I heard the door burst open as Iron man shot a beam of energy at Thor who used his hammer to deflect it. My mom ran into his room with a ghost white face and a look of despair. The entire city lit up with sound as the sirens went off. My mom picked me up and took me down to the basement where our family was. Thor didn’t make it. We all cowered in a corner shaking, sobbing, and holding onto each other. The assortment of old wood, aluminum roofing, rusted nails, and adobe creaked and let out snapping sounds under the intense pressure created by the winds. Eventually, the single light bulb went out leaving us in absolute darkness.
Sitting on a half-broken chair that was going to collapse at any moment with a chipped cup and a table with a crack going down the center. I stared the broken window onto the street which was littered with, trash, broken glass and old rusted car. The Tv behind me was on a man in a stained suite began speaking.
“The united nations bans the use of all combustion engines and steam-powered turbines. In a historic unanimous vote. With the aims of reversing climate change.”
“Who cares anymore!” I said aloud unintentionally.
But honestly, the damage was done. So many people had to leave their homes because of the rising sea. The government decided to build walls on the shore instead of fixing the problem. A band-aid on a gushing wound. Companies bought all the inland real estate so they could inflate prices, forcing many to immigrate illegally to landlocked and countries with higher elevations.
“In other breaking news, a hurricane is said to be forming off the coast of Northern Chile and is said to hit in about three days”
“Many climate scientists agree that the walls built by the Chilean government will not be enough to hold the amount of water produced. We advise anyone in the affected area to seek shelter and evacuate immediately!”
I stood up from the table leaving a bill behind to pay for my coffee. I had one thing in mind: I think I’m going to go for a long hike through the desert.
I stumbled and dragged my feet through the shard volcanic rocks feeling a shocking pain pulsate from my knees at every step. I finally had made it to the end of the stream I was following.
“Just a couple more meters,” I told myself.
I decided to lay there atop the sandstone, looking up at the beautiful clear sky with no cloud in sight and sun radiating over me; a dribble of sweat running down the side of my face. I chuckled while took a small sip of water. Making the water squirt out of my nose. I found it amusing that at this very moment I had run out of my only source of water yet that is exactly what I was running from. Laying there on that rock knees so weak they trembled by themselves. I began to realize how small I was, looking at that immense clear sky huge and the snow-covered mountains. I was but a spec, one of the thousands who attempt this trip, one person among billions a single living thing among trillions on a planet among a countable amount of others in the universe. Yet to me I was the most important collection of atoms.
After five hours of laying on a rock in the middle of the driest desert in the world, I decided it would be best to keep going before I ran out of water. It’s funny because I’m running away from Hurricanes and Tsunamis which are all just big collections of water and all I can think about is how in the world am I going to get water. The closest lake is farther than
I'll probably make it and it's a volcanic lake anyways filled with sulfuric acid. So I’m probably going to die in a couple days unless I get far enough up the mountain where I can melt some snow. On the bright side, I found a looking cool rock and I have plenty of Peanut Butter, drenched in vegetable oil, mixed with a bit of protein powder and multivitamin. Very calorie dense making a great snack in my opinion. Sill have to find that water though. I have three days if you don't count the bonus one.
I scramble up the loose, sand and rock overcoming the towering wall of sandstone. Flat on the ground and face half buried. I lay there motionless inspecting a single grain of sand that lay in front of my eye. A small stream of blood weaved and curved; digging a path through the coarse sand, like a snake licking the air for the scent of desert mouse. It began to seep into my ear. But I didn’t care. Don’t care about my cut hand, my blistered feet, my back so burnt it’s lost all sensation, I don’t about anything. A chill runs down my face. A splash of cold on my leg. A drip of ice on my finger. A drop of rain on my back. It began to rain. A rain that comes every 10 years or more, a rain so rare it has never been seen in some places. The rain of a higher power maybe. Now filled with an incredible amount of energy I jumped to my feet tongue out. Not a care in the world. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it there the end of the Atacama desert at the base of the mighty Andes mountains, a pool of water beginning to form. You could even call it an oasis. I had finally succeeded I couldn’t believe it. I sank into the cool water and looked up at the beautiful clear sky. For what seemed to be forever and not a moment too long.
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