~Colin Mead, Class of 2026

The year was 2066 and all was well for Ryan Craner, he had made friends over the winter and had started a new life. He moved to a little island off Cape Cod from Florida last fall because the water had engulfed Miami. His mom didn’t like it that much but she had no choice because all the houses were selling. They had a bad feeling about this, but there was nothing they could do. DING DING, DING DING went the clock as it dawned on him that it was Monday. He got up and thought about the dream that he had, one of the worst that he had experienced. He remembered something about water but he quickly forgot. He put his clothes on, then he walked downstairs for breakfast. He saw his mom listening to the radio with a puzzled look on her face. “What’s wrong? ” said Ryan, as puzzled as she was, “schools canceled  ” said Mary.

At first he was thrilled but he then asked why. His mom explained to him that due to flooding, the school is partly underwater. The look of joy on his face quickly melted away as he realized the severity of the situation. Because of the abundance of water and heat, every week or so there would be a torrential downpour of rain that lasted for days. Ryan walked over to see the weather but when they turned on the TV an image of the US popped up and a news announcer said ‘just last night the Seller glacier and 6 others fell into the ocean’, That caused Mexico City and part of Boston to be submerged. According to the global climate association, the US has to stop oil drilling and producing fossil fuels.

At this point the US is one of the last emitters of fossil fuels because everyone else is going or has gone green. His mom turned off the tv before they could say anything else. She turned to him, he held her gaze for a second before he broke the silence “Will we be ok?” Said Ryan, “I don’t know,”said Mary. He gave her a quick hug then started walking downstairs to play with his legos, when he was halfway down the stairs when he heard running water. He turned the lights on to see his basement flooded, there was at least 3 feet of water blanketing the white carpet. He screamed for his mom who came rushing to the basement, when she saw the water she looked petrified.

They ran to a window to see the pickup halfway underwater. The water was creeping under the thick oak door.  At that moment they went into panic and started piling sandbags at the door but the water kept rising. The water now was practically over the car, it was pouring rain. Just then the lights started flickering and then went dark. Then he ran to the corner of the room and dialed 911 on the land line but nothing happened. He turned to his mom but she wasn’t there, Ryan let out a yelp and ran to the basement door. The water was up to his knees and he could barely move. He had a feeling that his mom was down there but could not see through the swirling water.

He screamed for his mom but there was no response. He dove into the water, he reached the bottom of the stairs. A cold sensation washed over him, he couldn’t breath, he tried to swim to the top of the stairs but he couldn’t move. He started kicking and grabbing the stairs with his clammy hands but nothing would help. He tried for a couple seconds and then his vision started to blur until he blacked out. DING DING, DING DING went the clock as it dawned on him that it was still Monday.

He got up and thought about the dream that he had, which was one of the worst that he had experienced in a long time. He remembered something about water but he forgot the details. He put his clothes on, then walked downstairs for breakfast.