On its final legs, oxygen!
I looked around and noticed other folks walking to an unknown place while hauling large carts containing oxygen cylinders and work bags. I also noticed a few individuals who appeared to be bearing the burden of their sins. It has been four and a half years since things functioned in this manner. If only we weren’t so greedy, this day wouldn’t have happened, I sadly grinned as I turned away from the direction I was facing.
Who knows what transpired? So allow me to take you back in time. Everything began when individuals developed egocentricity and avarice. We instigated this covert conflict with nature. Disregarding the decline of forestry. It appeared as if we could not understand the clues provided.
Building of monuments, high-tech structures, and different architects to earn a living off of it. But we neglected the fact that without trees, humanity would perish. Every person overlooked the universal reality that oxygen is life’s primary source. We wanted something that could lead to a better economy, but we couldn’t get there by removing necessity. By ignoring the important aspect, we made a problem for ourselves.
Because of the mayhem we caused, oxygen deteriorated severely, and existence lost bulk. It is ironic how we caused a problem without being aware of its causes and implications in advance.
What solution have we developed if we let the past go?
We carried oxygen cylinders because half of the populace had vanished. We joined, begging and pleading, letting go of our pride, only to get through this obstacle.
I couldn’t help but blame ourselves for our current suffering when reminiscing on the past years and having melancholy overtake my head. We wouldn’t be experiencing such days if we didn’t strut our pride and be avaricious. I might see people in my immediate vicinity maintaining a false appearance of composure. I know; we know it is untrue.
Long since gone were the smiles, but no one dared to express the grief we all secretly felt. The wind-swept Gamboge leaves in the fall, the flower-lined roadways in the spring, and the snowflakes that fell on the trees’ gnarled limbs and roots all belong to bygone periods. There were now rough roads and dried-up lakes in the area. I felt and saw the stifling air. Although we have never choked, been out of breath, or begged Mother Nature for mercy, it is now rather commonplace to witness someone else being eaten by the undercroft.
Fictional situation by : Dhwani Mehta