A possible future in less than 500 words, if plastic wins. This was my entry for the WattPad/National Geographic #PlanetOrPlastic competition back in late 2018. It reached their Top 10 Submissions which, given that there appeared to be well over 5000 entries, was a very pleasant surprise! The competition itself had a limit of 500 words so, for those who keep asking if I intend continuing the story, the answer (for now!) is no - unless I can find a very good reason for adding any more. Many thanks to everyone reading and voting on this story and getting it to number 1 in the #sciencefiction category in May/June 2020! I did try to thank the voters individually on their pages but Wattpad have a daily limit on the number of times I'm allowed to do that and there are now too many of you (not that I'm complaining)! Here's the top 10 submissions page: https://www.wattpad.com/list/738243473-planetorplastic-top-10-submissions If you want to read the story in Polish please head over to https://www.wattpad.com/story/236405960-m%C4%85dro%C5%9B%C4%87-staro%C5%BCytnych-t%C5%82umaczenie-pl where @juliatlumaczy has done a fine job - thank you, Julia! @juliatlumaczy has now sent me a version of the cover she used for her Polish translation - thanks again, Julia! @alex_sokolova has also translated the story into Russian as well. You can read that here: https://www.wattpad.com/976002417-мудрость-древних - many thanks, Alex! We now have a third translation! @AlfonsoLucassen has kindly translated it into Spanish and you can find it here: https://www.wattpad.com/1063634347-la-sabidur%C3%ADa-de-los-antiguos

What could we have done differently?

Ouroboros is a world of ocean, one with no beginning, no end, and no plastic. Coda-9994, an intelligent, technologically-enhanced sperm whale, has been sent to explore the planet and assess its habitability for humans. He is the future of humanity - yet he is as disposable as their plastic. For National Geographic's #planetorplastic writing contest. This story now has a full-length expansion in the works. You can read it here. https://www.wattpad.com/story/185434818-ouroboros

The Institute for Cetacean Advancement quietly controls Earth, harnessing the intelligence of captive whales and dolphins to solve human problems. Dr. James Morris is their leading bioengineer. His best friend is Coda-9994, the genius and potty-mouthed hybrid sperm whale destined to be sent off to the ocean planet Ouroboros. With humans having rendered Earth's ocean uninhabitable, the ICA insists it's the only way to find a new homeworld to serve mankind's needs. But Coda doesn't want to go. He grows angrier at Jim with each passing day for doing nothing. Desperate to redeem himself in Coda's eyes, Jim finds himself tangled in a conspiracy to bring the ICA to its knees. But how willing is he to get his hands dirty? How far will they go to break humanity's cycle of self-destruction? Based on the short story that took first place in National Geographic's "Planet or Plastic" contest. *Contains some foul language.* ______ Dream Awards - 1st place Sci-fi Majestic Awards - 1st place Sci-fi

A short story/poem I wrote about the epic journey of a plastic-straw, inspired by the National Geographic / Wattpad contest. Save our beautiful oceans...there is no Planet-B. 💚🌏🐠🐬🐟🌍💙

#PlanetOrPlastic Short Story for National Geographic

Times of global warming. The humans failed to stop it all and now extremely high temperatures and natural disasters are making it hard to live on earth - there are too many people so some start killing others. Nic had to flee from home and is now looking for better place to live when he meets a girl that will change his whole life... cover image credits: https://pin.it/9EuOHkq and https://pin.it/1vHb604 Here writes the sis of the gorgeous person (lee) that wrote this amazing book (didn't read it myself but it's probably awesome). Y'all better read it or i'll chop off yo heads :3 here's lee again, uhm... thanks i guess? don't worry you don't have to read it lol she can't kill all of you. jk she probably can