Opening her eyes, Ehtra woke up because of the extreme heat, sweating profusely. Not noticing that a colorful light flash passed her eyes, which immediately disappeared. Wiping the sweat from her temple, she rose and sat in her small single bed while gasping for air and fanning herself to cool down, because if not, she might have heatstroke any moment.
Inside her room, the living conditions were awful. The room was very small, 2 by 2.4 meters in size, and it had no proper ventilation. The ceiling fan was barely providing any air to cool Ehtra down. There's a small window on the side through which the morning sunlight passes, giving the dark room some light.
Having cooled down a little, Ehtra tried to stand up to get herself some water from the kitchen, but she felt a little dizzy, so she found support using her left hand on the plywood wall surrounding her room while her right hand was holding her head.
A while later, she braced herself and opened the door to her room. She then slowly walked towards their kitchen to get herself some water.
Similarly, their kitchen was also small and simple. With no food readily available on their table. Their house's size in total was 12 by 12 meters. Ehtra lives with her grandmother and younger brother, Ehtan. Their house has a total of three small rooms: one for her grandma, one for her brother, and one for herself. All their rooms, similarly, encompass a 2 by 2.4-meter area each, equating to 6 by 7.2 meters in total. The remaining area from the house's total size of 12 by 12 meters was encompassed by their kitchen, living room, and comfort room.
After drinking the water, Ehtra checks her grandma's room and finds out she's already gone to find something for them to eat. On the other hand, her younger brother has just come out of his room, preparing to go to school. He's currently a grade 6 student.
"Are you going to school already?" Ehtra asked her brother curiously as she looked at the old clock on the wall and found out it was almost 7:30 in the morning.
"Yes, Sis, and I'm actually running late." Her brother said hurriedly as he put on his school shoes.
"Have you eaten?" Ehtra asked.
"Not yet, besides, there's no food." Her brother replied with a sad smile.
"Oh, wait for me, I have some money left in my room." Not wanting her brother to go to school hungry, Ehtra said hurriedly before her brother could decline, as she went back inside her room.
Taking out the money, mostly coins from her used, washed-out jeans hanging on the back of the door, she immediately went out again to give the money to her younger brother.
"Here, buy something you can eat. If there's left, save it for the next day or for your projects, okay?"
"Okay, sister. Thank you!" Her brother said, deeply touched inside.
Her brother then bid her goodbye and hurriedly went to school. Fortunately, the school was just 10 meters away, within walking distance from their house.
Ehtra saw her brother run as fast as he could towards his school. She felt immensely sad looking at her brother's bright back view. Her brother was still young and had no idea of the cruel reality of life.
She was also just like him, brimming with a bright dream to succeed in this life, but as she grew older, the reality slapped her hard. No matter how diligent you are to reach that dream, you will still be poor and not succeed as long as the rich and suppression prevail.
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That's why she really hates injustice.