Over The Edge #Planetorplastic

The Water Bottle

The little boy sat on the bench enjoying the warm sun and the stickiness of ice cream running down his fingers. The day is the kind where his sweet treat melts faster then he can eat . His mother stands not that far away, talking to Margret, her long time friend who swayed with the wind, her gigantic belly seeming to be heavier then the rest of her and pulled her slightly to the earth.

He  learned they could talk for hours about babies. How to best feed them and the best biodegradable diapers. On and on they would go. He would roll his eyes, but he had bothered them enough out of boredom, his mother's tired response was the almost gone ice cream.

He looked around and saw something odd, a young blond woman glancing around all nervously. It is this behavior that draws his attention. Then he sees something in her hand that he has never seen before, some kind of water holding container.

"Mommy?" He asks inquisitively.

His mother ignores him. He looks at her a little annoyed, he has a burning question that needs answering.

"Mom. . ." He says a bit more whinny. Equivalent response.

"Mother." He says at last, sternly.

His  mother's eyes narrow, displeased at being interrupted, "What is it Will?"

Pleased with getting his way he points over at the nervous woman who had moved a little closer,  "What does that lady have?"

His mother looks and instantly her face contorts in pure shock, "OH. MY. GOD. Margret, look! That woman has a plastic water bottle!"

Margret gasps, "NO!"

The woman draws closer and makes the mistake of glancing up. Instantly Margret responds, "You should be ashamed of yourself, you filthy polluter. Plastic? Its 2020! Do you not remember the crisis?"

The woman's face reddens and she tries to scurry away. Wills mother acts quickly and grabs the woman's arm, "Are you really that wasteful?I have a son here. He almost died from the plastics contamination."

Will remembered being sick for a long time with a lot of other kids. His mother would talk about it in whispers but mentioned it to everyone who would listen. Will looks a little closer at the seemingly harmless "water bottle". 

Margret clutches her belly protectively and spits at the woman. They are starting to draw attention of more people. They all seem to share the same distaste with the woman. More of them commented aloud. 

"Think about all the lives we lost woman!"

"So destructful!" 

People start to get red in the face and surround the woman. Spit flies. One person reaches for the bottle, " Maybe you should eat it, like all the fish did, and you can feel sick."

Will's mother, seeing the escalation grabs him by his arm, "Come will, we will not associate with someone so wasteful."

Will did not understand how something so small could hurt so many people. The people were still swarming around her as he last looked.