Chap 1: Struggling

Ruby cursed under her breath as she hit the offending tap with a wrench.  The little cottage she shared with her fiance was old, which meant the plumbing had seen better days and was constantly acting up.  Sure, most of the time she was grateful to have a partner who loved her and a roof over her head, but at times like this one wished for more.  There are starving children and families in the world, but there are also millionaires, right?

Meanwhile the sound of choking and profanity came from the kitchen.  Craig had managed to burn his pancakes again.  On such a tight budget, he refused to throw out the ruined food.
"You had the element up too high" Ruby would tell him, trying to be helpful; but life was usually full of disappointments for Craig and he had yet to master even the most basic cooked dishes.  Occasionally Craig thought that whoever wrote Murphy's Law had him in mind.

Craig is an aspiring artist.  His latest work is a visual commentary on childhood.  Craig has to utilise the local community centre because he can't get anyone in the art world to take him seriously, yet.  All the applications to advertising agencies, galleries and critics are rejected or completely ignored.  This means Craig works as a clerk at the local bookstore in order to bring in an income.

Socially awkward and scarred by her past, Ruby has a great deal of unrealised potential too.  Scientifically inclined, she's trying to get her foot in the door at the local laboratory, but without the right qualifications, it's near impossible.  She volunteers as a paid test subject for many of the labs human trials.  Ruby is also part of the small fringe group who take their chess and other intellectual pursuits very seriously.  Annually they organise a chess tournament where contestants are given ranks and compete over a series of months to take the top spot.