We humans are always worrying about the apocalypse. The Mayans predicted the end to be 2012 and people worried, partied, and waited for the end that wouldn’t come. In the ‘50s scientists believed the world was getting colder. Now the world is frantic about global warming. They say we must protect our fragile environment before it is damaged beyond repair. ‘Rain forests are being chopped down.’ ‘Oceans and rivers are polluted.’ ‘The ice caps are melting!’ ‘The ozone layer is thinning!’ Do we actually do anything to make a dent in the belief that it isn’t actually our job to protect the environment? We are always worrying about the end of days, but, what would happen if they actually happened?
Its 2525. No one believed that the world would ever be in actual danger. They were wrong. First there were the experiments on nuclear plants in China. The nuclear gunk from explosions made its way into the ocean. Nothing is edible from there. Toxin laden fish and whales are treated as toxic waste when they wash up on beaches around the world. Then the famine in South America. Huge dust clouds and desert are all that remain there. California sank into the ocean after a series of earthquakes and the rising waters from the ice caps on Greenland cover the edges of many continents. The world started shipping its garbage to Antarctica in 2290 because there was no more room in the ever growing landfills. I just keep thinking to myself, if only they had listened, if only I had listened. More inventions and more waste. More lazy people who couldn’t give a damn about the next generations.
I was born into the slums of Northern Wisconsin. It’s not the worst place there is. Definitely better than the camps in Chicago. The worst is the sickness. The lake, Michigan that is, is polluted and brown but it’s the only place we can get even partially healthy water and fish. Every year more die. I was the last child in my family, the only one to survive infancy. So many can’t handle the scarce food and infected water. My mother and father recently passed away. I’m 16 so I can handle myself but their passing was a huge dent in my heart. They were working at the lake by some cliffs when the rocks gave way and they were crushed. Their death was quick I suppose. I’m slightly comforted by the fact that I didn’t have to watch them waste away like Marie did at the other side of the valley.
For the time being, I was living with my aunt. She had a pretty full house with 3 kids so it was very kind of her to let me stay and help out around the house. I could tell she didn’t really want me there though so I left and entertained myself as often as I could so that I could get out of her hair. That’s where I am right now. I found this place. It’s mine. I found it one day when I was hiking in the least damaged area surrounding us. There are these cliffs that are a real challenge to climb. So of course I like climbing them. Well, I was walking along a narrow pathway when I saw a kind of crevice in the rock wall. I decided to see if it went all the way through, so edging sideways, I squeezed myself through about 18 feet of rough rock to see an amazing sight. Trees! It was the most amount of trees I had ever seen! There had to be at least 200 trees there and not the little young ones. They weren’t old per se but they were beautiful nonetheless. I instantly started walking, running, leaping, jumping, through the trees. I couldn’t believe I was seeing this rare sight that no one I knew had ever seen!
Finally I found myself in the middle of the small grove of trees and again I was shocked at the sight. A magnificent old oak tree was seemingly staring down at me. Its bark was gnarled with age and the red light from the sun shined down through the branches, dappling the ground with light. I walked toward that amazing wonder of nature and trailed my fingers lightly down the bumpy, musky smelling trunk. I could almost feel the wise energy coming from this creature.
I vowed to never tell anyone of this place. If they found it, the trees would be harvested by the rich and haughty people living in the sky. No joke, they built their own hovering castles in the sky.
So now I spend my time here, when I’m not doing my part to keep the slum going. I apply whatever medical knowledge I gained from my mother to the people I can help. So my life is a little complicated. I’ve had to lure 2 people from finding this place in the last 2 weeks. The town is looking for more supplies and such, so they’ve started to branch out from their usual surveying grounds. I know what we humans have done and I know that they can’t be trusted, maybe not even me.
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Author's Note
Hey guys! This is my first real book, novel type thingy. I would appreciate any and all help! Please comment on what you think so far! I can't guarantee how often I will update as I am in high school and taking all advanced classes (bad call). Please comment!! I don't bite, today that is. :) Really it doesn't even have to be about the story! Also fan art is yes and I have no cover as yet. Also I make art for other people using photoshop so anything you wanted made, ask me. So yep! Have a great day! I hope I didn't ruin it with my writing!
