A day in 2020
''Ring….ring…''
What is that noise? And why is it so loud?
''Ring.... ring'' it went again.
Right, that's an alarm clock waiting for me to get up. It's Monday so I have to get up because I have school. Cuddling with my comforter for the last time, I flung my legs off my bed and made my way towards the bathroom. Finally, the annoying alarm clock stopped ringing. There is only one way to stop it and that is to get up and move around. It has sensors installed and as soon as it senses your movement, it stops ringing. I’m not a soft sleeper. That’s the reason my mum and dad bought it for me. I was planning to throw it away and I don’t know why I haven’t done it yet. And I’m still grateful for it at some point because it was from mum and dad, but it was getting on my nerves. This advanced technology wasn’t for me.
As I came into the bathroom I caught my reflection in the mirror. Wow, I was tossing and turning all night again it seems. I tried to make it better by running a hand through my hair but it stopped in the middle because of the knots. Giving up, I stepped in the shower and let the water run down my body to relax my muscles. After I was finished, I wrapped the towel around me and went to search for the clothes to wear. I chose black jeans, white T-shirt and a blazer because I felt comfortable with it and it looked stylish (I like to look pretty).
As to how to get to school I optioned for walking. Putting in my IPod I let the music flow in my ears. It was a 20 minutes’ walk so it wasn’t long and I tried to distract myself from time by looking around me. Nothing changed from three days ago. There was a woman on her knees by the bench. Nothing special about that. People would think she’s just sitting there. But it’s not normal. I could see the sign leaning on the bench next to her that said "Please, help me. I can’t take care of my kids because no one would hire me." Sad, isn’t it? Usually that would make me cry, but not anymore. I was used to it like most of the people. Stopping in front of her I reached for some change in my wallet and gave it to her. It wasn’t much but it was something. She put her hand on my shoulder as she smiled at me saying "Thank you, young lady. Most people would just ignore me but anything I get is good because I use it for my kids. God bless you."
Giving her a sheepish smile I just nodded and started walking again. My thoughts were filled with situations like hers. She wasn’t the only one. Not 20 meters away a man was begging because for a similar reason. More and more people were jobless and no one would do anything. The thing is that machines were starting to take over. What job was left for us? None. Today, walking in the cafe and being served by a robot is nothing unusual. When I was twelve, the robots only existed in stories. They did try to introduce them but they were not successful until the year 2015. People were clapping about this creation and were very proud of it. But none of them realised what that meant. Soon people started getting fired because they were replaced by robots, only then were they hit with revelation. Sadly, it was too late. The numbers of homeless and jobless people doubled from year 2013. Not to mention phones, laptops and tablets. People started to be addicted to them, although it was something considered normal from their perspective. Yes, I do have a phone and a laptop, too. But I try not to use them too much. I still spend some time outside, in the nature, rather than stay in my room for 12 hours a day watching movies. My parents support me and would usually join me. But there are less and less people like us.
My thoughts were interrupted when the school came into my view. Pushing the door open I walked right to my locker but on the way someone bumped in me. Losing my balance I fell right on my butt. Great, I thought, looking at the guilty person. He just looked up from his phone at me and walked off. This infuriated me and I yelled at him, "Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll just get up like nothing happened and pretend you didn’t almost sprain my ankle", in a sarcastic tone. He just shrugged off and I did exactly what I told him I would do. He didn’t give me much choice, did he? Trust, care, love- where are those feelings? I know I have them, what about other people? They are capable of feeling something, but they just don’t try to because it’s a waste of time. Speaking of time, I was going to be late to my first lesson if I didn’t hurry up.
Then I made my way to my first period, which was biology. The teacher was already there and the students were happily chatting about what they saw on FB or Twitter or what cool game they found. The bell rang and the teacher stood up to begin with the lesson. Everyone started pulling out their laptops or tablets to take notes. Boring as always.
Remembering the guy that bumped in me, I was beginning to see how people ‘work’ today. The word friend is losing its meaning. Did that hurt? Yes, it did, because I couldn’t trust people around me like I used to and I felt lonely. I didn’t mind hanging out with people with different interests than me but for others it would be a crime. People started judging each other by appearance and not the insides anymore. You were invisible to some. They didn’t even bully anymore. What was worse, being bullied or being ignored? For me it was both. They started dividing themselves into status groups. Rich ones and poor ones. A few ones managed being in the middle. My family were in that group. Rich ones hated us because we were still lower than them and poor ones hated us for being higher than them. My parents, luckily, still had a job and I had a part-time job as well. That was a plus. For us, younger people between ages 17 and 19, it was easier to find a job, but only for a short time. So I had to be careful about what to spend my money on. My life, sadly, wasn’t a book. There was no friend to hug, no boyfriend to love and no money that would magically fall from the sky. I wanted to love and I wanted to hug. Thinking about that made my heart hurt. I wanted to believe that there are people thinking the same as me.
