• I padded through the streets of Durem, feeling lost and alienated in the very city I’ve lived in all these years. The streets were more crowded than before, both foot and vehicle traffic sluggishly slow. I remembered the days when I could actually walk through the streets without having to accidentally knock into anyone. I lamented the good old days.

    I even recalled foretelling the invention of those infernal four-wheeled machines – with the advent of housing, there was bound to be transportation of some sort. My Musculero sat in the garage at home – with its bulky frame, it would’ve caused much worse traffic than there already was. I’d rather walk.

    My pet Grunny ran at my heels, practically absorbing the filth off the cobblestone streets as it ran about, rolling and sniffing anything it came across. I promised myself to give it a bath later on. I was too busy pushing my way through the crowd, that I by the time I noticed the little hand squirming impatiently in mine, it was already too late. I looked down at the pale little face under the honey-colored swath of hair.

    “Scuppe – I mean, Naru, sweetie, what’s wrong?” I asked, even though I had a more than accurate guess as to why he was fidgeting.

    “I need to pee,” he whined, his big blue puppy dog eyes a sure warning that if I didn’t hightail it to the next bathroom we can find, I was going to be in a big mess.

    I silently cursed myself for wearing high heels as I threw my long Winter Rose Grand Bouquet on my shoulder like a shawl, picked Naru up with a bit of effort and squirmed my way through the crowd to the nearest establishment we could find – the Durem Depot.

    My Grunny barely made it past the swinging doors as I ran into the shop, where there was a sparse crowd of customers. Anyone can buy anything off the marketplace these days; barely anyone frequented the shops anymore.

    “Ei, Pau, how can I – ” One look at me in my pretty little outfit, my panicked expression and the squirming child in my hand was all it took for Moira to point me in the right direction. “Just don’t get my floor wet,” she said, cringing.

    I ran into the girl’s bathroom, not caring if anyone complained that I had a six-year-old boy with me.

    Thank god I managed to get through that without making a mess. He was merrily skipping and holding my hand when we exited the bathroom together.

    Moira sighed in relief when she saw that we seemed clean enough not to have gravely defiled her bathroom.

    “’Nuder emergency, eh?” she asked with a laugh, obviously amused by my predicament.

    “Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, memories of a previous incident flashing into my mind just as quickly as I hastily discarded them. I let go of Naru’s hands as some kids invited him to play, and he was off, running after them.

    “I don’t even know why you bothered,” said the shopkeeper. “You’re young. Why adopt?”

    “Because there was a surplus of poor, orphaned children,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “Come on, they needed homes.”

    “Oh, and you weren’t just following the trend.”

    I turned away, blushing. She had a point there. When everyone else was carrying around one of those little kids, I just had to have one as well. They were passing those kids around like Christmas presents so fast, I needed to get one before the stock ran out, so to speak. I would’ve claimed it was peer pressure, but it was really no one’s fault I blindly followed the trend. When I took in Scuppers, I decided I’d take care of him, instead of parading him around like some teacup Chihuahua. But that name had to go, seriously.

    “Got ya,” laughed Moira. After a short pause, she added, “Well, ya gonna buy something?”

    I shook my head. “I get my stuff off the marketplace,” I said. “Photoneer gets me what I need cheap.”

    “Oh, that Durem fanatic chick? Always in red and black?” She laughed again. “Man, can’t they dress sanely in this town?”

    “You’re one to talk,” I replied smugly. At least Photoneer didn’t have her hair up like that. Or a tattoo on her abdomen.

    She looked at me skeptically before eyeing me head to toe.

    I self-consciously flipped a wisp of my windy Elemental Hair. “So, I’m a bit flashy, so what?”

    With the Lilac Sparkle Empire Dress, I wore Jenny’s Innocent Heels, a Lavender Neck Ribbon and Felicia’s Gloves. A Purple Long-stemmed Rose was tucked into my dress, the Winter Rose Grand Bouquet safely in my hands again, while Gift of the Goddess Enlightened Laurel and a Radiant Prism Prismatic Halo crowned my Elemental Hair Essence of Wind. My Shadow Spirit’s flame aura blazed around my feet.

    “I’m going for a theme,” I explained peevishly.

