On the Verge | #PlanetorPlastic

On the Verge

Splash.

It is nine in the morning, yet the weather is already scorching hot. "That was exhausting." Fernando uttered as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead. "This should be enough." he added while looking at the live fishes that he caught by net on his boat.

He quickly rowed through the calm sea towards the distant shore. Then, he placed and carried the tons of fishes in a large plastic bucket by his shoulder to the noisy market.

"Good Morning Auntie Grace!" he greeted her as he set down the heavy bucket on the floor. "Here's 150 pesos." She coldly replied and hurriedly left to finish her tasks. "This is not enough for a day." Fernando thought while counting it again and again.

It was already dark in the quiet evening; there is no electricity in their residence and candle was the only source of their light. "We already spent the 150 pesos for lunch, I should go fish again." he thought as he started to think of ways to satisfy their hunger.

"I'll be back in a while." he told his Grandfather as he walked out of their house in a hurry.

As Fernando row to the middle of the sea, he noticed something floating.
"Is that... a plastic?" he wondered while staring at it.

It gets more and more as he slowly row further.

"Where did these trashes came from? It wasn't even here earlier." he considered as he looked around from his boat. Plastics were floating everywhere, occupying the sea little by little.

"T-This is not right... But I have no choice." he added as he closed his eyes, thinking of his Grandfather. He began fishing, most of the fishes that he caught were floating in the middle of the polluted sea.

After that, he went home late in the evening with even more fishes. "That's a lot of fish Fernando!" his surprised Grandfather stated while staring at the huge slimy groupers. Fernando made a fire in the charcoal stove and started cooking the raw fishes. In a little while, he finished cooking then he placed the fried fishes in a plate.

"Where did you find these groupers?" said by his grandfather who is savoring the rich taste of the fish.

"A-At the nearby sea Grandpa!" he
responded as he tried to force a smile.

"... It tastes delicious." his Grandfather weakly answered.

He was smiling as he chew the tasty groupers. After a little while, his stomach began to ache tremendously.

"F-Fernando.." he stuttered as bubbles began forming on his mouth.

"NO! GRANDPA! STAY WITH ME!" Fernando shouted in vain as his pristine-like tears flowed down like a river from his eyes.

Fernando started examining the fish, it has bloody red eyes. He carefully opened it and saw a clear piece of plastic inside it.

"It's all my fault." he thought while tears continued to drop from his swelling eyes.

"Stop harming, start caring."