Chicago. The city of beaches, a place where masters of the arts showcase their talent, a city that never sleeps and people flock to for dreams unknown.. A cold, wet city struggling to get by on waitresses dreaming of making it big and taxes that bleed your soul. It's here that Colin Trent finds himself, and where he plans on running from. Not a year in this forsaken city and still, somehow everything had gone wrong. His boyfriend branded him a lost cause, his workplace, sunk from tax issues and overspending from their head of operations. No it was this night as the rain fell outside, that Colin realised he should leave, put everything behind him and make amends with some friends who he'd estranged years earlier. It wouldn't be difficult, the last he knew they lived so near..

He found himself moving, out of the cheap, plywood room he'd been calling home for weeks on end. Packing a bag with all the necessities, Colin stepped out on his gambit, a risk to reconnect with his past, an impulse the likes of which were rare for him.
The streets hummed with their neon signs and LCD screens, wares and declarations of business offers propped up by empty shop windows and brick walls. People crowded the sidewalks, huddled closely underneath canopies and umbrellas away from the rain and wind, though it would do little to stop the anger in the wind that night, nor the tears of the clouds as they wailed. Onwards the little man trekked, while the downpour pounded on his coat and hood he continued forwards, moving slowly ever onwards to a destination in mind.

The dim glow of a taxi greeted him, the familiar yellow hue mixed with paint of green and white illuminating the word "TAXI". From below, the window cracked open and a man reached his head out, unconcerned with the rain crashing onto his cap.
"Taxi, Mister? Hop in and where to? You name it-- Anywhere on the Earth!"
He slumped in, the suspension buckled under the new weight, shook unnaturally as the door shut, yet remained in one piece. "Paris, please!" he cried, buckling in his seatbelt.
"Which Paris, pal? Paris, Herrera? Paris, Texas? Paris, France?"
"No, Paris-- Illinois!" he laughed.

The Crown Victoria pulls away from the curve, the dull hum of the engine does little to mask the heavy downpour of rain that echoes on its hollow, metal shell. The cabbie flicks a switch and his sign flickers, then cuts out. The shadows of night reclaims its dominion once again.
"Illinois, huh? What's your story?"
"Visiting old friends." the Passenger boasted loudly
The walls of the cab did little to mask dull the sounds of the outside, engine hums and car honks seemed to cascade through the car, heightening them so not one sound could be dismissed. Turning the wheel, the car pulled out of the street and onto another, the thumping of the city quietened as they continued to move.
"Ahh old friends," The Driver stares off wistfully. "Always a pleasure to see them again. How long has it been, pal?"
"Too long" Colin laughs "Been nearly a year since I've seen anyone."

"Ah, you tried your luck with the city and she spat you back out?" the Cabbie asked, knowingly.
Jovial and in high spirits Colin nodded, a hint of embarrassment on his lips.
"Well not to bother, pal, not everyone makes it where they are now. I should know, with who I've driven! In my business, you deal with customers of all types-- rich, poor, sane, insane..." The Cabbie chuckles for a short moment,
"This one woman, poor lady, she forgot her purse by her door and we'd reached her destination by the time we realised. The lady was in tears, talking about her failed pottery business, she even tried paying me with some glass vases she was carrying!"

The rain continued to pour as they edged towards the city limits, the numbers of cars thickened as the amount of buildings fell, till there were no more around. The Cabbie turned on his headlamps as the streetlights ended, the light and hums of vehicles, and the lights of the city being the only signs of life beyond the silent scope of night. No moon was out, and the stars hid from the city as though they did not wish to see what had become of it in recent years. The soft playing radio breaks through the silence, and brings the two back to reality.

"Well what did you do?" Colin asked.
"Of course I turned us around so she could pick it up, I wouldn't leave a valued customer empty handed. Especially not one in need. But the real pay-off comes one day while I'm waiting at an Orleans Hackstand..."
"Louisiana?" surprised at the distance this cabbie travelled
"9-Planet Taxis, you name the place and we'll get you there.."

"It's not a busy day and I was about to head in for the night when the back of my cab opens. I hear an old, harsh voice tell me
'Baton Rouge, Cabbie! And don't take the long way around the lake!'
I could tell this passenger didn't want any small talk, not that I really wanted to give any after that introduction, so we passed the time in silence. Now when we got to the city, I turn around to pick up my fare, but the old man jumped out the back and scarpered!"

The Cabbie's hand flies around as he retells the story, posing and swaying with the developments, scrunching into a fist he shakes when voicing the man, shaking it at the door when explaining when the man ran. Finally he knocks on the window. "Now since then I started using the locks." "Now all they run into is a hard door!"
"You can lock someone in here? Is that legal?"

"Of course! If someone tries anything we lock them in here and drive them to a station. But that's not how the story ends, you see the man ended up catching my cab again. I cruised the city hoping to catch sight of him, but just when I don't want fares a family pile in, now I still have a job to do and money to earn, it's not like I can put it to the side for someone I might not meet again."
"So I'm hop-skipping across the city for the next few days, I'm moping around listening to the news when suddenly I hear the door swing open and I see a man leap in, and I mean leap, it was a full on dive! I look around to see my fare-- and it's the man again!I'm so excited I forget to act surprised and he recognises me. He even pulls a gun on me! Tells me to step on it!"
"A gun?! Why?

"Well it turns out he had ticked off more than just myself, I didn't know it at the time but the man had been making enemies with people in the city, stealing from a few thugs, kicking the wrong person, you understand... Course I wasn't about to let him get away again, I smacked him in the jaw and knocked away the gun. You might not believe it but that knocked him right out! I took the gun and drove him to the station. Of course I locked the back in case he tried anything funny, I'd learnt my lesson from last time. I didn't get my pay but at least he got behind bars! HA!"

"But back onto you, pal. What's your plan now?

...

The first break of dawn cut between the buildings of Paris, Illinois by the time they arrived, exhausted and contempt with the long conversation he had just had, Colin smiled at the Cabbie, handing him what he owed and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Sunlight rippled and danced across the water where the once-Passenger's foot trod. He knew not what was in store for him next, but he strolled away happily all the same. The taxi pulled away, its windows tinting gray as it reflected in the sun, and once again the Cabbie searches for his next appointment.

Some men like to work indoors. But he's strictly an outside man--So he pushes a taxi around all day... But these days, a hackie gets fares anywhere under the sun...