    “Oh, is that so?” She walked up to a rack and took out a violet jacket, and made as if to straighten out a wrinkle on the hem. “I guess this little number won’t match your theme.”

    I stared at the item, wide-eyed. It was the perfect shade of violet that went with some of my items at home. Damn it. Moira had seen me in so much purple, she obviously knew what would catch my attention.

    “What theme?” I asked blankly, already walking towards her.

    She pulled the jacket away just as I made a grab for it.

    “Nah-uh-uh. That’ll be 3900 gold,” she said teasingly, waving the item before me.

    “Aw come on, I can get that discounted – ”

    “Tsk tsk tsk. This is a Purple Polar Expedition Pile Jacket. It’s a new arrival. You ain’t seeing this in any shop in the marketplace anytime soon.”

    I whined, furiously clutching the Winter Rose Grand Bouquet in my hands. I. Want. That. Jacket.

    …

    I left the shop with the shopping bag containing the jacket and a matching pair of boots in one hand, while the other held both the Winter Rose and little Naru’s hand.

    When temptation was held out before me like a delicious red apple, I easily caved in and snatched it like a hungry puppy. I had PM’ed Photoneer for the item’s present lowest price at the shops, and she’d told me there was only one out and it cost double the original shop price. At that moment, nothing sounded sweeter to Moira’s ears than the sound of my gold coins clanging on her counter. To me, it felt like a part of me was being hacked away. It was a fleeting pain though. I was already excited about the jacket as I hurried down the street.

    I wouldn’t let the grimy Grunny on my shoulder, so it sulkily rode in a shopping bag Naru had asked from Moira. She charged me for it.

    Competition, she said. If Edmund across the street wouldn’t let anyone haggle, neither was she. Haggle? I didn’t even know you can haggle! Can you?

    The foot traffic thinned as we approached a more uninhabited part of town. I couldn’t help but stop before what was once a lovely little house. I couldn’t tell what the exterior color used to be, as it was faded with age and covered with thick dark vines that crept through the cracks on the wall. The yard was dilapidated, the fence broken in many places. The faded name on the mailbox was the only trace of the previous owner’s prior existence. Ah, I knew that name.

    W. An old friend. She’d upped and left some two years ago, claiming that she hated Gaia. She never told me why though. We tried communicating for a while, but having to leave Gaia to seek her out tired me, and we eventually lost contact. Oh well, she was happy where she was, and I can’t just go annoying her, popping out randomly like a leprechaun.

    Anyway, she wasn’t the only one who’d left like that. My friends Q and M have left as well, forming some Anti-Gaia Club wherever they are now. The system was screwed, they claimed. It probably was, but I was rarely hanging out with the rest of the community. I spent too much time window shopping, playing a few round of cards at Gold Mountain and fishing to be around anymore.

    It was a bot that had caused Q to not only get kicked out of the marketplace, but out of the community as well. He’d tried time and time again to get back in, but he always got the boot. M was suspected of crimes she wasn’t even aware of, and since then hadn’t been seen again.

    My brother H had gotten sick of the place, not sure if it still had anything to offer him, so he’d gone and left for greener pastures. We still communicate though, and he really can’t figure out why I’m still sticking around.

    I’ve invited friends to Gaia, S and K, but they didn’t stay too long either.

    I stopped reminiscing and walked on, picking up speed.

    …

    It took us the rest of the day to reach Isle de Gambino, and by that time, I had already put on my Purple Polar Expedition Pile Jacket, changed into the Purple Polar Expedition Boots andput aside my Winter Rose and Elemental Hair. They were getting itchy and harder to carry anyway.

    I left Naru and the naughty Grunny to play with Peyo at the Gambino Hat Rack and even bought a Dog Tag at Agatha’s on the way. I was on a spending spree, whether I liked it or not.

    As I entered the Gambino Marketplace, it didn’t shock me to see the throng people dressed alike, clones with the same newbie hair styles and starter clothes – charity cases, no; they were bots, cronies of rich so-called entrepreneurs that did nothing but exploit others for gold. I bumped into several as I entered, thankful that I’d changed clothes and left the boy and ferocious little pet at Ruby’s. My Grunny would have mauled these stupid creatures.

