May's Workshop Stories

What the Future Holds

The grownups wanted to save the Earth for their children. But what they wanted even more, was to gather pretty shiny things.

They wanted to use energy to make things that they didn't really need. After some time, worrying about money became more important to them than saving the planet for their children to play on.

What they wanted more than anything else was for themselves to be happy. That included enjoying things that were creating CO2. It was as if, for a moment, they forgot what they learned and what had to be done.

For that reason, the weather started getting worse. Sometimes in one day, the weather changed so much that people could no longer tell which season they were in.

The wild animals and plants suffered the most. They didn't have air conditioners and homes to save them from the heat.

Poor little animals didn't have any shelter strong enough to protect them from the horrible storms which spread across the land.

In some places, wildfires were destroying everything in their way leaving behind black land without any plants or animals. In others, floods carried away everyone and everything that stood in their way.

And still, some people dared to say that global warming wasn't real. That it was just a scary story told by evil people who wished to harm the world.

"Save us," the eyes of koalas and kangaroos seemed to say as their homes burned to the ground.

"It's all just a lie," people said even after seeing all their suffering.

They refused to accept that they had destroyed their home. Instead, they continued with their wars, for land, for money. It was their choice to fight each other, to judge people based on their skin color, or religion than it was to save their home.

What grownups ended up doing was cause even more damage to the planet that gave them everything they could ever wish for and more. Their actions made the situation even worse.

While the wars raged and animals died, those few who had the power to do something about it refused to do so.

"It's not our problem," they said. "We earned our money fairly. Why should we waste it on a losing battle?"

Instead, they packed up their bags and went to another planet, leaving behind those less fortunate than them. Abandoning their home planet, their mother, to die in pain from the wound they caused it.