Saturday morning was always a quiet one. The weekend paper was also thicker and also had a section with all the gossip about the famous people. Cadhla always enjoyed reading this, although she knew half of it was made up.

She put the newspaper away and made herself another cup of coffee. Pondering, she walked back to the table and read the front page again. The paper had been filled with the same commentary for weeks. The streets were empty.

This was something Cadhla did not really experience, but maybe she was wrong. When she went outside to make her rounds of the various shops and businesses, the streets were filled with people. Everyone greeted her enthusiastically and she did not get the impression that any people were unhappy. Very often, she was also invited to come for a coffee. Take Soul-Hooligan, whom she ran into just yesterday. He was in a hurry, but quickly called out something to her:

"Bakkie tonight?"

Cadhla had to smile. Bakkie was an expression her Dutch ancestors always used when they asked you if you wanted coffee. 

Today, she decided to take a closer look around during her round to see if the newspapers were right.

Since the weather was going to be nice today, she left her coat at home and opened the door of her headquarters. She breathed in the fresh air and went out merrily.

Since it was Saturday, it was market day and everyone was stocking up on their fresh vegetables for the new week. The flower stand was also busy and it pleased Cadhla to see tulips being sold. She also bought a big bunch of tulips and asked the vendor to deliver the flowers to her later in the day. The man smiled, he always got a generous reward for this, so he would deliver the flowers later.

Because of the flowers, Cadhla thought perhaps the newspapers wrote that the streets looked empty. No atmosphere. She looked around and at some points there were no flower boxes to be seen. She also saw that the benches, where people sat to rest and maybe have a drink and talk to others, were a bit worn. She took out her notebook from her bag and wrote down that something should be done about it. She already had someone in mind who could fix this very professionally.

Further down the street was a mobile coffee shop. It had been put there because everyone drank a lot of coffee these days and there wasn't really an empty shop that this coffee shop could go into. Cadhla would have to think about this to have to give the coffee shop a bigger space so they might be able to expand and also offer lunches. Again, Cadhla picked up her notepad and wrote it down.

She walked on and eventually arrived at South Philly District. Percival stood in the square in front of his headquarters and was busy talking to his members. Cadhla heard them all laughing. One of the members picked up his guitar and soon it was a mad dash with people singing and dancing. Cadhla walked on to Percival and started a conversation with him.

"Are you guys celebrating a birthday today?" she asked.

Percival replied, "No, we are celebrating the opening of the 'Trabotti fine chocolates and marcipan shop'. When Nicki_Trabotti told us he was planning this, we all laughed. We didn't think he had it in him to open a chocolate and marcipan shop, but he has pulled it off and we are now celebrating. Actually, we are celebrating a bit of our wrongness".

Immediately, Percival started laughing again and walked on singing to celebrate this party with his people.

Cadhla searched the crowd for Nicki_Trabotti. She soon found him and just saw him eating another chocolate. 

"Congratulations Nicki, I hear you have opened your shop. I like chocolate very much, but don't really like everything. Do you maybe have praline filling too?"

"Yes of course I have that Cadhla, even made fresh this morning. Try it".

He handed Cadhla an incredibly beautiful chocolate and when she finished it, she could only agree that it was a particularly delicious chocolate.

"This tastes like more Nicki, I will definitely come to your shop to get a supply".

Well here in South Philly there are no empty streets to be seen.

On to Bella Vista. She decided it was time to get her promised coffee at Soul-Hooligan's. The streets looked neat. Lots of bins with flowers and bushes. She saw Soul-Hooligan lugging crates of beer and walked up to him. 

"I came for the promised coffee, but I see you lugging crates of beer. Are you having a party?"

"Oh Cadhla, it's a party here every day. If there's nothing to celebrate, we'll think of something. Today we are having a barbeque in the backyard. My great friend Berzerk was here yesterday and had left a load of BBQ sauce. Well something has to be done with that, so today a BBQ feast."

Cadhla also knew Berzerk well, though he had never stopped by her place to bring BBQ sauce. 

"What a great idea Soul-Hooligan, can I join and join the BBQ? I can ask Khamzat and KyronFlux if they would like to get some bottles of wine from the cellar and bring them here."

"Of course," Soul-Hooligan replied. "The more souls the merrier".

This party lasted till late and so it was after midnight that Cadhla was back in her headquarters. She sat down at her desk and saw the morning paper again. She looked at the reports about the empty streets and shook her head. She had a very different opinion about empty streets today. People in Philadelphia were often outside and the streets also showed a friendly atmosphere. 

She heaved a big sigh and thought.

"To each his own".

She walked to the bedroom and fell asleep with a big smile on her face.

Katerina listens to Cadhla's comments about the "empty streets" and just has to laugh. Her imagination immediately transports her to her crazy new Hollywood club.

"Hi, Cadhla, Katerina talking! Hearing your commentary on those 'empty streets' – and honestly, you just have to get to Hollywood, my friend! Why all the quiet? We don't even do 'quiet' out here anymore."

"Out here in Hollywood, Los Angeles, though? Nothing but life, lights, and lots of action! The whole town is a stage, and I'll tell you what, we're putting on the big show. Especially at my new place, The Pink Pony Club."

"We just opened up this past night, and boy, it was wild! Full to bursting. Music was pumpin', dance floor was shoulder-to-shoulder, 'Checkmates' were flowin' like water, and energy? Off the charts! Folks were laughin', dancing, closing deals, forgettin' troubles. It's a different scene from your market day, for sure – less about crisp veggies and more about crisp beats – but just as real, just as alive, and maybe even a little more alive when the neon strikes."

"Then if you're lookin' for a change of pace from all those quiet spots, somewhere where the action never stops and every night's a party, and you want to go where it's really alive and ready for a good time, you know where I'll be. We've got a little bit of everything. Doors are open pretty much whenever you're ready to escape the silence. Come on out to the West Coast, Cadhla! I'll show you what 'full streets' are like under a neon sky – a sky that actually sparkles, I might add!"

Edgelord stood at the edge of a residential estate watching a poorly constructed bonfire burning wildly out of control - flames licking at a small crowd of people huddled around the fire, shoulder to shoulder, hoarding the heat and threatening anyone who dares come close with pocket knife. A fire engine sat on the road a safe distance from the roaring inferno, having been dismissed by the self appointed fire safety officer.

“Stop telling us to worry about fire safety you stupid inbreds, we know what we’re doing! You just have to trust us - you’ll be safe if you believe in us and obey our rules!” One of the young hoodlums bellowed.

As the wind began to pick up, the flames started to reach towards the nearby houses, illuminating them in an orange glow. Feeling ill at ease, Edgelord thought better than to stand around and wait to be burned. He went home, took a shit, then went to sleep with a big smile on his face.