Interstate Travel Agency

As Gomez strolled past a Ramen place inside the alleyway at a warm night, the stench of swine almost suffocated him. How could people endure the foul smell and taste of it? He hated people who ate meat, especially because he himself is a vegan. To him, killing animal is a sin that deemed unforgivable. Every single living animal that based their life on other living animals should be executed immediately.

No way could he not quicken his pace and walked out of that dark alley. The bright blue spotlights shone at him as he stepped out from the shadow, he was blinded for a second while the eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness. The main road was crowded with tourists and vehicles, they were on the street as well as the sky level. The vibrant neon signs and spotlights overhead rendered the place like a giant stage, everyone could be in character, everything else could be the props.

He squeezed through a line of Korean speaking in English and hurried to the next block. There he struggled pass another group of Japanese and Chinese, eventually reaching his destination. The Interstate Travel Agency.

It was just eight at night and foreign tourists from all over the state were already lining up for the overnight service. Most of them were coming from the Asian countries that have an almost inverted time zone, the state thought it would be great to open up the agency at night to process these people's inquiry and applications to balance the work flow in the day.

Ever since the US announced the visa-free visit to Asia countries, New York had been overwhelmed by the number of visitors everyday, and the limitation on crossing the state border had also increased the workload of the Travel Agency. The screening of the applicant to another state was as easy as checking their personal belongings and signing a good behavior letter, but the actually process was a nightmare.

The most common problem he had to deal with was language, the Japanese and Chinese had absolutely spoiled his bad temper, nothing he said or point at could be of any help. Sometime people weren't willing to let them perform a scan on their bag or body, which of course, in most case they carried potentially illegal properties. 

The day off work was the day to sleep till his brain stopped functioning. But sometime he would take a walk in Central Park with his dog, Willie, and enjoy the peaceful moment at a corner of the city's paradise. It had been quite a year for him, he had been promoted at work and had his own place and a dog to look after, it was the most accomplished year that he could ever remember.