We lived in a plastic world for far too long.
Nature was forgiving; a pushover and we pushed and pushed until the thread that kept all things together, snapped.
The increasing death rate of fish and the disappearing of seagulls didn't startled us, at first. Animals were dying all the time and if something was terribly wrong, the scientists were going to fix it, right? I remember going to the grocery store, one of those early days, and taking a look at the frozen squids.
"You're still here, aren't you?" I said and grabbed a plastic bag. "They always try to scare us," I mumbled to myself.
Through the following years, more and more animals start sharing the same fate. Gradually but steadily animals -from cows and chickens to cats and dogs- became sick and ended up dead weeks after the first symptoms' appearance. The government prohibited the consuption of meat and meat products, as a temporary measure. They said it was until they could find the cause and make the right amendments.
I stopped eating meat that day and became the most loyal vegan.
Still, the black market kept providing the "forbidden fruit" to wealthy consumers. If I could afford it, I'd have bought a steak for myself. Three meatless years were too much. So much for my loyalty!
The city streets began to stink even more than usual. Gradually but steadily stray pets flooded the sidewalks. The stench of their corpses was asphyxiating. Despite, the scientists' claims that pets brought us no harm even if they were sick, most people still abandoned them. They were scared. We were scared.
The situation never got better: the prohibition was still in place, the animals' suffering and decay were progressing, rumors were spreading like plague and people's worry, exasperation and anger were filling the atmosphere.
When the unavoided deaths of humans occured, the devastating news that water was to blame accompanied them. Water was the unknown enemy all along. It was poisoned by years and years of plastic decomposition. We were drinking it. It was in our soil, in our fruits and vegetables, in the animals that we used to eat. No damage control could restore the nature's balance now. It was too late. We have done it. We were going to be our downfall.
Ten years had passed from The Revelation and I'm still here; alone. Only death surrounds me. I fought for clear water and I fought for clear food until there was none left. What else is there to fight for?
Two years I've been drinking polluted water now and yesterday I had the first cramps, the first symptom of the disease. I'm not afraid to leave a world that is no more.
If only I knew that -gradually but steadily- the whole planet was going to suffer for humanity's careless and selfish actions, I would have done better. We would have done better.
