Oh, the Memories

Looking back, I remember how the world used to be. It was beautiful. Grasslands,plains, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, and many other marvels were there for everyone to enjoy. I look back because nowadays I enjoy spending time with my memories and reliving the good times. Sometimes everything flowed, sometimes it stopped, and sometimes I could just float. Sure, life had it ups and downs, but it was absolutely amazing! What I wouldn’t give to go back to the good old days!

I don’t really want to remember when it all started going downhill, but I cannot help recalling the horror of it all. It started as a slow, gradual process, and no one seemed to notice. I wouldn’t blame them; the change was too small to be perceived. However, in just a few years, it started gaining speed and you were stupid not to notice. In a blink of an eye our Earth, our beautiful Earth, was gone. She never stood a chance.

I blame them, those strange and mysterious creatures that call themselves ‘humans’. Never had I seen such selfish beings. Never had I been witness to such acts of bestiality. And they refer to themselves as the superior race! They boast the ability to think and reason, but do not demonstrate it. I saw how they polluted the water, blew up the mountains, exhausted the land, released toxins into the air, and drove many species to extinction. Just to think: the Amazon, the Everglades, the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico; all those natural treasures… gone.

What hurts me the most is the disaster they caused in the aquatic ecosystems. I couldn’t bear to see all those sea creatures suffer. They were my friends, and I had to see how their habitats were destroyed, their environment was polluted and how they were massacred. I only wish humans could pay for what they did. Well, I guess in a way they are, because what they did unto the Earth, they did unto themselves. Now, many, many years after they are suffering the consequences. Potable water is scarce. The air has become too toxic to breathe. The sun’s rays are killing them because the ozone layer is no longer there to protect them. Green areas are almost non-existent and many, many animals no longer inhabit the Earth.This may seem like an appropriate punishment, but it is unfair for all others. Didn’t humans ever realize that it’s not their Earth, but our Earth? It was meant to be shared!

Despite everything, I can’t generalize. Don’t get me wrong, my anger towards humans is still there, and will continue to exist as long as I live, but I cannot say that all humans are evil. There is a small, select group of them that are not so bad. I saw them constantly trying to repair the damages their race had done to our planet. It was a brave and noble effort. However, as I said, it was a small group, and they simply could not help the Earth fast enough to counteract the harmful activities. I was rooting for them the whole time. I cheered on those who used alternative sources of energy, those who recycled, and mostly I stood by and supported those who treated wastewater, those who made the most out of this precious resource. Unfortunately, it was not enough.

I remember when things began to get truly messy. It was during the first decade of the new millennium. Modern technology was at full blast. Innovations here, innovations there. Of course environmental awareness was becoming stronger each day, but consumerism made all efforts much, much harder. Things got consistently worse, and there came a moment when it was impossible to ignore how everything was dying. Death was surrounding us, all of us, and nothing could be done. It was already too late.

I remember my last glimpse of planet Earth. I saw it as I fell from the sky. Pollution covered most of the view, but it didn’t matter. There was nothing worth seeing anyway. Destruction and suffering were the only things left. Humans were sick and dying. There were almost no green areas left. Rivers, oceans, lakes were polluted. As I fell, I remember being struck by horror. I couldn’t take it in, and before I knew it I had sunk to the ground.

Seconds after I reached the ground, I realized I was buried in perfectly normal soil. I was amazed that I had been able to reach what seemed to be the last piece of unpolluted land on Earth. I figured this wouldn’t last long and that the wave of destruction sweeping the planet would get here sooner or later. I quickly deduced that the farther away from the surface I was, the safer I would be. I was buried in soil, but still I kept crawling and crawling further down.

Once I was a good depth away from the surface I stopped to rest. It was then when I became aware of the fact that that had been the last time I would ever see Earth. It was sad thought, but I knew that there would never again be anything worth looking at in my beloved planet. Now, that was an even sadder thought.

Now, I still live buried in my perfect soil. Waiting for pollution to reach me or for someone to find me. I don’t know which it will be, but either one will be my death. I never thought my life would turn out this way. Who knew that water would one day become so scarce that people would be willing to fight for it? Who knew that humans would use Earth’s resources so irresponsibly that they would doom the entire planet? And who knew that one day the most valuable and precious thing on this Earth would be a pure drop of freshwater quietly hiding in a patch of perfect soil?

Concept:

The concept of this story revolves around the future of our planet. It was written with the intention of showing the urgency of standing up for nature. It places a small emphasis on water, but tries to treat all issues with equal importance. The story gives the reader a dramatic look in what awaits us if not careful with our natural resources, which is something IDB takes very seriously. What I would emphasize as themes of this short story would be conservation, responsible use of Earth’s resources, and actions that benefit our planet, which include: alternative sources of energy, recycling, consuming less, protecting ecosystems, reducing pollution, among many others.