    I was sure there were more of these bots in the Communities, and I’d gotten a kick out of reporting a few while I was in there. Today, though, I didn’t have time to pick on scum like them. It was time for business. Maybe later though, I’ll give them some of my time.

    On my way to Photoneer’s, I passed by n00bs, all talking in their weird languages, which I took to be some form of fragmented English or some bizarre alien lingo. They were talking big as well, as if they owned the place. You could easily tell they were n00bs from the way they dressed – nothing but Cash Shop items. Either that or they wore too much free stuff. There are oldies as well who wore CS items, but hey, they didn’t overdo it as much.

    Sure, I wouldn’t be able to afford the lovely CS items, but I knew how hard I worked for my scanty inventory of clothing. The Padmavati sitting on my window sill was the only evolving CS item I owned.

    When I arrived at Photoneer’s, I bumped into no one else but D, who apparently had the same purpose here as I had.

    “Hey, where’s the rush?” he asked, suddenly holding me at arm’s length, as if appraising my appearance. “Hm… What happened to my muse? I could barely recognize her without the blowing hair, the white roses – ”

    I shoved him before he could go on any further with his stupid narration. “Doesn’t Jack have anything to for you to do? Like harvest pumpkins or something?”

    He laughed loudly. D was my younger cousin, though he was a head taller than me. He fancied himself a servant of Pumpkin Jack, always wearing the Jack Uniform proudly. Though Jack never called for his service, he would always be off to join the other Jack loyals in serving the Halloween King whenever the creepy holiday approached.

    “Why don’t we sit aside and talk for a while?” he suggested. Talk? He lived next door to me, for crying out loud; we always talked.

    I shoved him again and said, “I’m visiting Photoneer. You going with?”

    “Bah. Just been there. Sick of her face. I’m going home. Later.”

    He strode off quickly. Bah back at ya, I thought to myself. I doubted every single word he said just now. He obviously has a thing for P.

    Photoneer greeted me with her usual sly smile, her eerie red eyes glowing ominously. I kept telling her to lose the creepy red Oculus Mythica, but she kept told me she wasn’t going to surrender her Durem pride and asked where I’d placed mine.

    “M-my house,” I stammered in reply. It was true that my house had red and black banners hanging down one wall, but the Durem spirit touched little else. There were tatami mats on the floor, on which rested an ethnic rug and cushions. The door and window were of Japanese style, tying in with nothing else in the room. My abode was a mixed lot, a combination of nothing and everything, and I was eager to have it remodeled.

    Photoneer smirked in response, her blazing red hair making her seem more vicious than she actually was. “Okay, let’s get down to business,” she slurred.

    She was my business partner, and D was sort of our sidekick in the business venture. P sold everything both she and I had to offer. House décor, used clothes, undesirables… I’d send her my stuff, and she’d sell them no questions asked. In turn, I was the one who sought and bought discounted items for us.

    She wasn’t s flashy as I, only keeping to the bare essentials of fashion – everything red and black that would proudly declaim her Durem blood – she refused to wear anything over her Durem Shirt lest it not be recognized.

    “Where’s the kid?” she asked while we were cleaning up after our transactions were through.

    “With Ruby and Peyo.”

    “Good.” She paused for a while. “This place is rotting. Rotting like any capitalist lot.”

    “Tell me about it.”

    “See those bots? They’re outnumbering us, and soon, we’ve all left, cutting our losses and leaving behind everything we’ve worked for.”

    I fell silent. I’ve seen it. People leaving. People I’d never and would have never known. My friends, people who’ve settled here before or after I have.

    “Well, it can only apply to people like us. Those n00bs can have it all. Let them spend their Gaia Cash here. What can’t you buy with that anymore?”

    The new wave had indeed arrived. There was no longer room for us, those who started out with scratch and had nothing to our name save the time and energy to build from ground up. I remembered the time when we, not them, would have been prosperous, but it was ironically the time that I was poorest.

    She continued. “Take care of the kid. Take him and leave when it gets too much, okay?”

    “I’ve lived here too long,” I said, almost to myself.

    I could feel it though. When the time came, I was going to leave, leave for good. No more fancy clothes, silly trinkets and bulky cars. This culture of spending needed to end… The question is, when will I grow up?