Kumar sat down excitedly at the northwest corner of the enclosed veranda housing the one of many hawker stalls in the City. The smell of nasi lemak, Mala hot pot, and chili crab wafted towards him and he salivated. As a Diplomat for the Foreign Affairs office, he had spent many years abroad in different postings, from Brazil all the way to Japan, representing the goals and values of his own Republic but always missing the food.

Today was his retirement, and he finally got to sit down and eat proper food cocked by his countrymen. But today was just a little more important than that. It would be the first time seeing his son, Arjun, in six years. Because they moved around so much, his son had difficulty acclimating to one school. He knew his son felt some sense of loneliness and not feeling a part of anywhere. His son never said anything to him but after he went to university, he stopped speaking to him. Kumar only knew what he was doing because his ex-wife, Arjun’s mother, taught at the same university Arjun attended and they maintained a good relationship.

Kumar's plate of egg prata with curry came to him, right as his son walked into view. He looks so grown up, so handsome, Kumar thought. His son was a near spitting image of him, with the charming smile and full head of hair.

“Hi, Appa.” Arjun stood there, looking at his father who was in return looking at him awestruck.

“Appan....|...hello.” Kumar stood up to hug his son, but he hesitated. He didn’t know if his son would want to embrace him. He understoad if he didn’t. He tried his best as a father and he knew there were only so many battles a parent could win. He never laid a hand on Arjun and always made sure he got a good education wherever Kumar was posted.

Arjun stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then a slow smile creeped on his face.

“Dad, we're good. Don’t be weird and start crying. We're good.” Arjun said, smiling. Relief flooded Kumar’s mind. His son had forgiven him. He pulled his boy in for a hug and held him tight. He always thought that if he did his best for Arjun and never complain, Arjun may not hold him in contempt. That maybe time would heal those wounds. They did.

They sat down to egg prata, chili crab, and a couple of starfruit juices. They ate, silently at first. Both men were hungry. Kumar had so much he wanted to say to him, but he figured the best way to start.

“So Appan...what’s going on with you?”.

Lilja stared at the unconscious man she’d dragged into her shack, the soup she’d concocted sitting on the table with some stale bread. He looked unbearably old. No one she knew was that old — the ones who would have been were dead, among the eight billion killed when plague overwhelmed the overheated, over-exploited Earth.

Suddenly, the man jerked awake and looked around with wild eyes. The words were out before Lilja could stop them. “I won't hurt you.”

He focused on her face. “What's going on?”

“You're in my shack. This food is for you.” She paused, noticing the panicked look in his irises. Cautiously, she asked, “Are you alright?”

The man sighed, taking a sip of his soup and relaxing slightly. “I can’t find my family.” Lilja frowned. “You weren't with them?”

“Planet separation’s protocol for spaceworkers,” he said defiantly.

“You work in space?”

“Used to — fired last month. Boss said Earth needed the help. It’s obvious what he meant.”

“What?” Lilja dunked her bread into soup, looking at him.

He shook his head. “Everything's changed. | don’t think I'll ever find them.”

Lilja sighed, understanding what he was going through. Looking at the hunched figure of the man before her, she knew she had to do something more. “I can help you. You know, find your family. I'd know the planet better and...”

For the first time, the ghost of a smile traced the man’s lips. “Thank you,” he said softly. “I’m Kai.”

She smiled. “I’m Lilja. It's been really long since I shared a meal with someone.”

“I’m honoured.” He laughed. “Thank you, Lilja. This is great compared to Martian food.”

She grinned, then let it fade, thinking of his family. “Your family’s apartment —?”

“Deserted. There was a strange red cross on the door.” He sighed, fearing the worst.

Lilja looked down. That same cross had been on her door for two months until her parents died. Could she bear to put him through that?

Sensing her indecision, Kai said, “Better terrible truths than kind lies. Please.”

“The red cross means plague detection,” she said finally. “Your family is probably gone.”

A moment passed. The man bowed his head and clenched the edge of the table, knuckles white. He let out a shuddering breath.

In the shattered silence, Lilja kept her gaze down. “i’m sorry,” she whispered, “I lost mine too.”

Kai picked up his soup and headed for the entrance, leaning against a tin wall as he gazed into the empty night, searching for a family he’d never find. The orphaned girl crept up with her bowl and sat a distance away.

The shared meal lit the fire of hope in their hearts.

A boy sprinted down a narrow tunnel. His black hair was dirty and matted from ail the crumbling dirt above him.

“Joshua, we have another cave-in!” he yelled down the ailey. His name was Rohan, and together with his friend Joshua, they worked as the Yard keepers. The Yard was a graveyard on the far side of town, where no one but the poorest lived. It was dirty and foul-smelling, and no one ever went there.

Rohan and Joshua had been working in the yard since young, when they were taken from the orphanage to work there.

The boys lived in the narrow underground tunnels which networked across the entire Yard, which they called their own ‘city’. They had a bedroom, with hard mats and a small table with a broken leg that they had found in the trash dumps as well as a ‘kitchen’, where they stored what little food they had.

During the day, they scurried around the Yard, raking up fallen leaves, watering the Yard bushes, digging the actual graves, too. They even brought in the coffins!

Throughout the whole day, there was enough work for them to keep both of them busy.

They eat breakfast before the Sun rises and dinner after the Sun sets. At night, they go into their city, where it was cooler and do whatever they wanted, away from the watchful eyes of their employer.

As Rohan ran down the pathway, he kept calling. It was nearly six in the morning, and it was time to start work. But cave-ins were important and needed to be resolved as soon as possible.

Finally, Joshua responded.

“What is it, Ro?” he shouted from somewhere nearby.

“We have another cave-in,” was Rohan’s reply.

Joshua also knew how disastrous cave-ins could be. This one was right outside their kitchen and if they didn’t soive it quickly, their food would rot.

Joshua commanded Rohan to start cleaning it up while he went to find it. When Joshua reached the site, he saw that it was one of the largest cave-ins that had ever happened. It covered the entire tunnel and there were little bits of sharp stone everywhere.

After an hour of labouring and pulling rocks out, they were done. The cave-in rubble was gone and they could access the rooms again. It was hard work and time consuming, but it had to be done.

Joshua and Rohan had to keep their ‘city’ clean and rid hazards when they appeared in order to stay healthy and function properly.