The road stretched before her endlessly. It shone and sparkled inviting a mirage or two. The white stripes painted for the lanes made a striking contrast with the black road. Wonder which politician is coming to visit, she thought.

An old lady walked by with her poodle. The poodle sniffed here and there, squatted down and was about to impart its daily gift. It looked up at its master, gave a slight nod, and paused, its hind section in mid air. A plastic bag and tissue miraculously appeared in the old lady’s hand. She bent down on creaking knees and scooped up the golden nuggets. They smiled at each other and walked on.

Two little girls skipped along, turning cartwheels on the road, walking on their hands, and then ate some cookies from their bag. They wiped their faces with a tissue and put it in a bag. They later put it in a large garbage bin that was situated at the side of the road.

A couple of cars slowed down and she cringed, wondering what color rain would fall on her. But the people in the car just smiled, waved and drove on.

Feeling disoriented, she walked into a big mall. Desperately, she walked around looking for her favorite graffiti. It was her favorite pastime, trying to figure out what special material was used for a particular design. The deserted hallways had clean white walls. Even the walls around the washrooms showed no designs from any residue.

What is wrong with the world today, she wondered?

There was unusual traffic in the aisles. Men seemed to be heading to the restrooms in droves. Why are they wasting time doing their business behind a closed door, she wondered. Climbing down to the food court, she noticed that the floor was slippery from all the polish. There was not a speck of dust, nor any wads of paper or crushed soda cups on which to anchor your feet as you traversed the familiar obstacle course. Surrounded by pristine, empty floors all around, she felt adrift, like being shipwrecked on a small raft in the middle of the ocean.

And then she came upon a sign that shocked her out of her mind. Two hundred bucks for a sandwich? Hasn’t inflation gone down, she wondered. Why are they charging me double? ‘This is just a deposit’, the server said. Our camera will monitor where you throw your disposable containers, plates etc. And our staff will monitor the camera. If you place it all in the trash can, you will get 100 bucks back. Otherwise, we will keep it as a cleaning fee.’

‘What?’ What, what, what? Are you out of your mind?’, she spluttered.

“Madam, check your bill please. See the item CAT below the VAT? That is your Cleaning Allowance Tax, and it is 100%!

A CAT force has been formed and they have orders to Clean at Sight!”

And suddenly, it all made sense.

This is a piece of fiction written for ‘The Great Indian Litterbug’ on Indiblogger.

Image by patpitchaya on www.freedigitalphotos.net