I'd Like to Go (to Earthland and Beyond)

Job:

Human life is priceless, and nothing can compare in worth.  Right.  That was what Leah had always believed, but if it was so...

Why did the population of Hargeon Town sound and smell like a herd of stampeding cattle, totally undirected and generally accomplishing nothing?  Worse, it made things difficult for any other person to do anything.

The girl's right eyebrow twitched as a young mother rolled an infant carrier right over four of her toes.  With a pained smile, the redhead nudged it off of the bruised digits as the woman breathlessly mouthed an excuse me.  For fear of being trampled, Leah retreated to the narrow, shadowy aisle between two kiosks.

So where was the passport booth again?

Her red hair dangling in sweaty chunks above her waist, the mage scanned the area hopelessly.  As she wiped her brow, her jade eyes caught sight of several clusters of people mobbing a series of small structures, one of which was undoubtedly her target location.  A small sigh escaped her lips as Leah realised that the crowd's position had rendered incapable of reading the posters pasted on the wooden booths.  Much to her dismay, it seemed necessary to venture into the sea of insanity.

And so she did.

Wedging herself in between two disgruntled strangers, Leah managed to get out of her spot of shade and began to head over in the direction of the busiest line.  In her opinion. it stood to reason that she might find the passport officials there.  The little books seemed to be in particularly high demand today, to her chagrin.  Upon arrival after a sweaty bout of squeezing between people under the sweltering sun, the mage was faced with the realization that yes, it was the right line.

And yes, the wait was two hours and sixteen minutes, according to the magical sign that measured the average time per customer and multiplied it by the amount of waiting left, tailored specifically to each person who looked at it.  What a clever device.  How much joy it brought to Leah.

After unsuccessfully attempting to barge through the line-- she'd had only a smidgen of hope that it would work anyways-- the redhead settled for getting out of line.  It went against all her instincts, because she had fought a disgusting battle to get to this point, but the girl let everyone else pass her.  Instead of staying in line, she headed up front, maneuvering through the crowds that surrounded the line.  They were much less wary of any skippers.

When she was barely a few meters away from the booth, she collapsed into a dead faint, leaning on a random passerby with all her weight.  Suffice to say, she was not pleased and immediately looked to shove her off.  Not being made of stone (with a heart like such), the woman reluctantly passed Leah along to another stranger, so the girl wouldn't be trampled.

In this manner, she was finally set down under the cool side awning of the passport booth, at which point the girl stumbled to her feet and slid along the structure to the front of the line, where she got herself a passport with the sympathy of the other customers, who understood her need to see a doctor as soon as possible.  Poor thing.

504 Words.