{wc: 534} {warnings: mentions of death and a bit of shouting} {created for the Tropetember event: Gaia's Lament}
“Honey, you are drinking a bit too much water right now.” My mom walks over to the kitchen table, where I am sitting with my glass of water. She reaches over to take the glass from my hands, “You know that we need to be careful not to drink much more than we need to survive. Cleaned water is expensive and mommy doesn’t have enough money to buy more.”
I mumble something along the lines of ‘but I am thirsty’. A hand ruffles through my hair, “I know honey. Are you ready to go?” I nod and jump from the high chair. We leave our metal home pod behind as we enter a tunnel towards the inner city. There are no windows to be seen and the tunnel is lit by some flickering LED panels on the ceiling. It’s a short walk to get to school, though it is hard to find the right way. All the tunnels look the same. I walk a little ahead of my mom and make a right turn. “Not that one! The next turn is the one to school!” I hear my mom shout. I pause. My mom sounded anxious just then. I look back and see that my mom has sped up to reach me. I look ahead and see a door. Hmm, I wonder.. I start moving towards it. I can’t stop myself from speeding up as my mom starts shouting more frantically. I reach the door. I have to get up on my toes to reach the handle.
The door swings open smoothly. My hand falls limply to my side as my mouth falls open. A heatwave washes over me. Cracks line a yellow coloured floor. The wind seems to play with some dusty particles and I cough as a result of some of those dusty particles flying in my mouth. This is the outside?
I feel a hand firmly placed on my shoulder pulling me away from it. I start kicking and shouting. “YOU TOLD ME THE OUTSIDE WAS GREEN!” I start crying. “You told me we weren’t allowed outside to protect the animals.”
My mom closes the door, turns me to face her and looks me straight in the eyes. I see a tear falling from her cheek. “I am so sorry. The world isn’t what it used to be. It is dying. I wanted you to be able to live as carefree as possible. I am sorry..” I wipe my tears and give my mom a hug. “It is okay, mommy.” “It is not okay, honey. You are only 7.” My mom shakes her head. She squeezes my hand as we both get up to walk the rest of the way to school. ---
I didn’t understand completely what it meant back then. Now that I am almost turning 15, I do. Water is slowly running out. The experts say that we have only a decade left before the world gives in. They are basically saying that I won’t live past 25, that my nephew won’t even reach adulthood. We have to find a way out of here before then. I am studying as hard as I can. I mean to be part of that operation.