School finished and I left quickly. I didn’t want to go home yet so I decided to grab a coffee at Starbucks and sit in the park. As I was sipping my coffee some old man came to sit beside me.
He mumbled: “Damn people throwing trash everywhere. It’s not difficult to just throw it in the bin. I miss old days.”
He looked at me and smiled sadly. But I was curious. “How was it in the old days?” I asked wondering. He looked in front of him, his presence fading. He was in the past, in his younger years.
He shook his head. “It was much better, that’s for sure. There wasn’t any technology, well, some perhaps, but people didn’t give such importance to it. You could see beauty in little things. The trees, the lakes, the meadows. In the past, you couldn’t wait to go out to play and enjoy the nature. Things weren’t lying on the floor just like that. Do you see how everything is slowly disappearing? People don’t even notice it’s getting hard to breathe with all the smoke and gasses in the air. Soon no doctor will be able to help us. We are going to kill ourselves. It’s a sad truth.”
I was listening to him carefully. I couldn’t agree more with him. The pollution already changed climate. Summer came with September and winter came with March. Antarctica is half the size it was back in 2013. A lot of towns ended overflown by the water. Animals are dying. We are dying, too. But then again we weren’t brought to this world to be miserable or to destroy it. Shaking my head I tried to get rid of that thought and made a comment on what the old man just told me. “Yes, it’s really sad to see what is happening to our planet.”
Looking at the watch on my hand I realized it was getting late. I stood up and said good-bye to the old man. At home, I made my way towards my room, I did my homework and then I went on my laptop with a decision to write an article about our world and its destruction if we lead the life like we do now. My plan for the future was to graduate from high school, then to gather people and start saving the world. Recycling, separating trash, organized cleaning of towns, saving up energy with the help of sun, water and wind. All of these things were running through my mind as I started my article.
“I’m Flora Barnes. I may only be a student at the moment but I have big plans for the future. My wish and determination is to fulfil a plan...”
Nuša Cigula
Gimnazija Ptuj, Slovenija
''Ring….ring…''
What is that noise? And why is it so loud?
''Ring.... ring'' it went again.
Right, that's an alarm clock waiting for me to get up. It's Monday so I have to get up because I have school. Cuddling with my comforter for the last time, I flung my legs off my bed and made my way towards the bathroom. Finally, the annoying alarm clock stopped ringing. There is only one way to stop it and that is to get up and move around. It has sensors installed and as soon as it senses your movement, it stops ringing. I’m not a soft sleeper. That’s the reason my mum and dad bought it for me. I was planning to throw it away and I don’t know why I haven’t done it yet. And I’m still grateful for it at some point because it was from mum and dad, but it was getting on my nerves. This advanced technology wasn’t for me.
As I came into the bathroom I caught my reflection in the mirror. Wow, I was tossing and turning all night again it seems. I tried to make it better by running a hand through my hair but it stopped in the middle because of the knots. Giving up, I stepped in the shower and let the water run down my body to relax my muscles. After I was finished, I wrapped the towel around me and went to search for the clothes to wear. I chose black jeans, white T-shirt and a blazer because I felt comfortable with it and it looked stylish (I like to look pretty).
As to how to get to school I optioned for walking. Putting in my IPod I let the music flow in my ears. It was a 20 minutes’ walk so it wasn’t long and I tried to distract myself from time by looking around me. Nothing changed from three days ago. There was a woman on her knees by the bench. Nothing special about that. People would think she’s just sitting there. But it’s not normal. I could see the sign leaning on the bench next to her that said "Please, help me. I can’t take care of my kids because no one would hire me." Sad, isn’t it? Usually that would make me cry, but not anymore. I was used to it like most of the people. Stopping in front of her I reached for some change in my wallet and gave it to her. It wasn’t much but it was something. She put her hand on my shoulder as she smiled at me saying "Thank you, young lady. Most people would just ignore me but anything I get is good because I use it for my kids. God bless you."
