Fight For The Human Race: The Changing Earth

Chapter 2: People Panicking

When Rafael and I got to school, the campus seemed deserted except for a few students walking with their books in their hands.

"What time is it?" I asked my brother, thinking we got to school early. I notice him look at his watch and get a look of surprise in his face.

"It's 7:45. Usually there's people on campus by now," he says, looking up at me, amazed.

"Wow!" I say, amazed as we walk through the empty halls, our footsteps echoing through the halls. "It feels like this place is haunted," I mutter, used to the usual noisiness as the students rush through the halls on their way to their next class. Right when I said that, a door suddenly opened, making me jump.

"Students, get in here!" I hear a teachers voice whisper sharply to us. I look around and see Mrs. Peterson, the 80 year old history teacher. I heard my brother groan as he walked into her classroom and I remembered him calling her a witch because she has a short temper, white stringy hair, sharp green eyes, a face full of wrinkles, and warts on her hands. I never had her as a teacher before, so I walked into her classroom, smiling at her. Instead of smiling back, she glared at me as I walked in.

I looked around the classroom and saw many students huddled together, their eyes wide, in the back of the classroom. I looked at them curiously, wondering what was happening.

"Get back there!" Mrs. Peterson grumbled angrily at us, so I walked back there with the other students.

"What's going on?" I whispered to them, confused.

"The witch put a curse on the world. That's why the sky is orange. It's her favorite color," a girl whispers to me, shaking, scared as she speaks. I heard Mrs. Peterson grumble at her desk in the front but I couldn't hear what she said. I could only assume that she heard what the girl said.

"Well I don't believe that," another girl spoke up. "The sky is orange because the climate and atmosphere are changing because of the pollution humankind has caused," she says, not looking as scared as the other students.

"That's not true Angela! You just want to seem smart!" The first girl yells back at her angrily. I walk over to the girl called Angela.

"How do you know why the sky is orange?" I ask her kindly.

"My dad is a scientist working for the government. I overheard him talking on the phone last night and that's what he was talking about," she smiled, glad someone believed her.

"Show off!" The girl from before yelled at her angrily and jealously. I glared at her angrily and grabbed Angela's arm, walking out of the room with her.

"I'm Riley Joans, nice to meet you," I smile and extend my hand to shake here.

"I'm Angela Waters," she smiles and shakes my hand.

"Do you think you could tell me more about why the sky is orange?" I ask kindly as we start walking down the halls.

"Of course," she smiles. "Do you know why Venus's sky is orange?" I shake my head no. "Well, it's because there's too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Yesterday, my dad was talking about how the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is increasing rapidly because of how many cars, trucks, diesels, and factories are releasing carbon dioxide. Pretty soon the planet is going to start hearing up and there will be lots of droughts. The water will evaporate into the atmosphere and if the natural atmosphere isn't thick enough, the water will go out into space. But if there's an access amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the water will come down as acid rain."

"Wow," I look at her, amazed at all of the information. "I thought pollution was mostly trash."

"Well trash is another problem. The average person throws away millions of trash each year, and some of that trash takes a really long time to decompose, like glass and plastic."

"Wow," I look at her worriedly. "What would happen if the pollution got worse and we weren't able to live on earth anymore?"

"The scientists where my dad works are trying to find a solution but they said it's going to take a while." The bell rings and she smiles. "I have to go to class now. It was nice meeting you. We could talk about it later if you want," she smiles kindly.

"Ok, thank you," I smile back kindly. "Goodbye," I said, wanting to learn more.

"Bye," she smiles and walks away. The hallways get crowded again and I lose her in the crowd. I shrug and quietly start to head to my class, lost in thought.