Changelings

Chapter 1: The Ceremony (Part 1)

"Be the change you want to see in the world."
- Mahatma Gandhi

NORA'S POV

Australia. The place to be. A place of wonder and awe. A concrete jungle with towering skyscrapers and animals of all sorts; small, big, medium and long. The crystal clear waters in line with the sandy shore. Native plants smiling at the sun-lit sky and people who walk by, would smile knowing that their small paradise will be forever theirs. That was before. 

Today, thousands of people between the ages seventeen and twenty five are lining up according to their height. The silent jitters and prayers are being passed around through the humid and cloudy air. I could feel a drip of sweat slide down my burning forehead. I just got a cold yesterday. It's not rare here. My hazel eyes scanned the crowd for a face, a face that would assure my safety even though I knew I was far from safe. If I was chosen to represent the Australia, if I was chosen to be one of the eight contestants, there's no going back. That, I am sure of.

Australia, today. A vast, soundless, clear, arid land of nothingness where crops fail to grow and great numbers of flocks die every day. It has been at least a year since I have seen rain. With no vegetation or water flushing the land, most wither away and die. Some never gives up hope and believes till death that God will free them of their burden and show them mercy. He never does. What astonishes me is the fact that it never used to be like this.

Laughter used to fill every corner. Ignorance and bliss roamed the place. We could do what we want, when we want, however we want. People used to have dresses ranging from the colours of the rainbow piled one on top of the other. Now, we are all wearing the dirty rags left behind from our misfortune.

Dirt rubbed of on our cheeks and our feet grazed and bloodied from the long walks we do every day in search of water. Once a week, there's truck which comes from the city; what's left of it brings us all our ration of food and water for the next 6 months. It's still a wonder we are one of the few countries still alive in the world. The rest, I believe have turned to dust. I guess it's what we do best;holding on.

We used to be clean. But now, we have turned into something we had feared from the start. A monster. Half pd the world is partly dead. The percentage is increasing each day. We hold on with whatever medicines and supplies we have. But that's just the beginning. Which gets me back to the question; How did this happen?

It happened when I was six. I still remember every detail, like it had left an invisible scar. In a way, it had. Everything happened so quick. The sunburnt sky turned darker than the usual that Sunday morning. Soon, we couldn't tell the difference between morning and night time. Thunder roared in the sky and lighting struck here and there continuously leaving traces or hot felt ash.

Flames burned the sky. At first, we thought it was the Sun. But there was no Sun, or the Moon or the Stars but real flames dancing in zig-zags in time with the thunder and the lightening. Rain poured from the sky drenching us all. Who knew it would be the last. We were all warned to stay inside the house that day. And we did.

The next day, everything was still the same except for the few electricity lines it had damaged. Talks of 'Thunder Day' spread and the chiefs and other officials assured nothing like it would ever happen, or so they assumed...

Even though I was six, mum gave me some credit for having a sharp mind. I sensed the animals' distraught and the eerie silence that soon followed. The officials were wrong. Something much more happened than a few electricity lines being cut. Maybe they were ignoring the change that took place. Blaming it on climate change. After all, ignorance is bliss. Or maybe, they didn't want people to go into a sudden panic. Whatever they did, they did it well. No one spoke of Thunder Day ever again. It was as if nothing like it had ever happened.

And now as I wait for the officials to arrive, I wonder if ignorance really is bliss. 

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