Entry #155

A Lost Age
by Will Masters


Phillip sat, having finished his cleaning at the end of another day at the museum. He was out of breath, the physical exertions of the job getting too much for his frail form. Sighing, he looked around at the exhibits, alone with his thoughts and his daily desperation at the state of the world. Nothing here should be in a museum; they were all commonplace, everyday things. Or they had been, in his youth.

It had seemed that they were doing everything they could to curb global warming. The temperature was only going to rise by a four or five degrees, the scientists had said. They'd never said what a difference that would make.

England stopped being the country he'd grown up in, with its lush green hills and beautiful woodlands. The land changed irrevocably over just a few short years. The waters rose, flooding areas where people should have been better prepared for it. Plants began to flower in unusual seasons, animals stopped hibernating and living in their seasonal cycles, even the squirrels stopped burying their nuts in the ground. Many species didn't survive; the changes to their environment too fast for them to adapt.

Standing, Phillip rubbed his back to get the feeling back and the blood flowing. He took one last look at the exhibits. Cold, carefully controlled gases rose preserving the foodstuffs, saving them from rot. Wine, honey, strawberries; these were things his grandchildren would never know.


[Will Masters is a 28yr old from England, who has a passion for writing but has never done very much with it before this piece.]