Reach For the Stars!

It was a long street, filled with crowded tables.

Vendors, cooks, drunkards, songbirds, courtesans, and bustling waiters.

It was always this hectic at this hour, and the smell of roasting meat filled the whole street.

Not far behind them, skyscrapers soared towards the clouds, some shrouded in shadow, some coruscant with light. The cold solitude of their towering reach stood in stark contrast with the cheerful commotion of this cramped little street.

***

"Da Luo, take it easy, there." Lin Dong admonished, catching hold of Da Luo's beer bottle.

"What are you talking about? This is a rare gathering between us all! Come, I'll pour you a glass. Let's drink!" Swaying and tottering, he maneuvered the bottle towards Lin Dong's own glass.

His face was red as a boiled lobster. His eyes were unfocused, and his words were slurred.

Da Luo was totally wasted, which had probably been his intention all along.