looms unwanted, casting shadows and darkness. Sounds of clanging chains and cables that grind together, escape through the cracked and crumbling walls along with the hissing and clamping of mechanical jaws. The ever increasing sounds of the screeching machines are run by mindless men who have become deaf to the screaming metal ripping at their ear drums. These sounds send chills up the spines and pinch the ears of the few remaining outside who could find no other place willing to take them. They must watch as the old and worn bricks strain to make the buildings faade stand just a little bit longer as the despair of the world around is squeezing out the last of its remaining life. Windows collect dust because the eyes of the monster never stop watching, even to blink away the dirt. All around the building, the color has been chipped away from the rough bricks leaving behind gray jagged edged walls.

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Faceless people shrink together against the rough wall hiding from the cold biting wind as their skin is scraped by the building with malicious intent. Spots darkened with a dead red shade are thrown across the walls as a reminder of treacherous acts that have been watched by the malicious eyes of the monster. Shadows lurk even in the walls and bricks of the decrepit beast exaggerating the roughness of its skin. Hiding in the roughness of the walls are heavy lines where the cracks have been concealed. Weeds choke the edges of the building trying to pull it apart by cracks it hides so slyly, but the weeds only manage to exaggerate the age and persistence of the beasts dominance. It smiles a sinister smile at the thought of its power over its hopeless inhabitants. The buildings looming height leaves the street in shadow where estranged people in rags, covered with dirt and human waste, come to hide from the menacing world. Their faces are long and pale with the misery and monotony of their dirty lives. Greasy hair filled with soot and matted into thick scraggly knots hang in their faces, closing them off from the outside world. Hollow eyes peer out from the dark curtain searching the ground for anything of value. Their mouths are dry and cracked from prolonged thirst while their heavy heads weigh down their hunched over shoulders. Arms seem to be quickly screwed on to their bent shoulders while their long boney fingers pick through trash. Dirt is collected and stored under their uneven nails from this necessary habit. Some twist their famished legs up against their frigid body as the wind howls and coils around them picking up dust and dirt that it can then toss at the miserable few. The miserable few, who huddle together against the harsh night air. Air so cold it burns their noses

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and fills their lungs with soot and toxins as they drag in one more gulpbreath. These harsh surroundings make their insides writhe with discomfort. Smoke and ash spew forth from treacherous columns of the factorys mighty horns to strengthen the burning air and lend it an acid flavor. Their eyes burn as well, for the chemical air climbs in around the dark vacancy of their eyes to further entrench them in its bitterness. Through these eyes they can see the rips and tears of worn down cloth that hangs from the angled bodies of their wretched company. They know that they are in the same horrid condition as those they see. They see skin that tightly closes around gaunt frames revealing bumps and recessions of bones trapped underneath the bruised skin of the beings around them. Soot unleashed from the terrifying horns envelopes them all in a jacket they know they can never escape. Nothing they know is free from filth and grime. Even they, themselves, are filthy with the rotten smell that steams off their unwashed skin from underneath their filthy casing. The smell will travel with them always, attracting unwanted pests that search for the remains of something resembling food. Between the feet of the bereft and scattered few crawl small flea ridden creatures savaging for crumbs too small and dirty for even the hungriest man. Their greased bodies slide past the unsuspecting feet of their larger fellow inmates. These squalid creatures nervously dart from place to place starting then stopping again hoping to find shelter from the monsters above. Long whiskered noses sniff in a constant search for sustenance. High pitched cries of dissatisfaction are forced from their bodies as their stomachs call for relief. Their tails move back and forth like a snakes tongue would move while searching for its pray. From their frantic movements scratching

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and screeching sounds of four sets of claws are made against the hard ground irritating the things above them. Winged pests circle above feeding on large and small from their needle like mouths. The constant buzzing that emerges from them is one more nuisance to add to the never ending list. There are many things that can be found lurking restlessly in the shadows but beware, for the jaws are searching for new lives to consume. After all, this place, this void, will consume all who stay too long.