Student Writing

Student Writing >> Alicia Ash

Brinnng! Brinnng! The alarm clock’s annoying tune always wakes me up for some reason. Well, I guess that is the reason we have alarm clocks. I was dreaming of a zombie apocalypse when suddenly, instead of the zombies moaning, they were screaming Brinnng! Brinnng! I just KNEW it was my alarm and that there was no use fighting the urge for sleep. I lay in bed, pretending to be asleep when my mother sang, “Wake up, Alicia!” in a sing-song voice. She came into my room and sat down, impatiently waiting for me to wake up.

My room was unique, compared to most people. It had a ceiling that looked like the sky above it, except that it didn’t rain. My floor was carpeted with fake green grass, imitating what used to be real. We all knew what grass was but hadn’t seen it anywhere in a very long time. Even my grandmother has only faint memories of trees, before the big money makers started to cut them down. Some of the only memories she has was when she used to play in the shade of trees when she was little. Sometimes she just stares out the window and tells me stories of what the world used to look like and the amazing wonders she could do, which we now can not. There are only enough trees for us to be able to breathe, because now, technology has taken over. If you want a tree… well… the odds of you getting a tree during your lifetime is really unlikely. If you work your whole life and so does your child, only your grandchild would get a tree. That’s how expensive they are. Grandma and Mom have been working their whole lives. I should be getting a tree for my birthday, but I feel bad that I had made them work so much. I hope I can make it up to them. But for now, I need to get to school.

School was like every other day. Some boring, some exciting, some embarrassing moments. When it was the end of the day, I was waiting at the main entrance for my dad when he suddenly appeared.

“Come on. Let’s go home,” my dad said.

We were driving along, when we suddenly stopped at a wood. This was one of the areas where they still kept trees for us to be able to breathe. It would be one of my favorite places to be, only if coming here wasn’t punishable by death. The government is afraid that we would take a few seeds and plant them in our neighborhoods. They said that if we plant trees, it just means we are going back in time, instead of moving forward with the technology we have. I wondered, “What are we doing here? We could be shot if someone finds us!” but, I didn’t voice it.

Dad held my hand and he took me into a dark cave. Yikes, I thought. This is scary. I gripped my dad’s hand tighter. Suddenly, the woods wasn’t the woods and the cave wasn’t a cave anymore. I lost hold on my dad’s hand. I called out but only silence returned. I was all alone and so very scared.

What was this? It was a large dome with trees, and REAL GRASS? I observed the ground curiously, as if I was in a whole new world. I kneeled down and slowly touched the grass and the dirt. This reminded me of Rapunzel getting out of her tower for the first time in the movie Tangled, which I had watched with my mom and dad several times growing up.

A large, buff man was ordering about 20 people of different ages to work. He approached me. I cowered in fear. Usually my dad protected me from these types of people but now he was nowhere in sight.

“Robert’s the name. Welcome to GreenLeaf, an organization dedicated to helping Earth become green again. Once we have enough members, we plan on starting a huge protest against the idea of fake nature.”

“Really? That sounds amazing!” “I know it is. So… are you going to join, or what?” I took about a minute or so to have a quick debate in my head. “What are the terms of joining?” “You must solemnly swear to protect nature, to come here daily, and-” “I could die any day?” I exclaimed. “Those are the terms. Some people don’t really join the organization. They just stay here ‘cause they are too scared to take risks.” “What happened to my dad?” “The woods and the cave can be quite disorienting. Many get lost or worse. I am sure he is fine.”

I heard him say I think quietly under his breath, but I ignored that. My dad had to be okay, alive and healthy. My friend, my hero, my comedian, my one and only father, could not have died with such indignity. This can’t happen to me!

I’m too young to go through sudden loss! “Okay…” “SO?” Robert boomed, louder. “Are you joining or what?”

I was going to think a bit more about it, but my mouth acted faster than my brain.

“Yes.” “Okay then!”

Robert signaled to a young man, probably in his mid-20s to take me into a small room. When I entered, I was greeted with a large machine and a woman wearing a lab coat who looked like she was operating the machine. She called me over.

This is going to be harder than I thought. But I can’t give up. For nature. For Dad. For Mom. For Earth! I made a solid choice that I’d rather make the change to the world than to waste time learning about the scar mankind has left on the face of the Earth.

By Syeda Saira Syed, Grade 6, Yangon International School Edited by Marcus Lee, Teacher: Sara Doerfler