Terranovus

Chapter I - I Live in a World Where There is No Grass

I live in a world where there is no grass.  No playgrounds, park or playing fields.

I sometimes see weeds growing through cracks on unkempt roads but I've only ever seen grass on screen.  It looks really green, quite soft and short.  I wonder if it would tickle my feet if I walked on it barefoot.

Hundreds of years ago population rates spiralled out of control.  Villages turned into towns and towns turned into suburbs.  These suburbs grew and merged with other suburbs until the entire country turned into one great bigass city.  The prices of homes rocketed and many families were forced into homelessness.  Slowly, the rich started to sell their fine jewellery and crime rates multiplied.  The Government thought they still had control, but once the population hit 18 billion, a worldwide law of only two children per couple was put in place.  Then when the population hit over 30 billion, the law was changed to only one child per couple.

My grandmother told me stories of families who used to have acres of spare land.  The Government forced the families out and turned the land into apartment complexes.  Imagine once living on an acre of garden!  The museum in the 25th Sector has pictures of those houses.  They looked extremely pretty.  The museum also has pictures of schools with playgrounds.  Schools don't exist anymore either.  They took up too much space and now everyone is home-schooled through e-learning.

State benefits were decreased then finally stopped because the Government couldn't afford to provide financial assistance to the millions of families in poverty.  Smothered in debt, the Government eventually closed.  The Army took over to calm the riots.  They're strict.  But strict enforces control and control keeps the earth safe.

Life is okay at the moment.  If you've got food, water, clothes and somewhere to live you're considered extremely fortunate.  Luckily, my dad's a senior engineer in the Army so we live a little better than everybody else.  My mum volunteers for charities a lot and she likes to give away what we don't need, and I mean really need.  The other week she gave away my only spare pair of shoes because she saw a kid walking around barefoot.

Today was Sunday, and on Sundays, I volunteered at the local Families in Need shelter with my mum whilst my dad worked.

"Next!" I called out.  The huge line that snaked down the street slowly shuffled forward and I sighed in dismay - today's shift was awfully slow and long.  I grabbed another paper cup and scooped up some soup from the large pot in front of me.  The soup was instant chicken with vegetables.  I learnt in history class we once, decades ago, used to grow vegetables from dirt, how gross is that?  Artificial food is healthier since it's made in sanitised factories.  My friend Tommy had a real carrot once, stolen from his friend's mother's planter box, but he said it was awful.

I passed the cup of soup to a mother who looked incredibly thin and gaunt looking.  She managed a small smile as she took the cup from me and passed it to her son.  I quickly filled another cup and passed it to her.

"Thank you," the mother said.  She turned to her son, "what do you say Pat?"  The boy looked up at me and smiled, a few of his front teeth were missing.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," I replied.  I watched the mother and son walk over to the other side of the road and sit down.  The mother watched the son greedily drink his soup and as soon as he was finished she passed him her portion too.  That was common, parents starving themselves to keep their children alive.

"Tabitha, how are you going?"  I turned around and saw my mother smiling at me.  She looked tired, and some strands of her dark brown hair had fallen loose from her bun.

"Good," I said to her.  My mum smiled and reassuringly squeezed my shoulder.  She must have seen me watching the mother and son.  My mum was smart like that, she had these senses that could pick up anything.  "The lunch shift is about to finish, why don't you finish up now and go find Tommy and the boys?"  All feelings of sadness disappeared.