Giving her a sheepish smile I just nodded and started walking again. My thoughts were filled with situations like hers. She wasn’t the only one. Not 20 meters away a man was begging because for a similar reason. More and more people were jobless and no one would do anything. The thing is that machines were starting to take over. What job was left for us? None. Today, walking in the cafe and being served by a robot is nothing unusual. When I was twelve, the robots only existed in stories. They did try to introduce them but they were not successful until the year 2015. People were clapping about this creation and were very proud of it. But none of them realised what that meant. Soon people started getting fired because they were replaced by robots, only then were they hit with revelation. Sadly, it was too late. The numbers of homeless and jobless people doubled from year 2013. Not to mention phones, laptops and tablets. People started to be addicted to them, although it was something considered normal from their perspective. Yes, I do have a phone and a laptop, too. But I try not to use them too much. I still spend some time outside, in the nature, rather than stay in my room for 12 hours a day watching movies. My parents support me and would usually join me. But there are less and less people like us.
My thoughts were interrupted when the school came into my view. Pushing the door open I walked right to my locker but on the way someone bumped in me. Losing my balance I fell right on my butt. Great, I thought, looking at the guilty person. He just looked up from his phone at me and walked off. This infuriated me and I yelled at him, "Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll just get up like nothing happened and pretend you didn’t almost sprain my ankle", in a sarcastic tone. He just shrugged off and I did exactly what I told him I would do. He didn’t give me much choice, did he? Trust, care, love- where are those feelings? I know I have them, what about other people? They are capable of feeling something, but they just don’t try to because it’s a waste of time. Speaking of time, I was going to be late to my first lesson if I didn’t hurry up.
Then I made my way to my first period, which was biology. The teacher was already there and the students were happily chatting about what they saw on FB or Twitter or what cool game they found. The bell rang and the teacher stood up to begin with the lesson. Everyone started pulling out their laptops or tablets to take notes. Boring as always.
Remembering the guy that bumped in me, I was beginning to see how people ‘work’ today. The word friend is losing its meaning. Did that hurt? Yes, it did, because I couldn’t trust people around me like I used to and I felt lonely. I didn’t mind hanging out with people with different interests than me but for others it would be a crime. People started judging each other by appearance and not the insides anymore. You were invisible to some. They didn’t even bully anymore. What was worse, being bullied or being ignored? For me it was both. They started dividing themselves into status groups. Rich ones and poor ones. A few ones managed being in the middle. My family were in that group. Rich ones hated us because we were still lower than them and poor ones hated us for being higher than them. My parents, luckily, still had a job and I had a part-time job as well. That was a plus. For us, younger people between ages 17 and 19, it was easier to find a job, but only for a short time. So I had to be careful about what to spend my money on. My life, sadly, wasn’t a book. There was no friend to hug, no boyfriend to love and no money that would magically fall from the sky. I wanted to love and I wanted to hug. Thinking about that made my heart hurt. I wanted to believe that there are people thinking the same as me.
School finished and I left quickly. I didn’t want to go home yet so I decided to grab a coffee at Starbucks and sit in the park. As I was sipping my coffee some old man came to sit beside me.
He mumbled: “Damn people throwing trash everywhere. It’s not difficult to just throw it in the bin. I miss old days.”
He looked at me and smiled sadly. But I was curious. “How was it in the old days?” I asked wondering. He looked in front of him, his presence fading. He was in the past, in his younger years.
He shook his head. “It was much better, that’s for sure. There wasn’t any technology, well, some perhaps, but people didn’t give such importance to it. You could see beauty in little things. The trees, the lakes, the meadows. In the past, you couldn’t wait to go out to play and enjoy the nature. Things weren’t lying on the floor just like that. Do you see how everything is slowly disappearing? People don’t even notice it’s getting hard to breathe with all the smoke and gasses in the air. Soon no doctor will be able to help us. We are going to kill ourselves. It’s a sad truth.”
I was listening to him carefully. I couldn’t agree more with him. The pollution already changed climate. Summer came with September and winter came with March. Antarctica is half the size it was back in 2013. A lot of towns ended overflown by the water. Animals are dying. We are dying, too. But then again we weren’t brought to this world to be miserable or to destroy it. Shaking my head I tried to get rid of that thought and made a comment on what the old man just told me. “Yes, it’s really sad to see what is happening to our planet.”
Looking at the watch on my hand I realized it was getting late. I stood up and said good-bye to the old man. At home, I made my way towards my room, I did my homework and then I went on my laptop with a decision to write an article about our world and its destruction if we lead the life like we do now. My plan for the future was to graduate from high school, then to gather people and start saving the world. Recycling, separating trash, organized cleaning of towns, saving up energy with the help of sun, water and wind. All of these things were running through my mind as I started my article.
“I’m Flora Barnes. I may only be a student at the moment but I have big plans for the future. My wish and determination is to fulfil a plan...”
Nuša Cigula
Gimnazija Ptuj, Slovenija