Flash Fiction Anthology

Do we make sense?

It was the year of Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish girl who made it her duty to heal the world.

From one day to another, people all over the world seemed to recognise her face, know her name, and agree with her opinions.

Her voice reached even the small island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea where I lived, the island famous for its pure water and clean beaches. Which was true, unless you looked too close. Even here, in this paradise of holiday makers, the pollution was starting to show.

Many people decided to accept the pieces of plastic floating in the sea as something normal, a situation impossible to change. An annoying problem, which they decided to ignore, hoping it would sort itself out.

I did not agree. To me, if we just left all as it was, it would only get worse.

I noticed that some of my classmates followed Greta Thunberg's every move on the social networks, or the evening news. They listened to the environmentalist's voice, while their styled their hair in the same manner to look more like her. But, they did not seem to understand, or care, what she was actually saying.

We, all of us, were supposed to do our little part for the world. We had to do it for ourselves, and for all the future generations.

It was in the middle of September, when the summer season was over, and the school had just started, when the environmental disaster was most visible. The tourists had left, leaving our beaches littered with rubbish-- plastic bottles and lids, cups, bags, forgotten or broken toys...The sea was not helpful either, unable to swallow the litter, every high tide brought it all back, even added some more.

I decided to speak to my classmates then, to open their eyes. Using their infatuation for the famous, young girl, I managed to persuade them to give me a hand to clean our beaches. They were all very enthusiastic about the idea, and helped me spread the word. Soon, there was quite a big group of us, ready to do our part for our planet.

We were mainly girls, accompanied by a few boyfriends. Instead of hanging out in the park after school, twice a week we went to one of the beaches of our little town, and picked up all the plastic and other rubbish that we found there.

It was fun really, spending the afternoons together. Me and Luca, my boyfriend, were considered unofficial leaders of our group. We made sure that no one got bored. Every time, after we cleaned one of the three beaches of the town, we swam, played volleyball, or, at the weekends, had a picnic.

Nonetheless, most of our friends lost their initial enthusiasm eventually, and stopped coming with us. The weather was changing slowly, it was almost winter, and the situation instead of improving, was getting worse.

The sea, becoming always more rough and agitated, kept throwing up more and more rubbish that was choking it, killing its life. It was frustrating, all our effort was seemingly pointless.

On one December afternoon, it was just me and Luca dragging the large rubbish bags along a sandy beach.

"Mia, just stop for a while, and come here please," Luca called me, and I noticed  that he was sitting on one of the large rocks at the end of the beach.

I joined him, sitting down and listening to the sounds of the sea.

"Do we make sense?" he asked me unexpectedly, and my heart skipped a beat.

I did realise that lately most of the time we spent together was out on the beach, and there was never really just the two of us, but...

"Do you really think we make any sense here?" he repeated the question as I did not respond straight away.

He was looking towards the sea, and I took a deep, calming breath, realising that he wasn't questioning our relationship.

I followed his look. The  white capped waves were rolling towards the shore. A small flock of seagulls was fighting against the cold wind. The large, snow white birds were flying low, trying to spot the fish in the transparent water. Their cries, intertwined with the constant roar of the sea, sounded like a song to my ears.

I loved this small island. To me, the place was a tiny, precious piece of paradise. It was definitely worth saving. Along with the rest of the world.

"Yes, we do make sense. Someone just has to do this, if we don't, who will?" I said, turning towards Luca.

He stood up and pulled me to my feet, enveloping me in a tight hug, smiling.

"Ok, I was just asking. Back to work then, we need to hurry up. It's nearly dark, and there is still a lot to do."

Of course, he was right. The new, long wave that nearly reached our feet, regaled us with yet more litter to pick up.