My head rests on the window as I try to sleep. My eyes have been closed for the last hour, but my anxiety forbids it. I open my eyes and sigh with a sense of defeat.

I consider counting the seconds that each city takes to pass by like I loved doing when I was younger, but these cities are foreign to me.

My fingers tap furiously on my thigh, yearning to hold something, to be productive. I reach between my feet for my backpack and set it on my lap. I undo the zipper and fumble around inside it. My eyes finally find my sketchbook and pencil.

I open it to a blank page and close my eyes. I love doing this. This exercises the bond between my mind and my hand, one of the advantages of a superactive brain. I clear my mind as my hand begins to trace one of the fleeting images. It guides the pencil into long sweeps and short scribbles that I recognize as shading. 

I can sense when the drawing is finished and open my eyes to admire my work. I cock an eyebrow at what I have drawn. Why in hell would I have drawn that? I want to brush it off and forget about it, but my hand only draws things that my brain attaches meaning to, so there has to be some reason why I have drawn what I drew. 

The crackle of a voice over a loudspeaker snaps me back to reality.

Current stop: Western Capitol. Next stop: Eastern Capitol.

I shove my sketchbook and pencil back into my bag, folding up the drawing. I want to crumple it up, throw it away, but it is probably the best drawing I have ever done, and I can't bear to part with it.

I stand up, my backpack slung over my right shoulder, and start making my way toward the exit. The air is cool but not as fresh as it is back in the tiny Village that unknowingly hosts the Dissent. Even though everything used in the Capitol is environmentally friendly (we almost lost our earth to pollution a couple centuries ago, we learned from our mistakes), the air seems thin. Probably because it is trying to satiate about one billion people.

The buildings and monuments sparkle (A/N Like Bowie in the morning sun lol MCR reference.). It is beautiful to me, but sad in a way. People who have never left the Capitol have never seen the stars that shine even more brilliantly, or the moon that turns everything its light touches into silver. The lights and displays in the Capitol are all nothing but an imperfect replica of the night sky. It has to change. Everyone needs to see the natural lights. The government has replaced almost all natural beauty with artificial beauty. People need to see the stars, how they resemble the flicker of excitement in a child's eyes. They need to see the true beauty that has been hidden from most of us. Everyone deserves to see the stars.

Everyone does.