short story
3 min
My favorites
Only I Know
Avani Bhate
It all started with the Big Bang. Space expanded and the simplest elements formed. Gravity used matter to form the first stars and the first galaxies. Some stars died in supernova explosions, their chemical remnants made new generations of stars and made the formation of rocky planets. 4.5 billion years ago, Earth formed when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust in to become the third planet from the Sun. Single cells evolved and the first ever dinosaurs appeared. A long time after humans came and now here I am. But, now the universe is dying because of climate change because of humans, who didn't even give the world credit for anything. We just are making everything worse and now humans are trying to undo what happened, we were killing Earth.
I stared at the city, it looked peaceful now, but soon buildings would collapse, earthquakes would strike, and natural disasters would hit Earth. I put my hands in my pocket, went over to the beach, and sat down on the burning sand, staring into the deep sea. I did my best to help but it was hard because one person can't make a difference. There are 8 billion people in the world, so what can I do? I turned around and looked at my parents, they were smiling from ear to ear. I turned back to the ocean, staring at the rolling waves. I fell asleep.
I woke up when I heard screams and people crying. I opened my eyes and stared at the biggest tsunami forming. The wave was the biggest possible wave, it was almost 2,000 feet, which is around 400 times my height. I ran as fast as I could and as far as I could. There were so many screams taunting me, but I kept running and then came the quakes. Earthquakes rattled the ground making me fall to my feet. The city blurred and more screams came. I screamed as a wave washed over me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I launched my head out of the water and stared at everything. I could tell that millions were dead, the city had split into huge pieces and screams echoed. No, no. That couldn't be how I, 13-year-old, brown-eyed Abby Westen would die, because of something she predicted and so early in time, this wasn't supposed to happen for a long time. The Earth couldn't just do this, I mean it could because of what humans were doing. The Earth wants revenge like I want. It's just, what had I done wrong, what did I do?
The wave washed over me pulling me deeper very fast. I heard voices, "Abby, please!" it echoed everywhere, but I saw no one as I was sucked further and further, faster and faster. Humans were swimming fast but they failed, animals swam and swam but it was too late.
"Please!" A voice said.
I bolted out of my bed, nearly crashing into my older sister. Sweat covered my body.
"Geez, what's wrong with you? God, it's already 10. We have to go." My sister groaned. She had brown hair, and her name was Amber, after her amber eyes.
"Where are we going?" I asked getting out of bed and wiping sweat off my face.
"Oh, my – we are going to Machu Picchu."
"I forgot, I'll get ready."
I dressed in fresh clothes and took a flight to Machu Picchu staring at the wonderful scenery. My dream felt like a vision for the future, like a warning. I stared out the window for most of the flight thinking about my dream. My dream would become real, but why did I have that dream? People would never listen to me for the rest of my life. For the rest of the trip, I thought about Earth, about my family. I thought about who would die and who would live. I had to do something about it. I was good at drawing and kind of good at writing. But, I hated talking in front of crowds of people. All those glaring eyes and bad remarks. Well, if I wanted to show my "vision" to everyone I would have to do many things.
The rest of my life went in a blur, writing, speaking, and drawing. I wrote a lot of stories that became bestsellers. Soon, I became a famous author and almost everybody loved my speeches. Yes, there were many haters out there, but what was I to do? I created paintings of smoke in the air, birds dying, and many horrible effects of climate change. Well, only a few listened, I stared at my computer, I had written a story about my vision, and I hoped people would listen. Ha, like that would happen, I published it. Finally, everybody listened to me, and it looked like we would save Earth. I think.
I stared at the city, it looked peaceful now, but soon buildings would collapse, earthquakes would strike, and natural disasters would hit Earth. I put my hands in my pocket, went over to the beach, and sat down on the burning sand, staring into the deep sea. I did my best to help but it was hard because one person can't make a difference. There are 8 billion people in the world, so what can I do? I turned around and looked at my parents, they were smiling from ear to ear. I turned back to the ocean, staring at the rolling waves. I fell asleep.
I woke up when I heard screams and people crying. I opened my eyes and stared at the biggest tsunami forming. The wave was the biggest possible wave, it was almost 2,000 feet, which is around 400 times my height. I ran as fast as I could and as far as I could. There were so many screams taunting me, but I kept running and then came the quakes. Earthquakes rattled the ground making me fall to my feet. The city blurred and more screams came. I screamed as a wave washed over me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I launched my head out of the water and stared at everything. I could tell that millions were dead, the city had split into huge pieces and screams echoed. No, no. That couldn't be how I, 13-year-old, brown-eyed Abby Westen would die, because of something she predicted and so early in time, this wasn't supposed to happen for a long time. The Earth couldn't just do this, I mean it could because of what humans were doing. The Earth wants revenge like I want. It's just, what had I done wrong, what did I do?
The wave washed over me pulling me deeper very fast. I heard voices, "Abby, please!" it echoed everywhere, but I saw no one as I was sucked further and further, faster and faster. Humans were swimming fast but they failed, animals swam and swam but it was too late.
"Please!" A voice said.
I bolted out of my bed, nearly crashing into my older sister. Sweat covered my body.
"Geez, what's wrong with you? God, it's already 10. We have to go." My sister groaned. She had brown hair, and her name was Amber, after her amber eyes.
"Where are we going?" I asked getting out of bed and wiping sweat off my face.
"Oh, my – we are going to Machu Picchu."
"I forgot, I'll get ready."
I dressed in fresh clothes and took a flight to Machu Picchu staring at the wonderful scenery. My dream felt like a vision for the future, like a warning. I stared out the window for most of the flight thinking about my dream. My dream would become real, but why did I have that dream? People would never listen to me for the rest of my life. For the rest of the trip, I thought about Earth, about my family. I thought about who would die and who would live. I had to do something about it. I was good at drawing and kind of good at writing. But, I hated talking in front of crowds of people. All those glaring eyes and bad remarks. Well, if I wanted to show my "vision" to everyone I would have to do many things.
The rest of my life went in a blur, writing, speaking, and drawing. I wrote a lot of stories that became bestsellers. Soon, I became a famous author and almost everybody loved my speeches. Yes, there were many haters out there, but what was I to do? I created paintings of smoke in the air, birds dying, and many horrible effects of climate change. Well, only a few listened, I stared at my computer, I had written a story about my vision, and I hoped people would listen. Ha, like that would happen, I published it. Finally, everybody listened to me, and it looked like we would save Earth. I think.
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