What's the Worst That Could Happen? - Awareness Story

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏

     

     Esme didn't leave Millies' side for another hour and a half. She was in a worse state than she thought, but eventually, she decided she just needed some time for herself and asked Esme if she could go. She agreed, figuring she could maybe turn back home, get her camera and then go back outside and work on taking some pictures. It would help her relieve some of the tension and she either way had to post something on her account, it had been a few weeks now. She left Millie's house through the bedroom window again, glancing back at Millie one last time before walking away. With everything that's been happening since last night, Esme felt scared to go back to the city again. Afraid of what she'd witness. It's like today and last night was some sort of revenge she was receiving for all those years of ignoring what had and still is happening. The images she had seen were already horrific enough, and they'd stick with her for a long time. She started taking a shortcut to her house through a small forest area in Tilburg. It'd take less time, and it was more beautiful. What she didn't guess was that it did pass through the city as well, the shortcut was not just a walk through the forest. As she neared what she thought to be the exit, that's when she realised that she had reached the end of the forest area. She still didn't think much of it, and just continued walking. What caught her eye as she walked on the sidewalk, was a group of people across the street from where she was standing. The group consisted of two women and three men, all of them wearing heavy clothing which wasn't surprising to her due to today's weather. It was colder and much gloomier than yesterday. The two women stood on top of some crates on the sidewalk, one red and one yellow crate. The men stood next to them on the ground. As she looked at the ground, in front of where they were standing, there was a chalk drawing. It was a drawing of the earth, and some of the cosmos around it. The earth was gray all the way from the bottom almost to the top, a small bit of it being blue. Its gray part was filled with floating gray clouds, smoke, some fire here and there, a ton of garbage, what seemed to be ice melting, and some dead animals around it, or that's what they looked like to Esme. The blue part of it was just the way you'd expect, it had a few floating green pieces and on each of them, there was a group of people and a big flag raised in the middle, a blank flag. On each of the small green pieces. Esme felt intrigued, and she drew nearer though she felt that this whole setup was not going to be good. The other people walking around and next to them seemed to ignore them, acting as if they weren't there, which was somewhat surprising considering how loudly they were yelling. They also stood in front of a small part of the forest area. When she stood a few meters away from them, she was now finally able to read the signs they were holding:

"There is No Planet B"

"Act Now, or Swim Later"

"System Change, Not Climate Change"

"Planet Over Profit"

"Time is Running Out"

"Nature Doesn't Negotiate"

"Respect Existence or Expect Resistance"

Esme actually liked the signs and the things they had written on them. Upon reading them she was quick to realise what this was about, or at least be certain of it. And she was honestly surprised. People had seemed to not really care about climate change and raising awareness for it, at least not people close to her. She cared however, and considering how close to nature she felt it was a problem that hit close to home and usually would upset her. She hated the idea that one day she wouldn't be able to take photos of all the beauty around her because there simply would be no beauty left to take a photo of. It often made her wonder - does anyone even care about nature anymore? Our planet? Or do we just take it for granted? Her answer could be found in the amount of people around her that didn't care enough to pick up garbage others had carelessly thrown on the sidewalk or on the amount of trash she had found when at the beach last summer. Back then she had even convinced her sister to try and race on who would pick up the most, and they had managed to collect around 75 pieces of trash each. Which would be 150 pieces of trash on the beach in total, and that's not how it should be. One time her aunt from her mothers' side had saved a dolphin that had washed up on the beach, covered in some kind of net and couldn't get out. Yet people seem to shrug all of that off. Just like all the passersby who were shrugging off and ignoring the protesters right now. And then she heard shouting.