Chakhsky - Travelogue

After trudging through miles of thick snow, shoulders hooked up to your ears, and your hat pulled down to your nose, you are relieved to see spherical silhouettes outline the horizon of the city of Chakhsky. You'd be forgiven for at first mistaking this vision of circles before you for clouds dotted against the blizzard skies.
Shuffling through the gates with eager anticipation, you can already feel the relief of a warm fire and quenched welcome of a hot drink. The brisk wind brings you back to reality. Between the shafts of falling snow, gleaming buildings bubble from beneath the stark contrast of white.
Stomping the snow off your boots as you walk down the icy streets, further into the city you notice that yours are the only fresh footprints pressed into the pavements.
Behind your layers of collars and scarves, your wandering eyes search inquisitively for the people of this curious city. In the oasis of the winter fields of Russia, you pull your coat tighter around your freezing body, skeptical that the weather may not be the only bitter characteristic of this city. To your relief, you spot an American style diner in the near distance. As you approach the diner you notice that it is missing it's familiar neon glow. Cupping your hands around your glassy eyes, your cold breath fogs up the windows as you peer through them. There are blown fuses, peeling paint, and worn leather seats.
The idea of the warm drink quickly fades as the truth of this city hits you. Long abandoned, the glossy fronts of the tall buildings reflect a sad and shallow history of Chakhsky; A delusional idea of the Big Apple built in a place it didn't belong.
What at first seemed charming and kitsch now only appears mismatched and out of place; the plastic fronts corroded away by young years of harsh climate. It is obvious that the dream in mind for this city was fast to fall. Though run down, the city has an eerily crisp, unused aura to it. What seemed like a refuge now feels like an ironic joke.
With a heavy heart, you too leave the city behind in search of a better place to stay.