THE STREETS TURNED BLUE AND GREEN

THE STREETS TURNED BLUE AND GREEN

“The whole neighborhood is abandoned.” Aleyah adjusted her hijab and grinned at her two friends. “Literally.”

They dangled their legs from the edge of the floating school. At this time of day, the great Neo-Mahaweli River surged through Colombo, its tides raised by the drainage canals and influx from the mangrove belt.

“Nobody cleaned it out? What happened?” Nejuni seemed skeptical of Aleyah’s claim, as did Chandrani.

“Well, the army cleaned it out after the flooding became too bad to handle, but they overlook things, no? I bet there is something left to find.”

The sun glittered on the fortified island of the distant port city, way out in the mangroves. Winding aquaponics gave the high-rises an almost organic silhouette, and Aleyah wondered for a second what life up there had to be like.

“Let’s go.” Chandrani smiled and showed the white of her teeth. “I want to see this.”

Published in: Little Blue Marble, September 2018

Science Fiction, Short Fiction

Publication Date: 28. September 2018