Adventure on an Island
‘’John and Alice, for your exemplary performance in your year-end examinations, we are going for a little family holiday,’’ said James Brown, father of John and Alice Brown. ‘’Where? Where? ’’ asked the children excitedly. ‘’We’re going to a place that offers unlimited peace and quiet. That place is Bermuda. And while you’re there……’’ James spoke at length about proper etiquette and how it would affect them. Although it was quite boring, it would have benefitted them if they had paid attention instead of playing rock-paper-scissors.
On the ship en route to Bermuda, the children lived like there was no tomorrow. They piled food on their plates with a lot of everything they liked. Sure enough, they couldn’t finish it. So they quietly poured the remnants of their unfinished food overboard. As they did this, a snippet of their father’s speech came back to them. ‘’When there is a lot of food, take only a little. If it isn’t enough, go back and take some more. This is much better than taking a lot and then throwing it away just because you can’t finish it. ’ ‘’It’s not like we are going to do this for the rest of our lives,’’ reasoned the children. ‘’It’s only the first time. Dad doesn’t have to know. ’’ Sadly, this wasn’t the only misconduct the children committed. They also took things offered by polite stewards and stewardesses without saying thank you. Laden with food and drink, the children were too lazy to properly dispose of the plastic wrappers from their snacks. Instead, the two irresponsible children burned those wrappers. ‘’Don’t ever burn things, especially plastic. Plastic is extremely toxic.
Whatever you do, don’t burn it. ’’ ’’We’re actually saving space and helping people,’’ thought the children. ‘’ Don’t they burn plastic in incinerators? If we don’t burn them, this plastic is going to end up in landfills, which take up a lot of space. Yes, we’re doing a good thing. ’’ And soon after doing this, the two children fell asleep. The two children soon woke up to terrible heat on the island. ‘’Hey! Why is the sun so hot all of a sudden? ’’, wondered the children. Being clever children, they had the answer in no time. ’’It’s global warming! ’’ said Alice. ’The ozone is thinning because people burn plastic and….. ‘’ she stopped in mid-sentence. ’’Oh dear, we just did it on the ship! ’’ said John. ‘’Oh, never mind John. What’s done is done. Why don’t we explore the island? ’’ On their way, they saw a small lake full of dead fish. Curious, the two children decided to investigate. The pond was saturated with rubbish! It wasn’t only rubbish but with bits of rotten food. ‘’Look at the rubbish! Wasn’t that the fried chicken we couldn’t finish? And aren’t those the bits of salad? What have we done? ’’ Shortly after that, they saw some gulls.
Instead of white and grey, the gulls were black and some kind of liquid dripped from them. As the children came closer for a better look, they saw that the patch of sea that the gulls have previously risen from had a thick layer of oil above it. It was the last straw for the two. ‘’Enough! We can’t take anymore! ’’ cried the children. ‘’From now on, we’ll follow our father’s advice and never be wasteful! ’’ And that was when they woke up. Still thinking the terrible discovery was true, the children ran to their parents, confessed, and apologized to them. ’ What nonsense! ’’ said James Brown. ‘’We are still on the ship, not an island! You two must be having a bad dream. Something to do with your overeating, I shouldn’t wonder. But it was a very good thing you two summoned up the courage to own up. Remember your dream so that you will never go wrong. ’’ And so the Brown siblings learned their lesson and changed their mindset towards the environment once and for all. Mother Nature is not infinite, the children learned. Although she may be all-powerful, she still needs help. Let us take good care of the environment.
